May 18, 2012
E-Forester Archives? More than a few folks have asked if The E-Forester is archived on the SAF website. It is not, primarily because links to news articles change quickly. However, if you're looking for something from a past issue, contact me and I'll do my best to get you what you need.
I. Featured News
1. Wind-Fueled Arizona Wildfire Nearly Triples in Size
2. State Steps Up Efforts to Detect Invasive Emerald Ash Borer Beetles
3. Historic Conservation Easement in Maine's North Woods Announced
4. Bull Trout Stream Deemed Fully Restored
5. "Even the Turkeys" Benefit from Prescribed Burns
Federal Lands Management
6. Ranger District Looks to Monitor Change in Welcome Creek Wilderness
7. Clear-Cut the Rules, Beetle Foes Say
8. Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill That Demanded Federal Land
Forest Products Industry
9. Weyerhaeuser Poised for Timber Turnaround
10. Beetle Kill Blitz
11. Biomass News
II. Publications, Resources, and Items of Interest
1. Protecting Minnesota's Forests While Utilizing Biomass Resources
2. Welcome to the Brave New World of Carbon Farming
3. Research You May Be Missing
III. Science and Technology
1. Global Warming Threatens Pine Forests, Forcing Federal Officials to Shift Strateg
2. When, Where, and How Wood Is Used Impact Carbon Emissions from Deforestation
3. US Forest Service Considers Using Explosives to Bring Down Trees
IV. SAF News
1. 2012 Elections Information for Vice-President and Council
2. Receive a $100 Discount and Help New Members Save 30 Percent on Membership
3. Ben Meadows Offering Two $2,500 Natural Resource Scholarships
4. Free Webinars Beginning in May
5. SAF Convention News
6. NEW SAF Stainless Steel Bottle in the SAF Store
7. Special Coupon for the Candidate Certified Forester Application!
I. Featured News
All of these items and more appear in the "Featured News" section on the SAF home page
1. Wind-Fueled Arizona Wildfire Nearly Triples in Size
Associated Press (May 17) - Fueled by high winds, a wildfire that has prompted the evacuation of a historic mining town in northern Arizona nearly tripled in size.
The fire in the Prescott National Forest grew to an estimated 5,400 acres, or nearly 8 1/2 square miles-up from about 2,000 acres a day earlier.
2. State Steps Up Efforts to Detect Invasive Emerald Ash Borer Beetles
Ridgeland Press (Connecticut, May 17) - The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection along with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System said that 590 detection traps will soon be set out across the state to monitor for the presence of the invasive emerald ash borer in Connecticut.
3. Historic Conservation Easement in Maine's North Woods Announced
WLBZ Bangor (May 15) - Environmentalists and town officials in Greenville are celebrating a massive conservation easement that will protect a huge swath of forestland for wildlife, recreation, and forestry.
The 363,000 acres of land in the Moosehead region will be protected from future development, while still being harvested for timber and open to the public for hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities.
More:
Groups Tout Completion of Historic 363,000-acre Plum Creek Conservation Deal
Bangor Daily News (May 15)
Massive Maine Land Easement is Completed
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune (May 15)
4. Bull Trout Stream Deemed Fully Restored
Flathead Beacon.com (May 14) - The Hungry Horse Ranger District and Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced last week that the Big Creek tributary on the North Fork of the Flathead River has been restored and removed from a list of impaired waterways.
Historic road building and timber harvesting activities in the Big Creek watershed led to accelerated soil erosion and a substantial increase in the amount of fine sediment delivered to Big Creek. Frequent monitoring by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks revealed degraded fish habitat due to an increases in the amount of sand and silt in bull trout spawning habitat. It was officially listed as impaired in 1996.
5. "Even the Turkeys" Benefit from Prescribed Burns
The Daily Home.com (Alabama, May 17) - According to Scott Layfield, who oversees prescribed burning in the Talladega National Forest, despite its negative connotation with some members of the public, prescribed burns are ecologically sound.
The Talladega National Forest burns about 30,000 to 35,000 acres per year out of 220,000 acres total. And those burns are done between January and June, before the weather gets too dry. Half of those are done during the dormant season, and the rest are during the growing season, usually starting in March.
Federal Lands Management
6. Ranger District Looks to Monitor Change in Welcome Creek Wilderness
Missoulian (May 14) - It's not hard to find solitude in the Welcome Creek Wilderness. The 63-square-mile area in the Rock Creek drainage east of Missoula is small, steep, and relatively untrammeled.
The Missoula Ranger District wants to make sure it stays wild. So the district is proposing to amend the Lolo National Forest Plan to provide a way to monitor and document change as public use increases and the land changes.
The amendment is part of the Forest Service Chief's 10-Year Wilderness Stewardship Challenge, which in 2005 set out to bring every wilderness area managed by the US Forest Service to a minimum stewardship level by 2014, the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.
