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This week’s news --> 43 tree articles from: British Columbia,
Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Minnesota,
Indiana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, USA, Canada, England, Switzerland,
Finland, Israel, Kenya, Uganda, India, China, Vietnam, Philippines,
Indonesia, Australia and world-wide
British Columbia:
1) Economics favour park: report: Loss of hunting and logging revenue in
Flathead Valley would be \'far outweighed\' The economic value of creating
a 40,000-hectare national park in the Flathead Valley of southeastern
B.C. easily exceeds any economic loss from ending logging and trophy
hunting in the area, concludes a report by a former manager in the B.C.
finance ministry. The report, by consultant Jim Johnson, a chartered
accountant and former economics expert with BC Stats, calculates that a
national park would provide a conservative net annual gain of $1.44
million and 23 full-time jobs when forgone benefits from natural
resource extraction are taken into consideration. \"The economic benefits
associated with the park expansion far outweigh the economic costs,\"
found Johnson, who noted the communities of Sparwood and Fernie in the
Elk Valley north of the proposed park would especially benefit. \"Thus,
from a regional economic perspective, the park expansion is a win-win
solution resulting in increased economic activity . . . and increased
wildlife habitat protection . . . .\" The region would prosper from
increased wilderness tourism, Parks Canada investment, and an influx of
people wanting to live and work next to a national park. The report
notes that the benefits could be much higher once first nations
investments are included. The report emphasizes there are no oil and gas
wells or mines in the proposed area, except for a small quarry. Tembec,
the logging company in the Flathead Valley, has even entertained the
idea of forgoing its logging rights in the proposed park area in
exchange for subsidies to make its mill more efficient for processing
wood from other areas.-- Prince George Citizen today
2) Bulkley Valley scientists say sharing information now is the key to
tackling the devastation of the pine beetle infestation. While the
Valley lumber industry currently booms during the frantic effort to
salvage Mountain Pine Beetle-killed timber, the big question is what
will happen in the post-beetle aftermath. “It’s really critical that we
answer these questions,” said David Coates, a forestry expert with the
Smithers-based B.V. Centre for Natural Resources Research “Forest
management decisions now have major implications for the well-being of
all of the communities along Hwy 16. Without a timber supply, we’re in
big trouble.” Coates along with a team of scientists are trying to
answer that question right now, using sophisticated models, digital
photography and collaborative research. “This summer, our researchers
surveyed close to 400 beetle-infested forest sites between Houston and
Prince George, for key things like the occurrence, height and health of
key tree species,” Coates said. “They also used digital cameras to
collect data about that most critical and most elusive factor of forest
dynamics: sunlight.” Coates and colleagues are now using the collected
data in complex computer models, to predict regeneration and growth of
trees in beetle-damaged forests for up to 100 years. They’re also
exploring how different management strategies will affect timber supply
in the mid-term: 10 to 40 years from now, between the end of harvested
beetle-kill, and the earliest harvest date of our existing plantations.
http://www.interior-news.com/portals-co
<http://www.interior-news.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=31&cat=23&id=5
66488&more=> de/list.cgi?paper=31&cat=23&id=566488&more=
Washington:
3) Most institutional and other qualified investors get access to timber
through a small number of timber-investment-management organizations in
the United States. Called TIMOs, the organizations function much like
private-equity firms, creating pooled funds that invest in timber
properties. TIMOs such as Global Forest Partners, Hancock Timber
Resource Group and Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo manage billions of dollars
in timber properties. Endowments such as Harvard University\'s and big
pension funds like California Public Employees\' Retirement System have
favored timber for its stable returns. Despite the difficulty, small
investors have made modest inroads. Bart Valley, chief investment
officer for financial-planning firm Abacus Planning Group in Columbia,
S.C., invested about 15 clients in timber, some with investments as low
as $50,000. \"Timber, we thought, was really compelling, because it
really is a physical, biological investment,\" he says. \"The great thing
about trees is that the older they get, the more valuable [they get].
It\'s a piece of the portfolio that really behaves quite differently than
anything we have.\" The firm spent two years researching the asset class,
liking timber\'s low volatility and reliable returns. But access remained
the tough part. Valley wasn\'t keen on two publicly traded timber
real-estate-investment trusts, Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber and
Rayonier, based in Jacksonville, Fla., which generally are the only
options small investors have. \"You are getting exposure to timber, but
because it\'s publicly traded REITs, you are still taking on correlation
to the stock market,\" Valley says. Valley found Timbervest, an
Atlanta-based firm that manages more than 500,000 acres of timberland
with a market value in excess of $700 million. Timber harvest typically
requires a minimum investment of $1 million. But with extra interest in
timber, the firm this time allowed a pool of small investors working
with wealth managers to get a piece of its new $250 million fund.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002727446_tim
ber08.html> usinesstechnology/2002727446_timber08.html
Oregon:
4) The Medford District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has plans
to log over 1,000 acres of mature and old-growth forest within the
Grants Pass and Jumpoff Joe Creek watersheds through the “Granite Horse”
logging sale. In addition to degrading watersheds, Granite Horse logging
would harm wildlife and rare flowers. The Siskiyou Project has joined
the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and Oregon Natural Resources
Council to challenge the Granite Horse logging project in court. The
Grants Pass and Jumpoff Joe watersheds have been hit hard by
over-logging in the past. Part of the Jumpoff Joe watershed is so
degraded that it is deferred from logging due to the cumulative effects
of previous mis-management. Granite Horse would log up to the edge of
the deferred area, making things worse for fish and wildlife within the
watershed. The BLM itself admits that after logging, only 11% of BLM
lands within the Grants Pass watershed would be mature forest. This
directly contradicts standards set in the Northwest Forest Plan
requiring the BLM to protect all remaining mature forest when less than
15% of federal forest lands within a watershed are mature or old-growth
condition. Making matters worse, the project could also harm rare
flowers such as Howell’s camas (Camassia Howellii), Clustered
Ladyslipper (Cypripedium Fasciculatum). The BLM also admits that Granite
Horse logging will result in the “take” (death or serious harm) to four
endangered spotted owl pairs. Unless we can substantially change or stop
this destructive logging, these important forests could fall to the saw
after May 15th when a seasonal restriction on logging is lifted. While
there is little time left to comment on Granite Horse, there’s still
lots of time to tour the proposed logging area and to learn more about
how you can have a voice in the way the BLM manages (or mis-manages)
your public forests. Call the Siskiyou Project (541) 592-4459 to learn
more about taking action to protect your BLM forests.
