With My Lifelong Love of Nature - Every Day Is Earth Day

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Get My Handmade in my Bonanza Booth or my Etsy Shop -- or Privately

My "Avatar" or Identifying Icon - A Crochet Tapestry of Nature on Earth!

So-o-o .............. It's Earth Day!!

Well, I'll tell you - it sure is glad to see that there is Worldwide acknowledgement of the need for support of an "environmental movement" on our planet!

But for me - well!  It is ALWAYS ON MY MIND!!

Yes - we need to take care of our environment - to learn to take it into consideration in all our daily activities - at Home, at Work, at Play.

I LOVE the Nature on this planet - from Pets and Plants at Home - to Trees everywhere - to Mountains, Valleys, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, Fields ..... !

One of the reasons I chose the place I live right now is that I can walk outside and Be In Nature - all I have to do is walk out, walk off the porch and starting walking around under Trees and by Bushes, watch the Birds (lots of Ravens live here) - not as great as being in Wilderness - but good enough for "instant Nature"!

I try to live "Green" - Green Commute, Green Economy, Conservation of Water, Energy - Recycling, Re-using - it is a way of LIFE for me!

And I show it in my Arts and Crafts - Photography, Crochet Tapestry, Filet Crochet, Knitting Intarsia -- and here are a few examples of how I Celebrate Nature on Earth!!!

From Giant Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada .......

....To the Bird Feeder with Birds in a Tree outside an apartment I lived in .....

...... to a Scene on a back road in the Santa Monica Mountains ......

.... to fields I walked through in the Antelope Valley!!

..... to making a "Tree Tapestry" Pillow - every stitch my own .....

.... to crocheting in Fine Threads the type of Mountain Cabin scene I love ......

.... to figuring out how to crochet a Bouquet in a Vase, so it looked like the Cabbage Roses I saw on a Walk!!

To a little thing like this Key Chain with Irish Crochet Roses and Leaves!

Well, I have the Nature on Earth Every Day in my life, because I want to - and I share it with others!  Do You???

Writing Letters to Save the Tongass National [Rain] Forest -- Again!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE
 -- and in the SHOPPING MALL by PAYVMENT on FACEBOOK



It seems like it has been going on forever - the ecological riches of Alaska - those who want to "plunder" them for short-term economic gain -- and those who are forever fighting to Save them because of their Global Ecological significance!



Though I had heard about it before, it was when I acquired the book by Robert Glenn Ketchum, "THE TONGASS ALASKA'S VANISHING RAINFOREST" (copyright 1987) in 1988 that I saw the riches of that forest in his photographs and read about his on-the ground adventures there.  Though I have never been there, this book brought me closer to what is really there.

MY PHOTO OF MY COPY OF ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM'S BOOK ON THE TONGASS

Here are two Quotes From "The Refuge of the Rain Forest" in "THE TONGASS ALASKA'S VANISHING RAINFOREST" by Robert Glenn Ketchum with Carey D. Ketchum:

"As we flew over the monumental landscape in a tiny bush plane, the greenness of the world below commanded all out attention.  Green of a richness unlike any shade of this color you have ever known.  Green of more varieties and nuances than you can imagine.  Green in every crack in every wall. Green covering the floors of the valley.  Green
even in the milky waters flowing out of the glaciers.  And everywhere that it is green, life abounds."

"Old-growth temperate rainforest once dominated the West Coast from Northern California to Kodiak Island in Alaska.  Remnants of old growth, such as the Hohn Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, are scattered along the Pacific Coast.  But, beautiful as they are, they are only remnants.  The Tongass is a world
unto itself, and for centuries it has remained virtually undisturbed.  Now a forest that has achieved full maturity, it has reached a steady state, encompassing trees of all ages, dominated by old monarchs of large size.  Beneath their canopy, younger trees grow toward the light, ready to replace any of the giants that might succumb to wind, rot, insects, or disease.  In the understory, herbs, shrubs, and vines grow in profusion.  Old trees that die and fall open windows to the sky that are filled by the most vigorous younger trees.  Lichens and moss grow everywhere on the forest floor as well as in the canopy.  The decaying trunks of trees that have fallen become "nurse" logs, simultaneously decomposing into soil and serving as seedbeds for new growth.  Biologists refer to this as a forest of uneven age, and consider it to be the most productive and diverse."

I don't know how to communicate to the readers the vast Ecological Value of this National [Rain] Forest - except by sharing with you photos and what others have written and said about it.

 -- Here is a video from Audobon Alaska -- it says and shows the key points on protecting this Global Treasure!!                                                               

In a recent response to the recent attempts of a corporation, Sealaska Corporation, to acquire 65,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest for them to commercially log - including clear-cutting Old Growth trees - for their corporate short-term gain - apparently with no consideration for the Ecological Values of this land or with any 
attempt at conserving these Globally significant values - 300 scientists (listed in the document) wrote this "An Open Letter from Over 300 Scientists on Protecting the Tongass National Forest", which is embedded at the end of this post!



For me it is all pretty much covered in this statement in this Letter, which has a number of Footnotes referencing research and statements from prominent scientists in Forestry Resources and Research:

"When rainforests are logged, much of their stored carbon is released as a greenhouse gas pollutant during site preparation, manufacture, and transport of wood products, which in the case of the Tongass, involves long distances to the Pacific Rim. These losses are not made up by storing carbon temporarily in wood products or by  planting trees, as the on-site reduction in carbon storage from logging takes at least 200 years to return to about the same amount of stored carbon in the uncut old-growth forest."

The reference (5) for this statement in the letter is:
5Harmon ME, Ferrell WK, Franklin JF. 1990. Effects on carbon storage of conversion of old-growth forests to young forests. Science 247:699–702. -- 



 -- including a Forestry Scientist who I have known of for years - and who I have heard speak -- and even emailed with some:  Dr. Jerry F. Franklin -- so I personally feel I can trust this data!!



200 years at least to attempt to restore the same amount of stored carbon that would be released if this Old Growth in the Tongass National Forest is logged???? 


-- And I am afraid that I am not sure of any guarantees of that restoration happening it in that time - with current conditions and Climate Change, we may never be able to have this same Old Growth that they want to remove - again!!  I heard this being discussed by scientists at a Science Workshop in 1999 put on by the Sierra Nevada Framework of the US Forest Service.



We don't have the 200 years on Earth, anyway, I am afraid -- We simply cannot afford to allow such logging in the Tongass National Forest.