7. Clear-Cut the Rules, Beetle Foes Say
Daily Sentinel (May 15) - US Forest Service land managers need more latitude and the forest-management industry more certainty if the mountain pine beetle is to be repelled, or at least contained, in Colorado's high country, witnesses testified at a recent congressional field hearing.
The hearing was conducted by members of the House Resource Committee's subcommittees on water and power and national parks, forests, and public lands.
8. Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill That Demanded Federal Land
ABC News.com (May 15) - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently vetoed legislation that would have had the state join Utah in demanding that the federal government surrender control of millions of acres of public land.
Supporters of the Arizona legislation argued that the states would be better managers of resources such as timber and minerals on land managed by the US Forest Service and the US Bureau of Land Management.
For more on the "Sagebrush Rebellion renewed," see the April 2012 issue of The Forestry Source.
Forest Products Industry
9. Weyerhaeuser Poised for Timber Turnaround
MSN.com (May 3) - After spinning off its paper business in 2006 and selling its packaging business in 2008, Weyerhaeuser converted to a real estate investment trust (REIT) structure in 2010 to focus on managing its timberland and its core forest products businesses.
There are two principal reasons to own Weyerhaeuser. First, it is an attractive way to play timber as an asset. Second, it would benefit significantly from a rebound in the US housing sector.
Cowboys and Indians (June 2012 issue) - As pine beetles continue to ravage the West and the construction market continues to stall, entrepreneurs and environmentalists struggle to give new life to dead wood.
Wood Makes Comeback as a Fuel
New York Times (May 1) - A century ago, rural homes in the United States and Europe commonly relied on wood for heating. Now wood is making a comeback, thanks largely to pellet technology.
Greene County Is Location for Company Turning Wood Chips into Fuel
Tuscaloosa News (May 6) - Coskata Inc., a young company based near Chicago, is one of several bioenergy projects that have popped up in West Alabama within the past few years in an industry that is heating up big time.
Its goal is to raise $100 million in the stock sale and use some of that money and cash on hand, plus a $87.9 million US Department of Agriculture-backed loan, to build its first commercial plant to make biofuel from wood wastes.
Bioenergy Key to Reopening Canfor's Radium Sawmill
CBC News (May 2) - Canfor has begun the process of reopening its sawmill in Radium, British Columbia, and says bioenergy has been key for the company to get the operation up and running again.
II. Publications, Resources, and Items of Interest
1. Protecting Minnesota's Forests While Utilizing Biomass Resources
Dovetail Partners (May 14) - Dovetail Partners and the Minnesota Forest Resources Council announce the release of a new factsheet addressing forest biomass harvesting in the state. The factsheet provides a brief overview of the biomass harvesting guidelines, including how they were developed and the management practices they address.
The factsheet can be downloaded at the Dovetail Partners website.
More on Biomass Harvesting:
New Website on Forest Biomass Harvest and Retention Guidelines
Forest Guild (May 14) - The Forest Guild and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation have collaborated on a new website presenting a series of videos about forest biomass harvest and retention guidelines. These guidelines detail how forest biomass can be harvested and utilized for energy while protecting the habitat, soils, water, and future of the forest. Each of the videos focuses on common questions about forest biomass harvesting guidelines from a different perspective: forest management, conservation, policy, or renewable energy production.The website also features a library of detailed technical guidelines for forest biomass retention and harvesting by state, region, and country.
2. Welcome to the Brave New World of Carbon Farming
New Zealand Herald (May 12) - In Marlborough's picturesque Wairau Valley stands a forest of 12-year-old pine and Douglas fir trees whose owners are confident that at harvestable age they will still be worth more alive than dead and will continue to be indefinitely.
This is the brave new world of carbon farming-growing trees purely for the carbon credits.
3. Research You May Be Missing
Interested in what your colleagues have been reading? Below are the top most downloaded articles from each of SAF's scientific journal publications for the month of April.
The Right to Risk in Wilderness (Journal of Forestry Vol. 104, No. 3)
Carbon in Northern Forests (Forest Science Vol. 57, No. 6)
Effects of Basal Area Factor and Plot Size on Precision and Accuracy of Forest Inventory Estimates (Northern Journal of Applied Forestry Vol. 28, No. 3)
Rotation-Age Results from a Loblolly Pine Spacing Trial (Southern Journal of Applied Forestry Vol. 36, No. 1)
Shifting Public Values for Forest Management: Making Sense of Wicked Problems (Western Journal of Applied Forestry Vol. 14, No. 1)
To see the complete top 10 most downloaded article lists, visit the publications page on the SAF website, click on the journal you wish to view, then click the Most Downloaded Articles link.
Your Gold- or Platinum-level membership in SAF entitles you to free access to all journal content, but you need to register with IngentaConnect to get it.
Questions? Contact Matthew Walls.
