Reports From The States

[mdvaden]

That same sort of "crap" was tried here in Oregon a couple of years ago with a signature pattition called "Measure 64".  It would have not allowed me to harvest any tree on my place that was over 24"dbh.   That would have included 80% of the growing fiber I have.  That included: Douglas Fir, Grand Fir, Gary Oak, and Western Big Leaf Maple.   As far AS I am concerned that is a taking of personal property, but the "Tree Huggers" felt great about it.   The measure was defeated 2 to 1.   I was sure happy about that, because I did not want them to have to bring a lunch to try and stop me from harvesting any of  "my" timber.  They probably would have left wrappers as the trees would have been falling in their direction.

I think I was out of the state for a short fragment of time when that measure was around, and didn't get to vote on it. There sure were a lot of signs by the roadside for that.

Was it in Oregon, or somewhere else - but in the past few months or so, I'd swear I saw a video clip on the news or cable tv, of a tree hugger being either cut out of a tree, or dropped with a tree.

That wasn't at your place was it? 

By the way, I am familiar with The Dalles. My dad had a restaurant and motel in Arlington to the east, about 1977. I drove from Beaverton every week, to Arlington to work for him on a couple of days. One of which included going to Pendleton to swap the motel laundry and get groceries from United Grocers. So I've been in your neck of the woods a lot, often stopping on my return trip.

[Ron Scott]

California

Santa Cruz County Sets Toughest Logging Rules in California

May 23 – According to the Mercury News, Santa Cruz County Supervisors recently approved the "toughest logging rules in the state" by limiting the size of properties on which owners can cut trees.

As the paper reported, supervisors voted 3 to 2 to prevent owners of parcels smaller than 40 acres from rezoning their land for timber production, a requirement that essentially bans logging on those properties if they are not approved for timber harvesting by January 1.

The decision will affect up to 1,500 parcels and almost 19,000 acres around the county, according to the county Planning Department. Most of the land is concentrated in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

To read an article about the logging rules, visit the Mercury News website.

 

[Ron Scott]

West Virginia

WV Timber Industry Hits Hard Times
 
May 29 – The Charleston Daily Mail has reported that shrinking interest in oak hardwood for building material and growing foreign competition are having a negative effect on West Virginia's $4 billion timber industry.

According to the newspaper, the average price of red oak lumber—the state's most prevalent species—has dropped by at least 50 percent over the last year. As a result, the state sawmills, which employ an estimated 30,000 people, are cutting back on production.

A change in customer preference toward lighter-colored wood is said to be the chief cause of the downturn.

For more information, visit the TimesWV.com website.

 

[Ron Scott]

South Carolina

Cogongrass Threat Alarming Scientists across the Southeast

Researchers associated with the South Carolina Forestry Commission are urging all South Carolinians to brace themselves for an invasive plant species thought to pose a greater threat to the Southeast than kudzu. The species is called Cogongrass and it is known to spread aggressively, choking out virtually all other plant species. It forms dense mats of undergrowth which also sabotage wildlife habitat. Cogongrass is much harder to control than kudzu. It is also extremely flammable, posing a serious wildfire threat to developed areas and forestlands alike.

For more information, visit the South Carolina Forestry Commission website.

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING FORESTERS AWARDS THE MICHIGAN CHAPTER

The Michigan Chapter was chosen as the 2006 ACF Chapter of the Year. 
Thanks to all of the newest ACF members, as that is what made the Michigan Chapter stand out. 
Thanks to all of the older members for their support and dedication to ACF.

[Ron Scott]

Michigan
 
LANSING Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Mascoma Corporation CEO Bruce A. Jamerson today announced that the Massachusetts based company will build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Michigan in its race to be the first in the nation to produce ethanol from wood on a commercial scale.  The plant will turn the state's abundant, non food plant life into clean burning fuel.  The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), led by President and CEO James C. Epolito, is working with Mascoma on a tax incentive package for the project.
     Unlike most current biofuel production operations, Mascoma's Michigan cellulosic plant will make ethanol from mainly wood chips and other non food agricultural crops.  Most of the nation's biofuel facilities now in production, or under construction, convert corn and other food crops into fuel.  Because cellulosic ethanol production uses non food agricultural feedstock, it is critical to producing ethanol on a scale that could substitute for imported oil.
     "

[Ron Scott]

Michigan's U.P.

A Prehistoric Forest Rises From a Farmer's Pond

Dennis Myllyla thought he’d struck a fine bargain with the Michigan Department of Transportation. MDOT would get fill for a nearby highway construction by dredging a pond on his farm near Arnheim, Mich., and Myllyla would get the pond.

Neither Myllyla nor MDOT expected to find a prehistoric forest too. But that’s exactly what they uncovered, about 15 feet down.

“We ran into logs, lots of logs. It was like a forest down there,” said Myllyla, who has been farming in the Arnheim area since 1948.