How much more do you want to read to be convinced??



I am writing my Senators and the President in this case -- it is said that even if they already agree with you, they need to receive comments to support and back their positions on these things -- so write I will!!




Do you want to?? -- You can!! -- Comments on public lands are allowed - and even welcomed by some - in the United States of America!!


For further Scientific and Agricultural reading -- you might want to check these papers online:

1. HOW MUCH WILL FEEDING MORE AND WEALTHIER PEOPLE ENCROACH ON FORESTS by Paul E. Waggoner and Jessie H. Ausubel
2. LIGHTENING THE TREAD OF POPULATION ON THE LAND by Paul E. Waggoner, Jessie H. Ausubel and Iddo K. Werrick
3. Higher density means world forests are capturing more carbon
4. Searching for Leverage to Conserve Forests:The Industrial Ecology of Wood Products in the United States

An Open Letter from Over 300 Scientists on Protecting the Tongass National Forest

Deadline for Comments on Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan - Extended

Ruth Sandra Sperling





As I have been posting here about the Giant Sequoias and the Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan - I thought I would post an Update!

The U.S. Forest Service has extended the official Comment Period for submitting comments on this Management Plan one month - until December 3rd, 2010!!

So, if you would still like to -- you can still submit your comments during an official comment period.

Being public lands, public can always make comments on the Giant Sequoia National Monument, but getting them in during official comment periods mean that your comments are counted in their evaluation for the Final Environmental Impact Statement - in this case, an official Management Plan based on President Clinton's Presidential Proclamation!

I wrote some comments in a previous blog post about my choice of Alternative - Alternative C - with some specific comments, but when I wrote my letter, I went "all-out", as they say -- it ended up 9 pages long!! I want Natural Processes restored as much as possible!!!

But this is an important issue for me - for me, all the meetings, and documents and comments by me and others have been totally worth it!! I wanted to know what was going on with this forest, which is one of my favorites of all I have been in -- and I found out!!

So, if you want to make some comments still - Go for it!!

Time for Comments on the 2010 Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan

Ruth Sandra Sperling
- in Southern California





It is time -- for me to make my public statements regarding the writing of the Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument (GSNM) as regards to the current Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) of August 2010. Since 2000, I have been to numerous public meetings discussing the issues surrounding this monumental job of managing the Giant Sequoia ecosystem for resiliency and ecological integrity.

I have written about this a number of different times here on my blog -- see the blog articles under the label of Giant Sequoia National Monument.

If you choose to, you, too, can make comments on the Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan before the Comment Period ends on November 3rd, 2010.

-- You can mail comments to (they need to be postmarked November 3, 2010):

Anne Thomas, Team Leader
Giant Sequoia National Monument
1839 South Newcomb Street
Porterville, CA 93257

-- Or Fax them to (559) 781-4744 (which is what I am doing)

-- or go to the Limehouse Portal, join online and make your comments within that format online.

Here are my comments on this matter that is so important to me -- for my blog!!

After attending public meetings regarding the management of the Sequoia National Forest, the establishment of the Giant Sequoia National Monument and the development of its management plan -- and studying various pieces of information that I learned either by listening to discussions and presentations or reading documents regarding managing the Giant Sequoia ecosystem, including regeneration of Giant Sequoias -- and now having reviewed the Alternatives presented in the current Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the GSNM, I have come to my own conclusion on what is best for this Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

This is my own conclusion -- not offered by anyone to me specifically -- and this is a matter of personal integrity for me, as I feel with the options available and the management direction that will get the results I am hoping for -- it is the only choice.

My choice is Alternative C - not the Preferred Alternative of the Forest Service, Alternative B. I am not sure what the Forest Service will do, so in my comments, in addition to stating that I want Alternative C, I am stating some of the specifics of it that I like -- so that these specifics can be incorporated into a modification of Alternative B, if that is what is done.

Here I am going to quote the "Alternative Theme" for Alternative C from the DEIS and several key statements regarding it exactly:

"Alternative C would protect the objects of interest and manage Monument resources to promote resiliency, adaptability to climate change, and heterogeneity across ecosystems. This alternative responds to the issues of managing the Monument like Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and fire spreading to tribal lands. It was developed to manage the Monument similar to SEKI in a manner that is consistent with Forest Service regulation and the direction of the Clinton proclamation. It was determined that some management policies or direction from the SEKI would not be applicable to the Monument because of difference in law, regulation, and policy for the two federal agencies. In this alternative, restoration activities would focus on area that have been affected by human use and occupation."

And here are I am going to quote some specific statements from the Alternative C details - as these details are why I think this will make the best Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

"Protection of Objects of Interest: "Alternative C focuses on allowing natural processes, limiting treatments to areas of human use and influence. To address fuels buildup, it allows limited mechanical treatments, with diameter limits for tree cutting, and subject to the restrictions in the Clinton proclamation and focuses treatments on both prescribed fire and naturally occurring fire. …."

"Promotion of Resiliency: Alternative C would emphasize resource conservation that allows natural processes to prevail and focuses on the restoration of natural processes to areas altered by human use by employing tactics that minimize the tools used for restoration."

"Promotion of Heterogeneity: Alternative C focuses on allowing natural processes, limiting treatments to areas of human use. To promote heterogeneity, it would use both prescribed and naturally occurring fire."

"Recreation Opportunities: …. The alternative proposes to change the current recreation opportunities by focusing on developed recreation sites with new development in recreation opportunity areas."

Here are 2 more quotes from the "Resource Areas" section of the Detail on Alternative C, detailing the perspective of The National Park Service, which is what this Alternative C is based on (from page 89 of the DEIS):
"The National Park Service uses the best available technology, within available
resources, to restore the biological and physical components of these systems, accelerating both their recovery and the recovery of landscape and biological community structure and function. …. When a park development is damaged or destroyed and replacement is necessary, the development will be replaced or relocated so as to promote the restoration of natural resources and processes."

" The [National Park] Service will seek to return human-disturbed areas to the natural conditions and processes characteristic of the ecological zone in which the damaged resources are situated."

My decision is based on the fact that, based on scientific discussions I have heard and read, I feel the following points are extremely important in managing the Giant Sequoia National Monument -- and that Alternative C incorporates them and operates per them the best.

