A new study released by a coalition of farm and timber groups says stopping deforestation in Brazil, Indonesia and elsewhere could increase revenue for U.S. farmers and the forestry industry by $190 billion to $270 billion between 2012 and 2030. The report, "Farms Here, Forests There," looked at what would happen if landowners in Brazil and other major areas of deforestation were given carbon offset payments to keep land in forest.
An Oreganlive.com editorial by USDA Forest Service Tom Tidwell discusses American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects in Washington and Oregon, where nearly one in five of the agencies ARRA dollars have been spent.
A strong wood-products industry is key to removing thousands of dead, bark beetle-infested trees that threaten to topple onto roads, power lines and campsites or harm watersheds around the West, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said this week at a bark beetle summit hosted by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley released a first-of-its-kind assessment of Maryland's ecosystem markets - an approach that provides industry the opportunity to purchase credits to offset impacts to our natural resources.
Bark beetles have ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres of Colorado’s forests, yet that state has only one large sawmill left to bid on federal timber sales. That’s a problem for the Forest Service, which is depending on the timber industry to thin stands of unhealthy, crowded trees across the Rocky Mountain West, according to Robert Bonnie, a senior advisor to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Forests (RSF) is sponsoring a webinar on May 31 in advance of the June 29 national meeting focused on the question,"Are the nation's forests sustainable" as measured by the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators. The United States 2010 report that has been in the review process for many months will be discussed at both events.
"Far from turning private lands into publicly owned parks or wilderness, working forest conservation easements can be a valuable tool for keeping private timber lands on the local and state tax rolls as providers of wood products, jobs and recreation including hunting and fishing." July 26 letter to the editor, Redding Record Searchlight
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is asking hunters to help out with a survey of the state's forests by tracking how many critters they see during their fall hunting trips. DNR division of forestry chief John Seifert says hunters "are uniquely skilled observers" whose feedback can help the agency better manage the resources of the state's forests.
The public review period for revisions of the ANSI A300 national tree care standards is now open. Submit comments for ANSI A300 Part 6- "Planting and Transplanting of Trees and Shrubs" before February 5; for ANSI A300 Part 7- "Integrated Vegetation Management" before February 20. A300 documents provide standard definitions and tree care management standards for all aspects of tree health management.
Ohio's Appleton Papers Inc. plans to let go three-quarters of its 400 person staff and cease making paper, following a $3 billion deal with a Canadian supplier. "Nonintegrated" paper mills - mills that don't produce pulp from logs or wood chips gathered on site - are "distinctly disadvantaged and no longer competitive," according to a release from the company.