http://www.oregonheritageforests.or
<http://www.oregonheritageforests.org/> g/
5) A new study from Oregon State University undermines some of the
leading arguments for logging forests burned by the massive 2002 Biscuit
Fire in Southwest Oregon. The timber industry pushed the U.S. Forest
Service to log and replant burned slopes, arguing it would speed forest
recovery and clear away dead trees that could fuel another fire. But the
Oregon State research team, in findings released Thursday in the online
version of the journal Science, found that logging killed about
two-thirds of seedlings that had sprouted from scorched ground and left
the soil covered with flammable tinder. They concluded that in the first
few years after a fire forests can recover as well or better on their
own than if they are logged and replanted. \"There\'s no overall gain by
going through that effort\" of salvage logging, said Daniel Donato, a
graduate student in Oregon State\'s College of Forestry and lead author
of the report. The conclusions emerge with Biscuit logging at the center
of a national debate over how to handle forests swept by severe
wildfires. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash, have
sponsored a bill to speed logging and restoration of burned forests. The
scientists said that logging following a fire makes sense if the goal is
to salvage the economic value of burned trees before they decay. But
they said logging can set back the regrowth of forest and leave it prone
to repeat fires that might incinerate seedlings and further cook the
soil. Logging typically is supposed to be followed by controlled burning
to clear away tinder that remains. But a lack of funding sometimes means
the burning does not get done, the scientists said.
6) On Wednesday, January 25th, the CWP will be hosting Rich Fairbanks,
(former Forest Service employee and ID team leader from the Biscuit
timber sale project), as he presents his take on the political and
economic corruption that swirled around Biscuit and ultimately lead to
Rich\'s resignation. Rich has the dirt and is fired up to let us all know
about it. From back-room deals with industry to campaign donations and
political strong-arming, the Biscuit timber sale was yet another example
of Forest Service fraud and industry welfare. This is promising to be a
real eye opener for anyone interested in what really went on behind
closed doors around the largest timber sale in modern history. Join us
as we continue to hold the Fed\'s feet to the fire and make sure this
type of corruption never happens again! When: Wednesday, January 25th,
6:00pm-7:30pm Where: Eugene Public Library, the Bascom room, main floor
For more information, contact Jeff Long at (541) 434-1463, or email at
jlong@cascwild.org.
10) The Horse Heli timber sale would log 1,498 acres along the Pacific
Crest Trail on the South side of Condrey Mountain midway between Mt.
Ashland and the Red Buttes Wilderness. The Headwaters of the Doggett,
Kohl, Buckhorn and Middle Creek Watersheds would be logged. Believe it
or not the Forest Service intends to log this beautiful stretch of the
Pacific Crest Trail. The agency goes as far as to instruct marking crews
to only mark the back side of trees near the trail, so that users won\'t
notice that the trees are marked for logging until its too late. When
logging is ongoing the Forest Service intends to station \"flaggers\" on
the trail to escort hikers through the logging area. Comments on the
timber sale are due by February 13th. In the DEIS the Forest Service
repeatedly relies upon the \"fear of fire\" to further its logging agenda.
Yet the agency refuses to protect the largest, most fire resistant
old-growth trees from logging and continues to create fire-prone young
fiber plantations where native forests once stood. Please take a moment
to write to the Forest Service and request: -No \"late successional\"
old-growth logging, -A 20 inch diameter limit on trees to be cut, -No
\"ground-based\" tractor yarding in these sensitive watersheds. (mail to:
Peg Boland, Forest Supervisor
1312 Fairlane Road Yreka, CA 96097) http://www.kswild.org
<http://www.kswild.org/>
California:
11) The next Santa Cruz Earth First! is Monday, 9 Jan. 06 at 7 pm. There
is some good news - the San Jose Water Co. NTMP has been withdrawn! and
I was elected to the Executive Board of the Santa Cruz Group of the
Ventana Chapter of the Sierra Club... Not so good news - there is still
work to do on the Soquel State Demonstration Forest and the Lompico
THPs. Hope to see more of you there. Uncle Dennis SCEF!
cruzef@cruzio.com |