1. Ecosystem management
2. The only way to achieve resiliency for the ecosystem (and sub-ecosystems) that the Giant Sequoia National Monument is, is through constant and current on-going site-specific analysis and research to develop current, new science, as needed -- using the methodology of adaptive management to do actions on the land.
3. Fire is the First Tool of Choice -- and that includes managed wildfire of unplanned ignitions (also called Wildland Fire Use). You can study the characteristics of the Mediterranean Climate that the Giant Sequoia National Monument is part of to understand this more fully.
4. Though there are definitely trade-offs between vegetation management, fire and fuels management and wildlife and plant habitat management, I feel that The National Park Service direction to return human-disturbed areas to the natural conditions and processes is the best and will result in the most optimum balance between all managements and less negative impacts to the Wildlife and Plant (including trees) Habitat on the GSNM.
5. Though Recreation and Scenery are important for Tourism and the people who visit the GSNM, I feel that the Ecological Integrity and Resiliency of the ecosystem is of higher importance overall and that when setting priorities, Ecological needs should outrank Recreation and Scenery -- otherwise, I am afraid we would end up with a trampled forest, not a healthy forest. I suggest reading The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold in his book, "A Sand County Almanac"!!
6. There definitely needs to be current scientific criteria for determining which trees are to be removed so that the Clinton Presidential Proclamation is complied with: “Removal of trees except for personal use fuel wood, from within the monument area may only take place if clearly needed for ecological restoration and maintenance or public safety (Clinton 2000, p.24097).”
7. Dr. Nathan Stephenson, who has many years of experience in restoration and regeneration, including on-going research, in The Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Service, stated during the discussions of the Scientific Advisory
Board Meetings in March 2003 (I was there personally and heard it and noted it) that gaps for regeneration result in more successful regeneration of Giant Sequoias - if you burn the hole (gap). As Giant Sequoias are “shade-intolerant” species and require a certain amount of light and fire for ecological health, burning the hole (gap) for regeneration accomplishes both - of course, it needs to be done in safe conditions.

Since the 1980’s, I have spent time in what is now the Giant Sequoia National Monument Lands - unfortunately I saw huge trucks with large logs on them from logging operations; I saw a slashed clear-cut on a back road of the Southern Portion of the Giant Sequoia National Monument west of the Western Divide Highway and east of the Tule River Indian Reservation. I have seen and photographed re-planted areas that look like orchards of trees - looking all the same age (even-aged), looking all the same species (homogeneous) - in the vicinity of Nobe Young Meadow on the "Road to Windy Gap" - not too far from the Peyrone Giant Sequoia Grove.

I have been going to forests since I was a child - in early years with my family, in later years on my own or with friends. I know from personal experience what a real forest or woods are. Due to the past history of logging, homogeneous planting and fire suppression in the Sequoia National Forest, there are areas of the Giant Sequoia National Monument that are not, from my own personal observation, "real" forest. With no personal offense to the current managers of the Giant Sequoia National Monument, I am concerned for the health of this forest ecosystem, hence my choices and opinions above.

My fervent wish is that we can "fix" some of the mistakes of the past and restore the whole ecosystem to a level of health in our current climate conditions, so the forest continues to survive, as the scientists and Forest Services calls it - be resilient - for our pleasure and our health!!

The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a vast mix of living organisms that respond to current conditions and require certain conditions to be healthy, just like you and me. I believe that it will come down to a large amount of continued current on-going, on-site, site-specific analysis and research to see what works NOW!!

I feel that managing the Giant Sequoia National Monument as closely as possible like the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park -- and collaborating and co-operating with them and their scientists -- is the only proper way to do it. After all -- the Giant Sequoia National Monument and the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park are physically "intertwined" and are both part of the whole Giant Sequoia ecosystem.

PLEASE NOTE: The above is not exactly my official Comment Letter on the 2010 DEIS for the Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan. Some of the statements in this blog post are duplicated in my Comment Letter or reflect my statements in it.

ALSO: For information on the Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan public process - the Science Data including many documents - and the comments of the Science Review Panel with Sequoia National Forest Responses -- click on the linking phrases!!

If you have read all of this -- I hope you have found this informative - and interesting -- this is all the opinion of Ruth Sandra Sperling (no one else and I do not represent any organization). Why??? Because the Giant Sequoias are important to me -- and I want to share it with the world!!

A New Year's Resolution -- to Support Activities That Can Help Slow Global Warming

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items In Fibers



Global Warming -- one of the Hottest subjects around these days!!

To start off and establish my stand on this issue, I would like to quote Louis Blumberg of The Nature Conservancy California Office, who works in Forestry and Climate Change for them, from the article, "The Carbon Equation, Can Forests Save Us From Climate Change?" by Jane Braxton Little in the Winter 2009 edition of Nature Conservancy Magazine:

"Nature is our greatest ally in the fight against climate change."

Why quote him? Because that is totally how I feel and I feel that is the only realistic solution to what I call "un-natural Global Warming".

I am not always sure that people understand it overall. Some do and some don't. Climate Change to some degree happens naturally and geologically all the time on our planet. Geologically there are warming periods and cooling periods. If you read scientific journals and about Geology and about Paleontology, you will see discussions about it and varying opinions. Historically on Earth, there is documented information about warming periods and cooling periods in past centuries and eras -- and what happened as a result of these warming and cooling periods.

To some extent, some scientists are trying to make predictions based on historical occurrences on the planet -- and based on scientific documentation of evidence of Global Warming now -- such as glaciers and ice sheets melting.

The huge question seems to be -- how much of this Global Warming is natural, since the planet is in a geological warming period anyway? And how much of it can we do anything about to slow Global Warming and protect our own human habitat?

As an environmentalist, forests are some of my favorite places to go and get protected and therefore study, so I will focus on this.

Being in a warming period is significant to forestry scientists as it affects the species in the forests -- and the health of certain species in the forests and their growth -- and possibly significant changes in the makeup of a forest ecosystem - whether it is natural warming and/or the result of human-caused warming.

Various human actions on the planet affect Global Warming by increasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere -- various activites directly related to the industrial age for sure increase carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

But one of the human activites that has resulted in a high percentage of carbon emissions is that of Deforestation and Forest Degradation -- and that we can do something about. And this is the main point of this blog article.

Just looking at the fact of how much forest has been cut down over this planet in the last few centuries boggles the mind - at least mine. Looking at facts like part(s) of the Sahara Desert use to be forest that was cut down centuries ago (I don't know exactly what parts geographically) - this deforestation has been going on a long time -- and all the forests that have been and still are being cut down for building cities, towns, agricultural sites -- it looks to me like only a fraction of the original forest on our planet is left. And much did not come down naturally. As trees provide the natural benefits of holding water in the soils/lands, shading and keeping the lands cooler -- as well as storing carbon, it is obvious to me that cutting down huge areas of forest over the planet has contributed to Global Warming and that is human-caused!!

