Curating an Artfire Collection Inspired By My Well-Known Love of Forests and All That Lives Within

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Inspired By Love of Forests and Their Wildlife - An Artfire Collection by RSS Designs In Fiber

It was August 2013 -- and I and many others in the world had been watching the Rim Fire in the Central Sierra Nevada - in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park and the adjoining areas - and frightened and even loosing sleep over it, I was worried about All the Life in that Forest and the ramifications to it from the High Intensity Fire raging there.

I knew of people living in the area - actually in Twain Harte, CA - just northwest of the Rim Fire area - the people of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center (known as CSERC ), run by John Buckley, who I had met at a Sierra Nevada Framework Forest Service Science Meeting on Old Growth forests.  On their Facebook Page -- and their website, I read first-hand accounts of the Rim Fire.

For me, this was a major event that was significant to me, though I didn't live there or anywhere near the Rim Fire.  But since early 1999 - and I got involved in environmental campaigns about the Sierra Nevada forests ( such as the Sierra Forest Legacy [formerly the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign in 1999] ) -- and I learned the Global significance of the Sierra Nevada Forests, part of the California Floristic Province, to Global Biodiversity, as discussed on the Conservation International website:  The World's 10 Most Threatened Forest Hotspots - which mentions the High Importance of the California Floristic Province Forests (which Includes the Sierra Nevada Forests, including the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park - and the Giant Sequoias) for Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Stabilization - I have been paying a lot of attention to many Events, as I can, in the Sierra Nevada Forests.

In other words, this Rim Fire affected a forest with importance to Global Biodiversity - therefore I see it as we should all be concerned in the Restoration after the fire!!!

So-o-o -- to express my Love of Forests and Their Wildlife and show how others express their such Love, I looked to my some of my friends who do Handmade and Fine Art -- and found various items they had made and were selling on Artfire on that theme -- and created the above Collection.

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It is now March of 2014 -- and the Artfire Collection, "Inspired By The Love of Forests and Their Wildlife", has over 1,000 views and a few items have sold (replaced by others I had previously chosen).

I love to see creations based on Nature -- and I totally enjoyed curating this Collection!!!

The Rim Fire is in the past, though some of us are following the Recovery Projects in the different areas of it, such as on the Stanislaus National Forest website and the CSERC website.

In the 402 square miles of the Stanislaus National Forest that the Rim Fire ravaged, I am hoping for recovery based on true Ecological Forest Restoration, like that defined by the Sierra Forest Legacy -- for the health of this Forest -- and for its contribution to Global Biodiversity.  Quote from the Dec. 08, 2013 Sierra Forest Legacy Newsletter:  

We take seriously the Forest Service's commitment to ecological restoration and will be challenging them to demonstrate that their salvage logging proposals are consistent with their commitment.

Note:  after a certain number of the Artfire listings in an Artfire Collection sell, the Artfire Collection "expires" -- and disappears from the Internet.  So, I would like to thank the Artfire Artisans who created the Handmade and Fine Art items I put in this Collection -- showing their Love of Forests and Their Wildlife -- and where you can fine such types of Handmade and Fine Art!!!

Conscience Art Studios

4everbeads

Walk In The Woods LLC

RSS Designs In Fiber

Uniquely Jen Quilt Creations

The Art of Amy-Elyse Neer

Jewelry Art By Dawn

Christie Cottage

Honey From The Bee

Berkshire Bowls

Blue Morning Expressions

Specialtivity

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

Celebrating Earth Day with Nature Themes in My Designs In Fiber

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ETSY - and elsewhere online!

Cottontail Rabbit in A Bush

Well - here it is -- my most recent "Inspired by Nature" piece!  And just in time for Earth Day!!

My "Inspired By Nature" pieces are available in my online shops  - or I can do a Custom Order privately!

Though I do Nature themes all the time -- and, for me, Every Day is Earth Day -- this is a project especially for this Spring and for celebrating Earth Day 2011!

You see -- I designed it based on the real Desert Cottontail Rabbits I see in the wild fields in the town where I live (like in the field in the photo of my small town in upper left-hand corner of this blog!) -- they are grayish brown with white Cottontails -- and they run through the fields and then dive under bushes or jump down holes!!

So funny - they make me smile!

Like I said above:  Every Day is Earth Day to me!!

Most people who read my blog already know!

It is how you live -- and how you make decisions in life, such as Re-using, Recycling and therefore Reducing our waste. 

And how about Restoring? 

And getting Locally Grown produce - or at least growing your own herbs, like I do!  You can grown them inside if you have nowhere outside to grow them!

Now that Spring is really here and the below-freezing nights are over, I am pruning my herbs, which are growing more now -- and I have my first Basil plant of the year already!!  My Rosemary plant of several years is doing very well -- and my perennial herbs:  Chives, Oregano, Stevia and Mint plants are all coming back!!  It so great to have the fresh herbs just outside my door -- and fun, too!!

So, Celebrate Earth Day as a Reminder -- Every Day is Earth Day !!

Here are a few other of my Designs In Fiber that show my love of Nature!!