Forestry consultant Justin Miller was on site when the MDOT heavy equipment operators found themselves dredging up more logs than sand. Miller, who had been preparing a management plan for the forested sections of Myllyla’s property, was a 2000 graduate of Michigan Technological University’s School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, and he knew just whom to call.

“I’ll rush right down and take a look,” James Schmierer responded. The forester from Michigan Tech was there within 24 hours.

What he saw amazed him. “We find a lot of trees lying on the forest floor, but this was the first time I’ve seen so many trees thousands of years old and so well preserved in the soil,” he said. Dozens were tangled together, some of them 20 feet long and more than 2 feet in diameter.

“What could bury a whole forest 15 feet underground?” Schmierer wondered. “It had to be a single catastrophic, violent event, and it must have happened a long time ago for 15 feet of soil to build up.”

Schmierer and his colleague, Michael Hyslop, a GIS analyst and instructor of geomorphology and vegetation at Michigan Tech, speculate that the trees were either transported or mowed down by the last glacier to move across the Keweenaw, before Lake Superior covered the peninsula. “That would make them more than 10,000 years old,” he said.

Schmierer and Hyslop have recovered some of the logs and are hoping to carbon-date them. Schmierer also hopes to identify the species of tree.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it was an elm,” said Miller, “but I really don’t know. I’ll be real curious to find out how old they are and what species.”

Schmierer plans to make two displays from chunks of the ancient trees, one to put on exhibit at Alberta Village, the Michigan Tech forestry field site, and the other for the atrium of the U.J. Noblet Forestry Building on campus.

“And Michigan Tech is going to give me one as a momento,” said Myllyla.

 

[Ron Scott]

OHIO

Ohio Gov. Authorizes Certification of State Forests

December 13 – Governor Ted Strickland recently directed the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to begin the process of attaining third-party certification for the state's forests. The ODNR Division of Forestry will seek certification through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council.

For more information, visit the Ohio Department of Resources website.

 

[Ron Scott]

Alaska

Jan 25th- The Forest Service has released its new management plan for the Tongass National Forest. The new plan would allow logging on 3.4 million of the 17 million national forest acres. The plan would hopefully assist in stabilizing Alaska's timber industry while allowing for the sustained health and diversity of the forest and providing a source of recreation for Alaskan residents and tourists.

For additional information visit: http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/294231.html

[Ron Scott]

West Virginia

According to the Charleston Daily Mail, Rep. Nick Rahall plans to introduce legislation that would designate an additional 47,000 acres of the Monongahela National Forest as wilderness. The paper reported that the legislation would expand the Cranberry, Dolly Sods, and Dry Fork wilderness areas and create four new wilderness areas, and that the proposal would increase the forest's wilderness area by about 60 percent. The Monongahela currently has 78,000 acres of designated wilderness.

For more information, visit the Charleston Daily Mail website.

[Ron Scott]

Kentucky

Kentucky Considers Timber Theft Law

The Kentucky Legislature is considering a timber theft law that would require landowners to notify their neighbors before logging adjacent property. Logs would need to be branded to show their place of origin.

The E Forester

[Ron Scott]

Michigan's U.P.

Prehistoric Forest in a Farmer's Pond

A crew from the Michigan Department of Transportation was to take some fill from Dennis Myllyla's property near Arnheim, MI in the Upper Peninsula for a nearby construction project. In the process, they were to create a pond for Mr. Myllyla. As they dug, they encountered a hardwood forest about 15 feet below the surface
of the ground.

Consulting forester Justin Miller was there working on a management plan for nearby woodlands and saw the first logs to emerge. He notified Jim Schmierer at Michigan Tech, who came down to have a look. Schmierer and a colleague, Michael Hyslop, speculate the trees were either transported or mowed down by the last glacial advance, which happened about 10,000 years ago. They plan to carbon-date some samples of the wood.

[Ron Scott]

Montana

Apr 1st- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit regarding road management in timber salvage sales in the Flathead National Forest. The Swan View Coalition and Friends of the Wild Swan filed the case claiming that the timber salvage projects violated road density standards for grizzly bear habitat. The US Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the projects and determined that they would not affect grizzly bear populations. The case has been appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

For additional information visit: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2008/04/02/news/news03.txt

[Ron Scott]

Washington

WSU Forestry Major "at Risk"

April 17 – The Daily Evergreen (Washington State University) has reported that "recent budget cuts and restructuring at Washington State University have put the forestry major at risk of termination. The cuts will affect the forestry undergraduate and graduate degrees and eventually the forestry extension and research programs."

According to the paper, part of the reason this is happening is because "there are misconceptions about foresters, what they do, and their continued importance as stewards of the natural environment."

To read more, visit The Daily Evergreen website.