Therefore, we need to look at what we can do about it.

One of the Forestry scientists that I admire and respect for his perspective on forest, forest health and ecological integrity and forest restoration is Dr. Jerry F. Franklin, a Professor in Forest Resources at the University of Washington in the State of Washington.

I first became acquainted with his work in forestry when I became involved with the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign and their Conservation Strategy for the Management of the Sierra Nevada National Forests; this Conservation Strategy is based on the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project (SNEP - http://ceres.ca.gov/snep/), which was commissioned by the United States Congress -- and Dr. Jerry F. Franklin is one of the SNEP authors. He also was one of the speakers at the Sierra Nevada Old Forests Public Science Workshop put on by the Sierra Nevada Framework for Conservation and Collaboration, Pacific Southwest Region and Research of the USDA Forest Service on August 24-25, 1999 at UC Davis -- which I attended.

Earlier this year, I emailed Dr. Jerry F. Franklin particularly about his opinion regarding the role of forests in dealing with Global Warming -- and I got his permission to quote him:

"Ruth: Actually we have a much greater percentage of the forest remaining on the
planet than 4% although I cannot tell you the exact percentage. Certainly the
forests do help cool things but, preversely, they may also help warm the planet
as well, due to the fact that they have such a low albedo -- i.e., they retain
most of the energy that they absorb from the sun. It really is very complicated
and I don't think that we have it all figured out yet. Certainly, we should not
be cutting down any of our remaining old-growth forests in the moist temperate
regions and in dry forest regions, like much of the Sierras, we should be
retaining all of the old trees and trying to grow more big old trees, as well,
since they are likely to be more resistent to both wildfire and climate change.

Planting trees is certainly a good thing to be doing and they certainly
can modify the environments in places that we live as well as help modify carbon
balances and climate throughout the globe. Fundamentally a good thing to do. On
the other hand, it is very important to do some active forest restoration in the
Sierra Nevada because many of the forests in your area are simply too dense for
their own good. Any restoration should retain the old trees and, even more,
enhance their potentiall for survival by removing fuels and competing vegetation
around the existing old trees. There is a very good recent PSW Research Station
General Technical Report by Malcolm North and others that has some very good
recommendations for restoring the mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada.
Jerry"

I noted here in his statement that not only planting trees is important, but proper management of the forests -- to not be too dense and to "enhance their potential for survival by removing fuels and competing vegetation around the existing old trees" -- this is something I learned about when listening to forestry scientists talk about "protecting Old Growth", which also means encouraging "Old Growth characterisitics", which in many cases will require the removal of smaller, undergrowth trees and the competing vegetation (as Dr. Jerry F. Franklin states) to allow the larger trees to grow even larger -- as well as not removing the Old Growth, which is the popular environmental stand! It is faster-growing trees with large canopies that will naturally store carbon through the natural process of Photosynthesis.

There are various projects and studies going on -- and with the advent of the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) and California Assembly Bill 32, it looks like carbon offset programs by protecting and managing private forests for "forest carbon offset credits" may result in more.

One such forest project being managed is in fact a forest restoration project which The Nature Conservancy got involved with as a partner by paying for a Conservation Easement on a working forest prohibiting future development and managing this forest for restoration and carbon-sequestering potential. It is presently a relaitvely young Northern California Coastal Redwood forest that has been commercially logged again and again in the past by timber companies - but the fast-growing young trees in this Coastal Redwood forest have a huge potential for storing carbon as they grow per scientific analysis -- and this is proving to be a successful source of forest carbon credits. It is the "Garcia River Forest Project" -- my information is from The Nature Conservancy article quoted at the beginning of this blog post, which is online at http://www.nature.org/magazine/winter2009/features/index.html -- and from The Nature Conservancy website: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/work/art23798.html .

One solution -- support Forestry Projects such as this to slow Global Warming!!

Another Solution from The Nature Conservancy -- Plant A Billion Trees in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil: http://www.plantabillion.org/ (the widget for this is on the left here on my blog!!)

Another solution, this one from Conservation International -- support the Actions being taken by Conservation International to Stabilize Climate through their programs for "Protecting forests and other ecosystems as a solution to climate change" as given at http://www.conservation.org/learn/climate/Pages/overview.aspx :

1. Saving Forests http://www.conservation.org/forests
2. High Forest Cover, Low Deforestation (HFLD) http://www.conservation.org/learn/climate/pages/climate_change_hfld.aspx
3. Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) http://www.conservation.org/learn/climate/pages/climate_redd.aspx

TAKE ACTION BY PROTECTING AN ACRE OF FOREST THROUGH CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOR $15 http://www.conservation.org/protectanacre

Also, one of my favorite solutions to suggest to people to help with reducing some carbon emissions in their everyday lives -- is to buy and do Handmade!! There are so many ways to do this!!

Handmade causes much lower, if any, carbon emissions.

My Handmade crocheted and knitted items (for sale at http://rssdesignsinfiber.etsy.com/ ), made by either natural light or various forms of energy-saving flourescent lighting, certainly results in less carbon emissions than the similar items that are mass-produced on machines which generate lots of carbon emissions. There are many places where you can buy Handmade online - I am on http://www.etsy.com/, which is a website for Sellers and Buyers of Handmade, Vintage and Supplies for Handmade.

Also -- I encourage Local Harvest and getting foods locally as much as possible as that is part of a "low carbon" life, also!!

Resolutions can be a good thing -- they are postulates for what you choose to do in your life -- New Year has been a popular time of the year to make them, though I personally believe you should not limit yourself to just then to make Resolutions for living a better life!!

And I can't think of a better New Year's Resolution than to find ways to live your life and support activities that can help SLOW Global Warming!!

Angeles National Forest - Along the Metrolink Tracks

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items In Fibers


Even though the skies have been clear over my house with no noticeable smell of smoke (at least to me), the Station Fire is not totally out yet and I am still checking the InciWeb Incident Site for the Station Fire whenever I sign on the Internet.

I think this InciWeb Site is really great for the people in the communities around the Angeles National Forest - or for anyone who cares about what is actually going on. I do not depend on the news reports, though I do occasionally read news articles online and check the pictures and videos. I like really being informed!!