III. Science and Technology
1. Global Warming Threatens Pine Forests, Forcing Federal Officials to Shift Strategy
Washington Post (May 13) - Scientists know that global warming will reshape the high-elevation pine forests of the West, which provide crucial habitat and food for key species, curb soil erosion, and slow melting snow destined for local water supplies. What they don't yet understand is which trees are best poised to survive under these changed conditions and how they can help them adapt in the decades to come.
2. When, Where, and How Wood Is Used Impact Carbon Emissions from Deforestation
University of California-Davis (May 14) - A new study from the University of California-Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, published May 13 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, reports that the volume of greenhouse gas released when a forest is cleared depends on how the trees will be used and in which part of the world the trees are grown.
3. US Forest Service Considers Using Explosives to Bring Down Trees
Missoulian (May 13) - Paul Bunyan wouldn't have known what to make of Gordon Ash's little logging crew in the Pioneer Mountains last week. Instead of axes or saws, the US Forest Service team went after trees with sticks of high explosive.
Blasting trees makes sense in certain situations. Insect-killed trees in particular can pose hazards that healthy forests don't. They often rot from the inside, making them prone to shattering or falling in unpredictable directions. Put that rotten tree on a cliffy hillside over a road, and there's no safe way for a lumberjack or mechanical cutter to cut it down.
IV. SAF News
1. 2012 Elections Information for Vice-President and Council
The Society of American Foresters is now accepting nominations for vice-president and Council. Visit the National Elections page on the SAF website for additional information.
2. Receive a $100 Discount and Help New Members Save 30 Percent on Membership
Recruit a member and save big money on your membership dues. For every new or reinstating member recruited, you receive $20 off your national membership dues over the next 5 years of membership. Plus, the person you recruit will receive a 30 percent discount. These discounts are valid only if both the recruiting member and recruited member maintain their membership for five consecutive years. Student memberships are not eligible for this program.
See full details and download and submit an application via the SAF website. For assistance call (866) 897-8720, ext.110. Be sure to request special recruitment cards to pass out to potential members.
3. Ben Meadows Offering Two $2,500 Natural Resource Scholarships
Once again, the Society of American Foresters is pleased to announce two scholarships offered by Ben Meadows and administered by SAF. The scholarships, one for academic achievement and one based on leadership, are each worth $2,500.
Applications are due by June 30, 2012. Instructions, complete requirements, and the application form can be found on the Ben Meadows website.
4. Free Webinars Beginning in May
Earn three category one Continuing Forestry Education credits when you participate in this three-part series of free webinars coming in May. Visit the SAF website to register.
Hosted by LaserTech, the webinar series will be led by Derrick Reish, Steve Colburn, and Mark Isley.
GIS / Forestry – Laser Mapping
Wednesday, May 23, 9:00 am (MST)
Webinar participants will go into depth about laser and compass measurement technology. Learn how easy it can be to integrate mapping lasers with popular field data collection software. From establishing a reference point to transferring your collected data into a GIS, this series covers it all.
Tree Hypsometry – Vegetation
Thursday, May 31, 9:00 am (MST)
The second session in the series will go indepth into laser measurements and modes, including a 3-step height and 2-step missing line routine. Discover right-of-way tree assessments and maintenance in regards to danger tree and vegetation clearances. Learn how taking ground measurements cannot only be safe, but extremely efficient using the latest in laser technology.
Timber Cruising – In/Out Sampling & Diameters
Tuesday, June 19, 9:00 am (MST)
In the third and final installment, participants learn how to take tree heights and percent slope measurements as well as performing In/Out determination of borderline trees using the BAF factor. Learn how to make accurate diameter measurements and easily determine heights at which specific diameters occurs.
Plan Your Travel to 2012 Convention Now with the SAF Travel Site
Secure your room in beautiful Spokane, Washington, for the 2012 SAF National Convention. SAF members can get discounted rooms, flights, and rental cars with the travel portal. For complete 2012 SAF National Convention details visit the SAF convention website.
Alumni Receptions at SAF Convention
Don't forget to reserve space for your alumni reception at the 2012 convention in Spokane. For more information, visit the SAF Convention website.6. NEW SAF Stainless Steel Bottle in the SAF Store
Stay hydrated with SAF's rugged new stainless steel bottle. It holds 25 ounces of your favorite beverage, with a quick-release carabiner clip for secure stowage from your belt loop or pack. The bottle is screened with SAF's two-toned logo and it's BPA free. Check it out here. It can be yours for just $12.95.
7. Special Coupon for the Candidate Certified Forester Application!
SAF Certified Forester Program - From now until December 31, receive $65 off the Candidate Certified Forester Application with this SAF coupon.
Note: the coupon must be submitted at the time of application.
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Copyright 2012 Society of American Foresters
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5400 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814-2198
P: 301.897.8720 - toll free: 866.897.8720 - Email: safweb@safnet.org - Contact Us