The Forestry Source

[Ron Scott]

Nevada

Incline Lake in Nevada to Become Public Land

The Incline Lake Corporation and the Forest Service have finalized an agreement on May 21 to make more than 700 acres of land public by mid-summer as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Funding from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 (SNPLMA) will be made available for the Incline Lake acquisition. The scenic alpine lake is located on a ridge between Lake Tahoe and Reno, and offers spectacular views of Nevada. Incline Lake is the largest tract of private land on the Nevada side of Tahoe.

[Ron Scott]

Colorado

Judge Stops Colorado Pipeline Work

June 7 – The Aspen Times has reported that a coalition of environmental groups in Colorado has received an injunction to stops a natural gas producer from building a pipeline across national forestland in western Colorado. A coalition of environmental groups sought the injunction on the basis that the proposed pipeline would create eight miles of roads in what is supposed to be a protected roadless area. They claimed the approval by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management violated federal law.

For more information, visit the Aspen Times website.

[Ron Scott]

Michigan's U.P.

U.P. WOODY BIOMASS WEBSITE IS LAUNCHED

The Upper Peninsula Resource Conservation & Development Council announces the launching of a new website, dedicated to promoting woody biomass as an alternative fuel source.  It's purpose is to stimulate the development of a sustainable woody biomass industry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, by providing a central clearinghouse for information on all aspects of woody biomass production and utilization in the region.  You can access the site by going to: www.upwoodybiomass.org.

In addition, the website contains:
*       UP Woody Biomass Exchange - An free, interactive service for buyers & sellers of woody biomass in the UP
*       Woody Biomass Users - Information about schools & other facilities using wood for fuel in the UP
*       Woody Biomass Harvests - Information on past, present, and future woody biomass harvests in the UP as well as guidelines for maintaining the sustainability of woody biomass harvesting in the UP
*       Information Sets - A searchable collection of information on many aspects of woody biomass production & utilization, categorized into four main topics and 13 subtopics.

For Further Information, Contact:

Marilyn Shy, RC&D Coordinator
USDA - NRCS
Assisting the Upper Peninsula RC&D Council
780 Commerce Dr.
Marquette, MI 49855
ph. (906) 226-8871 ext. 124
marilyn.shy@mi.usda.gov

[Ron Scott]

Michigan's U.P.

Granholm Says Mascoma Agreement Puts Michigan at Forefront of Next Generation Fuels  

Historic investment set for production facility in U.P.s Chippewa County
 
LANSING: Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Mascoma Corporation CEO Bruce A. Jamerson today announced that the Massachusetts-based company has entered into a series of key strategic relationships to further Mascoma’s efforts to build its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
 
Agreements with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), JM Longyear, and alliances formed with Michigan State University (MSU) and Michigan Technological University (MTU) will help bring the plant to Chippewa County, south of Sault Ste. Marie, where clean-burning, fuel-grade ethanol will be produced from wood fiber. The agreements build on Mascoma’s decision announced last July to locate in Michigan.

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

July 10- A federal judge reversed a decision to allow oil and gas drilling near a forest and river in Northern Michigan.  Judge David Lawson ruled Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service was "arbitrary and capricious" during the permitting process to allow Savoy Energy LP to drill an exploratory well near the Au Sable River in the Huron-Manistee National Forest. The judge ruled that the Forest Service did not consider the impact of drilling on the nearby Mason Tract wilderness area, the endangered Kirtland's warbler or tourism in the area. The suit against the Forest Service was brought by The Sierra Club and the Anglers of Au Sable.

The full text of this article is available on the web: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1822584,00.html

SAF Policy Update

[Ron Scott]

Michigan

Anglers of the Au Sable, et al. v. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
On July 10, 2008, Judge Lawson (United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division) issued his decision on Savoy Energy’s project to drill an exploratory gas well to its subsurface mineral leases.  On June 8, 2005, the plaintiffs Anglers of the Au Sable, Tim Mason, and the Mackinac Chapter of the Sierra Club filed a complaint against the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  The complaint alleged the Forest Supervisor's decision approving the Surface Use Plan for the South Branch Well was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Forest Management Act (NFMA), and the Mineral Leasing Act.  The proposed location (Crawford County, Michigan) includes a portion of the South Branch of the Au Sable River, a popular site for fly fisherman.  The plaintiffs’ claims as they pertain to NEPA were upheld.  More specifically, 1) The Forest Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in finding that Savoy Energy’s project would have no significant environmental impact.  The Forest failed to adequately address the Council of Environmental Quality’s intensity factors;  2)  The Forest Service did not consider an appropriate range of alternatives (i.e., did not take a “hard look” at the “No Action” alternative; did not consider alternative locations for the well’s bottom hole).  In contrast, plaintiffs’ claims related to the National Forest Management Act (i.e., the drilling project contradicts the Forest Plan) and the Mineral Leasing Act were denied.  The Forest Service and BLM are enjoined from taking action using the current Decision Notice/FONSI and Environmental Assessment. 

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