Well, Monday and Tuesday this week I also went down to Los Angeles on the Metrolink train - it runs on tracks east of the Freeway, Highway 14, and through areas of the Angeles National Forest - mostly west of the Station Fire as far as I knew, but I wasn't sure what I would see on the train trip.

I watched carefully for signs of the Station Fire and I am happy to report that there were very few signs of it, though it looked like there was some blackened land back in the mountains east of Acton. The familiar trees and bushes mostly looked they always had - including Thousand Oaks (which was evacuated for a few days).

Basically, the Fire-Fighting Crews were quite successful at containing the Station Fire on the western edge - including keeping it out of Placerita Canyon and away from Sylmar and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, which is quite a relief!!

They also kept it contained enough to keep it out of the east Antelope Valley, where I live!

Though they are still working on the containment line - and there are still hot spots - it is now 93% contained and the full containment date is now Sept. 22nd.

I am not surprised it is taking so long - I can just imagine the fire creeping through the brush and chaparral in the crevices and canyons -- in past years I spent enough time up there to realize the terrain that the Fire-Fighting crews are dealing with -- especially with chaparral communities that have been growing for years and years and have not burned for 40 years or more. I can just imagine the walls of chaparral in some areas!

I am just Hugely Thankful that the crews have enough experience and training to do what they are doing!!

In our Mediterranean Climate of our California forests, I have had to face and deal with the fact of fire in these forests for years now. Having talked with Fire and Fuels Specialists in the California region of the US National Forests at Public Meetings, I have learned a lot.

Our beautiful landscapes of California unforutnately have droughts, fires and floods -- but the way they evolved, they are well-suited to recovery.

This so un-natural fire happened and now all I can personally do is look to the recovery.

GIANT SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT - Ongoing Public Process

Ruth Sandra Sperling


There is currently a public comment period right now for the public to comment on the DRAFT ALTERNATIVES for the Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

This Ongoing Public Process is based on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) , which though documented at the link provided, is explained in more common language at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act .

Here is the web page covering the current development of the Giant Sequoia National Monument (GSNM) Management Plan: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm_planning.html

You can read the proposed DRAFT ALTERNATIVES online in the Monument Public Commenting Portal. The documents are downloadable in pdf form there.

You can make (write) comments on them and mail them to:

Sequoia National Forest
Giant Sequoia National Monument
1839 South Newcomb Street
Porterville, CA 93257-9353

- or fax them to the Forest Supervisor's office at (559) 781-4744.

Calling up and leaving comments is a little difficult, but the phone number for their main office in Portervill, CA is (559) 784-1500.

This is just a small part of an Ongoing Public Process for managing one of the most ecologically significant ecosystems in the Continental United States - the Giant Sequoia ecosystem, which is a globally significant biodiversity hotspot within a globally significant biodiversity hotspot (the Sierra Nevada) within a larger globally significant biodiversity hotspot (the California Floristic Province) - check out Conservation International on the importance and locations of biodiversity hotspots!

Our National Forests and all public lands are for public use -- so us public can voice our opinions about how they are run. Some things are just Congressional and then you voice your opinions to Senators and Congressmen or Congresswomen, but this is about writing mangement plans for our public forests -- and public can also read public documents and voice their opinions about the management of the public lands!!

After the GSNM DRAFT ALTERNATIVES, the next step is the GSNM Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Watch for upcoming news -- sign up on the Monument Public Commenting Portal!!


HISTORY:

On April 15, 2000, history was made when President Bill Clinton did the Presidential Proclamation establishing the Giant Sequoia National Monument, which you can read yourself at the link!!

But since that date, there has been a series of management and legal activities resulting in the current ongoing public process to get a Management Plan written and implemented that will accomplish the goals of the original Presidential Proclamation!

Yes - it has been going on over 9 years!!

But, if you have ever been to the Sequoia National Forest and what is now the Giant Sequoia National Monument -- and realize the extent of the logging (including removal of actual Giant Sequoias over a hundred years ago) -- and the ramifications of the years of logging there, you would understand, like I do -- that writing an implementable Management Plan that will accomplish the goals of the Presidential Proclamation, as quoted from the Presidential Proclamation itself (page 3 of the proclamation or page 24097 of the Federal Register) below, is no easy accomplishment!

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States
of America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Act of
June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are
hereby set apart and reserved as the Giant Sequoia National Monument,
for the purpose of protecting the objects identified in the above preceding
paragraphs, all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the
United States within the boundaries of the area described on the map
entitled ‘‘Proposed Giant Sequoia National Monument’’ attached to and forming
a part of this proclamation."

I went to meetings in various places around southern California for the discussion and public forum for establishing the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

It was in 2001 that I started going to public meetings, including meetings of the Scientific Advisory Board established per the Presidential Proclamation (see page 4 of the proclamation or page 24098 of the Federal Register), to find out what was going on regarding the management of the new Giant Sequoia National Monument.

I learned a tremendous amount listening to U S Forest Service staff and various agency and private scientists discuss the Giant Sequoia ecosystem and its current conditions and how to restore it to what is considered the desirable condition.

I also chose the scientists that I feel are the best to recommend the scientific methods to be used and how to develop the science for this particular ecosystem: Dr. David Graber of the National Park Service and Dr. Nathan Stephenson of the USGS -- and the SNEP authors and other scientists who agree with them.

If you are unfamiliar with what is going on, you might want to read the documents on the following list, which is linked:

-- GSNM DOCUMENTS AT http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm_planning.html
-- Summary of the Interpretations of the Monument Proclamation prepared by Carie Fox as of May 2009 http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/carie_summary_interp_Proc.pdf
-- Sequoia National Forest Interpretation of the Proclamation dated May 22, 2009 http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/sqf_interp_Proc.pdf
-- Strategic Framework of June 2009 at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/061009_Strategic_Framework.pdf
-- 2008 Symposium Speaker's Presentations at http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/southernsierrascience/speakers/
-- Science Advisories of the GSNM Scientific Advisory Board (2003) at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/advisories.html


Also, as regards the Scientific Advisory Board and the current process developing the Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument, and having attended the majority of the public meetings where they discussed what the Management Plan should be, I have the following comment to make public:

I have read in the Interpretations of the GSNM Presidential Proclamation about
the different views regarding the Scientific Advisory Board with the remanding
(invalidating) of the original Management Plan/Record of Decision from Art
Gaffrey.