Tree Tapestry Pillow

Mountain Cabin Landscape in Filet Crochet

Bear Head Silhouette in Filet Crochet

Proud Rooster in Textured Filet Crochet

Tree Tapestry Home Decor

Celtic Woven Garden Suncatcher or Ornament

TO LIFE!!

From The Nature Conservancy -- What Eco-Issue Keeps You Up At Night!

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


The Nature Conservancy, one of my favorite organizations on the planet, has come through again - this time on their blog.

I don't know how it is for most people -- I admit -- I was brought up from the early 1950's by a father who was an active environmentalist (including anti-nuke) before it became the popular thing to do.

I heard about it all the days I was growing up. Books on environmental subjects were all over our home. I was taken to wild places like forests from early childhood. Recycling and Reusing we just a normal part of our everyday life.

I remember being on one of my first hikes in a Forest Preserve in Chicago, IL and being shown what poison ivy was by a camp counselor -- I have never forgotten, always recognize poison ivy and therefore have never ended up with having a problem with it! Existing with and respecting Nature!

Some of my favorite places I have ever been have been in the "green worlds" of canopied forests.

So, when I saw the post by The Nature Conservancy in Facebook, I jumped on it and went to their blog to the post: "Open Thread: Which Eco-Issue Keeps You Up At Night?" - left a comment there and in Facebook -- and I will reiterate it here:

"What keeps me up at night is actually 2 things, but connected. When are enough
of the people and governments on the planet going to realize and act on the fact
that we have to live our lives in such a way as to preserve the web of life the
best that we can — or are we going to keep negatively impacting our own habitat
to the point where it is not habitable by humans? Part of this — and a big part
of this for me — is I worry about how much of the forest that originally covered
the planet has been cut down and is still being cut down; we need to preserve
existing forests and plant trees that grow qucikly and strongly enough to grow
canopies/root structures in 15 to 25 years that keep the land cooler and
moister."

I have a whole section on my blog devoted to "forests" -- because they are so important to me.

What is important to you?

What, if anything, keeps you up at night?

TO LIFE!!!

Angeles National Forest - My View of the Current Situation

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

I took the above photo in April 2005 from a field just east of where I live in the east Antelope Valley. It is looking south from the Antelope Valley to the San Gabriel Mountains - which are now, in September 2009, hot and dry -- and burning.

Various sections of the San Gabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest were my stomping/hiking grounds for years and years. When I had time off -- and even sometimes when I had independent work and I took my work up there with me -- I spent hours of my life driving, picnicing and hiking through various forested areas: Big Tujunga, Switzer, Charlton Flat, Chilao, West Fork of the San Gabriel River, Mount Gleason up through Littlerock Dam area were some of my favorite places to go.

Unfortuantely, I am now sorrowing that so many of these places are in the Station Fire area.

I am really worried that Old Growth areas and Wilderness Areas are burning -- and not always at the low to moderate intensities.

I can only frevently hope that the canopies of the larger Old Growth is not burning.

For up-to-date information on what has been named the Station Fire (the fire burning across the Angeles National Forest), see the Incident Site Website by InciWeb.

Knowledge gives one a better ability to deal with something analytically, even if emotionally affected.

I've been going to US Forest Service meetings in California for 10-15 years now - for the Angeles National Forest and the Sierra Nevada National Forests. As part of studying papers and documents, I have learned about the climate of the California forests. They are different from most of the rest of the country -- they are classified as a Mediterranean Climate, which is discussed in fairly plain English here on Wikipedia. Mediterranean Climates developed ecologically and geologically in certain ways and their characteristics are discussed in a rather understandable language for the average person on Wikipedia.

Also, it was through the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign - and their Conservation Strategy, which I have a copy of, that I found out about the Globally Significant Biodiversity Hotspots that are identified by the International Conservation Scientists of Conservation International -- including the California Floristic Province, which the Angeles National Forest (where the Station Fire is burning) is part of.

The following quote off of the Wikipedia article on the Mediterranean Climate discusses that "....these communities are well suited to recover from droughts, floods, and fires....":

"The Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome is closely associated with Mediterranean climate zones. Particularly distinctive of the climate are sclerophyll shrublands, called maquis in the Mediterranean Basin, chaparral in California, matorral in Chile, fynbos in South Africa, and mallee and kwongan shrublands in Australia. Aquatic communities in Mediterranean climate regions are adapted to a yearly cycle in which abiotic (environmental) controls of stream populations and community structure dominate during floods, biotic (e.g. competition and predation) controls become increasingly important as the discharge declines, and environmental controls regain dominance as environmental conditions become very harsh (i.e. hot and dry); as a result, these communities are well suited to recover from droughts, floods, and fires.[3]"

But I can't help but wonder - recover to what?

I can only fervently hope that the larger Old Growth is only getting fire scars on their trunks and that the fire is burning at a low enough intensity over most of the area so that natural recovery through heating of the seeds buried in the soil will bring a vibrant new growth to the area come next Spring!

Looking ahead is what we must do.