As that (original) Management Plan was totally remanded and a
judge ordered them to re-write it, I agree with View 1 stated in Carrie Fox's
Interpretation of the Proclamation:

"View 1: Since the management plan associated with the last Scientific Advisory Board was invalidated, this will be the “initial management plan” and therefore another Scientific Advisory Board is required—one that is empanelled in the same time period in which the plan is being formulated and that will have the opportunity to comment on the draft plan. In apparent support of this, the Proclamation states that the Scientific Advisory Board is to provide scientific advice during the development of the initial management plan. [Lines 147-154]"

- from pages 12 and 13
of http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/carie_summary_interp_Proc.pdf

That is all I have to say at this moment - except:

If you are so inclined -- I wish you Good Reading!!

Also, in 1999, when I first became aware of the planning going on for the National Forests of the Sierra Nevada, I spent some time in the then Sequioa National Forest, most of which became the Giant Sequoia National Monument. Being a landscape photographer, I took photographs of certain areas. Some of them I mounted. Below is a presentation I prepared. Both were taken in the Southern portion of the Giant Sequoia National Monument - off Western Divide Highway. The photograph on the left was taken in Long Meadow Grove on Western Divide Highway. The photograph on the right was taken on what I call the "Road to Windy Gap" - west of Western Divide Highway and around Nobe Young Meadow - an area that was definitely logged in the past.

One thing I would like to say about the differences between the Grove and the logged area, which is important to me: in the Giant Sequoia Grove there were birds singing and squirrels and chipmunks running around; in the logged area, it was totally quiet - no birds, no animals running around - which brings to mind Aldo Starker Leopold's comment about replanted clearcut areas or plantations: "...where a bluejay would have to pack a lunch to get across" (1978b, p.9). I love the birds and other wildlife in a forest and it "hurts" to see such logged areas!

Draw your own conclusions!!

UNTOUCHED OLD GROWTH FORESTS - THEIR BENEFIT TO PLANET HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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There has been quite a bit of discussion about Climate Change or Global Warming for some years now.

I have always been concerned about the Forests on the Planet - and the Forest Canopy - and the Forest Biodiversity -- and have been very worried for years about the land being hotter and drier because the Forests and their canopies, which keep the land cooler, have been reduced so much by logging.

Here are two articles from Ecological Internet covering the issue of untouched Old Growth Forests storing more carbon dioxide than logged forests.

1. August 4, 2008 http://forests.org/blog/2008/08/untouched-natural-forests-stor.asp

2. March 11, 2009 http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2009/03/keeping_old_forests_intact_and.asp

The information in both Internet articles are based on scientific research.

I recommend reading them.

Of course, I remember reading the essay by Aldo Leopold, "The Last Stand" which discusses also that "slashed" (another word for clearcut) forests do not grow trees as healthy as un-slashed forests -- and he is basing this on data from a forested area in Europe, where part of it was slashed several hundred years ago and part of it wasn't -- and comparing the tree growth in both areas.

Aldo Leopold points out that it is the biotic province of the soil, which is a source of nutrients for growing trees, that is negatively impacted by the logging/slashing/clearcutting.

(You can contact the Aldo Leopold Fundation, http://www.aldoleopold.org/, for a copy of this essay.)

The whole situation worries me no end.

You can restore wild forests, but scientists repeatedly say that they never grow the same as the original Old Growth did -- at least not in our lifetimes as we know it -- even with restoration.

And now the research data about how important untouched Old Growth forests are in terms of carbon sequestration.

It all comes down to overall planet health.

We all need to be aware of what is occurring on our planet and do what we can to contribute to changing how things are handled.

As I have covered in previous posts on Forests here on my blog, http://rssdesignsinfiber.blogspot.com/search/label/forests , we need to totally stop the logging of any Old Growth.

Keeping these untouched Old Growth forests around the world in their natural state and unfragmented may be one of the best things we can do overall, planet-wise.

I know there are those concerned with Fire Hazard, especially because of the situation with the increasing Human population which tends to spread to forested areas. But cleaning up the underbrush and understory by hand, and not with mechanical equipment, like native peoples and aborigines have for centuries, is the solution to Fire Hazard in these untouched Old Growth forests -- much Old Growth trees are naturally fire-resistant and can withstand low intensity, natural fires - or the low-intensity prescribed fires done to mimic the natural fires.

No more logging of Old Growth.


Ruth

Logged/Slashed Rainforests Are Regrowing, but Still Have Issues

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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I read 2 articles today concerning the conference/symposium at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. about the rainforests.

I don't really have all the data that was discussed or presented, but the 2 articles have slightly different perspectives.

Article from "Times Online": Apocalypse delayed: tropical forests fight back as farmers flee

Article from "globeandmail.com/science": Regrowing rain forests still have issues

Also interesting that both are from non-U.S. sources on the Internet, but the Smithsonian is in the United States. The "Times Online" is from London; the "globeandmail.com" is from Canada.

In the first article about "Apocalypse delayed", a Professor Laurance is quoted: “We are still having a devastating loss of forests. It’s just that there’s some suggestion now that it is partly offset by the regeneration of secondary forest.”

In the second article, other statements by the same Professor are given:

"But these young forests cannot support what the old-growth forests did, said William Laurence, also of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center." - and

“There's just no way that secondary forests are going to capture a lot of the biodiversity and critical ecosystem,” he said. “They're also much more vulnerable to fire.”

I find this discussion all very interesting. It made me think almost immediately of a chapter in Aldo Leopold's book, A Sand County Almanac, Part IV The Upshot, "Wilderness for Science" - where he discusses the value of wilderness for science. Here are 3 of my favorite quotes from this section on this subject in the order they are in this section of his book.

1. "Many forest plantations are producing one-log or two-log trees on soil which originally grew three-log or four-log trees. Why? Thinking foresters know that the cause probably lies not in the tree, but in the micro-flora of the soil, and that it may take more years to restore the flora than it took to destroy it."

....

2. "Palentology offers abundant evidence that wilderness maintained itself for immensely long periods; that its component species were rarely lost, neither did they get out of hand; that weather and water built soil as fast or faster than it was carried away. Wilderness, then, assumes unexpected importance as a laboratory for the study of land-health."

....

3. "One cannot study the physiology of Montana in the Amazon; each biotic province needs its own wilderness for comparative studies of used and unused land."

Also, it should be pointed out that they are discussing the first logging/slashing of the rainforest and the regrowth is secondary forest and seems to be natural regeneration, which is relatively good.

Referring to what Aldo Leopold stated about forest plantations with smaller trees (one-log is smaller than three-log or four-log) - quote #1 above - and what this Professor Laurance is quoted as saying, it is fairly obvious that the deforestation affected the micro-flora of the rainforest soil and that even though there is regrowth, the regrowth is not as strong as the original old growth that was in the rainforest.

But hopefully there is some native original rainforest in the same biotic province that can be studied for restoring more fully the regrowth, if some scientists will follow through with it!

I find it very interesting to apply what I have read in books to what is going on today in the world!!

Restoration can be done - and it is significant in the high biodiversity rainforests, even if the restored areas are not quite as good as the original forests.

If you are interested in the land health of this planet, I strongly encourage you to read Aldo Leopold's books, which you can find listed here: http://www.aldoleopold.org.

And if you are interested, you might want to take a look at my other posts under the Label "forest" here on my blog!

By the way, Aldo Leopold restored forest!!


Ruth

MY SMALL TOWN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAS SNOW - AND IT IS STICKING!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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My little town of a few thousand in the southeast portion of the Antelope Valley of Southern California, which is a High Desert, rarely gets snow - especially snow that "sticks". A few times over the 6 1/2 years since I moved here I have woken up to snow, but usually it is melted by around noon.

Not today!!

We have beautiful, beautiful snow -- and it is still snowing!!

I went out today to get something important, despite the snowing, and managed to get a ride home early. I wore boots, which was good, because my sidewalk and lawn in my yard had an accumulation of snow when I got home around noon and I actually made footprints in the snow!!

This is a first for me since I've lived in the Antelope Valley. The van I was in is properly equipped for driving safely in the snow at the time we were driving.

But the Antelope Valley is not really set up for this kind of weather and the public transportation system was in the process of shutting down until the weather "lets up" and it is safe for them to operate. We saw snow plows some on the streets and at a nearby gas station on the way home.

I come from the midwest - Chicago area to be exact - and I know how to deal with this weather.

Dressing properly was a good thing today!!

Actually, I am loving it, though I couldn't do some shopping I had planned. We need the precipitation in this part of the country to keep off a drought.

I have a bucket out there catching snow - when it melts, I am going to use the water/melted snow for watering plants instead of having it run down the sidewalk and driveway to who-knows-where.

I managed to get a few pictures so far.

My yard at 7 AM this morning.

My yard at around 1 PM today (deeper snow - it is piling up)!

A group of Old Growth trees in the back around 1 PM today.

Looking at the sky through one of the trees in my front yard around 1 PM.

This kind of weather is unusual in the valley of the High Desert here - and it is worth enjoying the benefits of different seasons.

YES, the snow is "sticking"!!!

I keep wondering how long it will last!!

Ruth

WINTER DESERT SKY IN THE ANTELOPE VALLEY

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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When I moved to the Antelope Valley -- the High Desert north of Los Angeles - it was for a number of reasons, but there were some real bonuses.

Where I reside, in the southeast corner of the Antelope Valley in the low foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, there are those mountains to the south and the Antelope Valley desert - the eastern edge of the great Mojave - to the south and east.

Last Friday, I was up early to go out and as I stepped out after the sun had risen, I was struck by the tones of the winter desert sky. Such muted tones, but beautiful.

Wanted to share it with you all.

The trees - the natural, native Old Growth in the back of the property where I live!!

Ruth

THE RIGHT WAY TO DO CARBON OFFSETS - PROTECT EXISTING OLD GROWTH FORESTS AND REPLANT HETEROGENEOUSLY MULTI-AGED

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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I just read an article on the Internet that was very upsetting to me.

http://www.climateark.org/blog/2008/12/light-redd-the-looming-tragedy.asp

It covers the problem with carbon offset funds somehow going to logging of primary old growth forests.

Folks - NO, NO, NO - that is not the right way to do carbon offsets.

The primary Old Growth forests on the planet are not supposed to be logged any longer - if absolutely necessary, based on current environmental analysis for fire hazard, small understory trees may need to be removed to protect the Old Growth and keep fire out of Old Growth and their tree canopies. Other than that, no tree removal in primary Old Growth forests should be done.

Carbon offsets are good for protecting Old Growth from removal.

And carbon offsets are good for restoring highly significant areas of forests that have been previously destroyed, such as the Atlantic Forest in Brazil.

Restoring means restoring - not planting so-called "tree-farms" for future logging or homogeneous even-aged tree plantings, either. Restoring means planting hetereogeneously (definition: in a way that is heterogeneous, which is defined as "consisting of or involving dissimilar elements or parts; not homogeneous"), which in terms of trees means planting different species and they should be native species to that forest eco-system. They should also do planting in small groups at different times, so it is not even-aged, but you end with trees of different ages. After a canopy is grown in the area, they should allow natural regeneration. Along with planting trees, the soil and its total underground biotic province needs to be restored.

I have seen a restored forest - restored from cleared land in an farming area in central Illinois - the woodlands of Robert Allerton Park are so beautiful, you can hardly believe that only a fraction of these woodlands are virgin forest. I went to the University of Illinois, which runs Robert Allerton Park, 1969 to 1972 and the canopied woodlands of Robert Allerton Park provided a wonderful place to hike. It was from the head Biologist at Robert Allerton Park, who was a professor at the University of Illinois, that I learned several years ago about the woodlands being to a large part a restored forest with a fraction of it being virgin forest. 1,000 acres of it are now a National Natural Landmark. I have also been told that this is a Regional Biodiversity Hotspot for that eco-region. During my hiking experiences there in the 1970 through 1980, which were truly wonderful for me, I had no idea that it was not a virgin forest. Read about it here: http://www.continuinged.uiuc.edu/oce-sites/allerton/history.cfm.

So, you see, from personal experience and knowledge, I know cleared forest land can be properly restored to be real forest and not a tree farm.

If you donate for carbon offsets, you need to make sure that the program you are donating to is really about restoring trees or protecting trees/land to the level where they actually do sufficient carbon sequestration as to count in offsetting carbon emissions and reducing globally the amount of carbon in this atmosphere - this issue is discussed in an article on Wikipedia, which is very interesting - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_Sequestration.

I mentioned the Atlantic Forest of Brazil here and in earlier posts - the Atlantic Forest of Brazil is listed as a globally significant Biodiversity Hotspot by the International Conservation Scientists of the organization, Conservation Internaltional, www.conservation.org.

Planting the area of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil is one of the programs being done by The Nature Conservancy - "Planting a Billion Trees" at www.nature.org.

Also, on The Nature Conservancy website is an "Ask the Conservationist" article from June 2008 on the subject of "Do Carbon Offsets Really Work?" -- http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=asktheconservationist_200806&JServSessionIdr012=3q075ukq61.app43a. Read this article and you will get a realistic answer.

I have discussed this matter several times in my blog posts and I go into information from a number of different scientifically based organizations in my posts - check here to read my earlier posts and get links to various organizations.

I love real forests - but it is more than my love of forests that is my motivation for writing my blog posts -we need live, carbon sequestering forests on this planet, in addition to reducing carbon emissions, for this planet and this web of life to be healthy for us humans to live in.

We all need to take responsibility for this condition.

TO LIFE!!

Ruth

UNITED NATIONS MAP SUPPORTS PROTECTION OF HIGH-PRIORITY LANDS GLOBALLY FOR CARBON STORAGE AND BIODIVERSITY

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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I found out about a pdf document on the internet from the
UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which they have named "Carbon and biodiversity, A demonstration atlas".

Here is the link: http://www.unep.org/pdf/carbon_biodiversity.pdf

Some of the environmental groups I strongly support for their work on protecting and restoring biodiversity, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, were contributors to this report.

I am glad to see that the United Nations has shown this support for Global Biodiversity.

A large part of it is protecting lands of primary Old Growth - some of the healthiest and most ecologically significant lands left on this planet.

Not logging the primary Old Growth left on this planet may be the most valuable thing that we can do on this planet at this time - for the web of life.

Anyone who has seen a clearcut in a forest first-hand and in-person knows from personal experience what a clearcut looks like and how it must affect the forest -- and I have seen a clearcut that must not have been too old at the time I saw it. It was in the Sequoia National Forest in the late 1980's when logging and clearcuts were still going on there. It wasn't too far off the Western Divide Highway in the southern portion of the Sequoia National Forest in what is now the Giant Sequoia National Monument. I was driving down a back road looking for a good place to take some people hiking - I drove around a corner and was shocked at the devastation of this clearcut. Obviously, I was not going to bring these people hiking here as they liked to photograph live trees, etc. It totally upset me and was part of my motivation for getting involved in public issues regarding managing the National Forests.

And, YES, this was in an area not too terribly far from Giant Sequoia groves, though I don't know exactly how close - it was on the western side of the Western Divide Highway somewhere south of the Wheel Meadow Grove and east of Red Hill Grove and Peyrone Grove. I have a map of the Sequoia National Forest and I know where these are.

It was reading Aldo Leopold - both in his book, A Sand County Almanac, and his paper, The Last Stand - that I found out about the devastating effects of clearcutting on the land in addition to just the removal of the trees.

I would like to quote from these.

From "The Last Stand" by Aldo Leopold as published in The Leopold Outlook Winter 2004, A newsletter published quarterly by The Aldo Leopold Foundation.

"Few laymen realize that the penalties of violence to a forest may far outlast its visible evidence. I know a hardwood forest called the Spessart, covering a mountain on the north flank of the Alps. Half of it has sustained cuttings since 1605, but was never slashed. The other half was slashed during the 1600's, but has been under intensive forestry during the last 150 years. Despite this rigid protection, the old slashing now produces only mediocre pine, while the unslashed portion grows the finest cabinet oak in the world; one of those oaks fetches a higher price than a whole acre of the old slashings. On the old slashings the litter accumulates without rotting, stumps and limbs disappear slowly, natural reproduction is slow. On the unslashed portion litter disappears as it falls, stumps and limbs rot at once, natural reproduction is automatic. Foresters attribute the inferior performance of the old slashing to its depleted microflora, meaning that the underground community of bacteria, molds, fungi, and burrowing mammals which constitute half the environment of a tree.
"The existence of the term microflora implies, to the layman, that science knows all the citizens of the underground community, and is able to push them around at will. As a matter of fact, science knows little more than the community exists, and that it is important."

In the book, A Sand County Almanac, in the section, The Upshot, in the sub-section, "Wilderness for Science", I quote Aldo Leopold again:

"Many forest plantations are producing one-log or two-log trees on soil which originally grew three-log and four-log trees. Why? Thinking foresters know that the cause lies not in the tree, but in the micro-flora of the soil, and that it may take more years to restore the soil flora than it took to destroy it."

So, clearcutting - or "slashing" as Aldo Leopold called it in "The Last Stand", has a destructive impact on the land that affects future growth on that land.

WITH WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO PROTECT THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET AND THE LAND, I THEREFORE CONCLUDE THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO DO ANY MORE CLEARCUTTING ON THIS PLANET - ESPECIALLY ON PRIMARY OLD GROWTH LANDS.

Also, in the same issue of The Leopold Outlook of Winter 2004 is an essay written by 2 former Chiefs of the United States Forest Service published originally August 24, 2003, Mike Dombeck and Jack Ward Thomas - "Declare Harvest of Old-Growth Forests Off-Limits and Move On"

I would like to quote one paragraph that I feel contains key, relevant information.

"Second, scientists increasingly appreciate old-growth forests as reservoirs of biodiversity with associated 'banks' of genetic material. Most stands are prtected as habitat for threatened or endangered (and associated) species - to meet the purpose of the Endangered Species Act '...to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved...' It's time to stop fighting over what little old growth remains unprotected."

And part of another paragraph discussing forest management from this same article.

"Forest management should focus on restoring forest health and reducing fire risk, intially in areas where risk to human life and property are greatest - the so-called wildand/urban interface. Then, appropriate management practices should be strategically targeted in the right places and at the right scales across the landscape."

YES, FOLKS, PEOPLE WHO RAN (PAST TENSE MEANING IN THE PAST) THE US FOREST SERVICE FEEL THAT OLD GROWTH SHOULD NOT BE LOGGED.

It is now becoming a global issue - with The Nature Conservancy (see Plant A Billion Trees gadget on this blog!) and Conservation International and Care2 running campaigns for protecting rainforest and planting trees - and the United Nations publishing papers on it.

You, too can join the bandwagon - through these organizations you can contribute to protecting the Old Growth forests left on this planet - incluidng for free by clicking on Care2's Race for the Rainforest!!


Ruth