As an average citizen, I can't do too much about the fires actually burning, as I write this, in the Angeles National Forest. But I can look ahead and see what I can contribute to -- and I will be contributing to the TreePeople Mountain Forestry program for replanting areas that do not naturally heal.

Please take a look at the website of TreePeople and their Mountain Forestry programs - specifically their California Wildfire Restoration Initiative, where they have already posted about replanting the Angeles National Forest after the 2009 fires!!

From the California Wildfire Restoration Initiative of TreePeople:

"We advocate planting the most appropriate species prescribed by the Forest Service. Our aim is to plant the right tree in the right place with the right spacing apart. However, sometimes the best approach to restore burned areas is to stay out of the area and let it heal naturally."

I keep fervently hoping that the majestic, cathedral-like trees of Charlton Flat are still standing when it is all over.

A Huge Heartfelt Thanks to all the Firemen, US Forest Service staff and scientists -- and all the volunteers who are working so very hard to contain the Station Fire and save as much as we can of the Angeles National Forest and the communities around it!!!!!

--- And keep in mind, not all of the Station Fire area is actually burning -- and low intensity fire may be beneficial to the ecosystem -- and in some areas the fire has been low intensity.

We will still have a forest when it is all over, even if some of it needs restoration!!!

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!!

Giant Sequoia National Monument MANAGEMENT PLAN MEETINGS - Progressing!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling


Wish I had one of my photographs of a Giant Sequoia to post in here, but none of them are digital or on digital media, so I can't. I took them with a manual camera - a Pentax 6x7 (medium format) - and I have yet to get them on digital media.

Living in Southern California, over the years, the Giant Sequoias were my favorite place to go to on the weekends. Living in a variety of places in Los Angeles County - now in the Antelope Valley - the Southern Portion of what is now the Giant Sequoia National Monument was always just a few hours away.

Being such a forest lover, it is no big surprise that I would like to weekend in a forest -- or visit one -- but having a forest with the Giant Sequoias in it has been a real treat!!

Unfortunately, there has been logging in what is now the Giant Sequoia National Monument -- and I have seen it. In the late 1980's I saw logging trucks -- and, yes, a clearcut on a back road.

So, I was a huge supporter of the establishment of the National Monument and went to a Public Forum in Fresno and actually got up and spoke for it -- by some lucky or unusual twist of fate, my number came up as the first speaker in that Public Forum -- and I managed to get up there and say my little bit without any preparation at all -- in favor of the establishment of the National Monument!!

That was in March 2000. In April 2000, President Bill Clinton did the Presidential Proclamation which took the National Monument out of commercial timber yield, which meant no more commercial logging around the Giant Sequoias, which I am totally grateful of -- having been around the Southern Portion of the Sequoia National Forest and seen way too much of the effect of commercial logging in that ecosystem.

I went to a bunch of meetings regarding the Giant Sequoia National Monument in 2000, 2001, and 2003, including a number of 2-day public meetings of the Scientific Advisory Board, who wrote Advisories for the development of the Giant Sequoia National Monument MANAGEMENT PLAN.

So much has happened since then - some of it in the legal arena -- and they are now in a Public Process to write the Giant Sequoia National Monument MANAGEMENT PLAN again.

Tomorrow (June 18, 2009) and Friday (June 19 2009), they are holding Public Meetings regarding the preliminary Draft Alternatives for this MANAGEMENT PLAN.

Let me tell you, as this MANAGEMENT PLAN is based on the Presidential Proclamation and this involves restoration of a commercially logged National Forest area -- from where I sit, this is not an easy PLAN to get done.

This commercially logged area needs restoration based on the most current scientific data for this type of ecosystem available - and as this is an on-going activity with research on such restoration going on all the time - the MANAGEMENT PLAN must allow for this.

I have placed links throughout this post -- take a look at them and read them -- there is a phenomenal amount of information available!!

I, unfortunately, cannot go to these particular meetings -- but I will be reading the documents on the Sequoia National Forest website. I submitted a 5 page letter on the Scoping Letter. I wrote letters in past years -- and I will write more.

This Public Process is an opportunity for all citizens to make comments on what the MANAGEMENT PLAN for the Giant Sequoia National Monument will be.

Do you love them?

Do you care about these gorgeous, fabulous, globally-significant huge (the largest in the world still, I believe) trees???

Even if all you have to say is that you totally support the total restoration of the ecosystem for these wonderful trees -- say it!!

Personally, I was involved in the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign, whose Conservation Strategy for the Sierra Nevada National Forests (which includes the Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia National Monument) is based on the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project (SNEP) (Commissioned by Congress) -- and that is the scientific perspective that I support, including the scientists who were the authors of SNEP - who include Dr. David Graber and Dr. Nathan Stephenson, who work at the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park in the Giant Sequoias there.

I learned so much going to Public Meetings and reading various documents -- many of which are available on the Internet.

I invite you to do the same!!

(And, P-S-S-S-T - by the way - the Giant Sequoia ecosystem, which is inside the Sierra Nevada, which is inside the California Floristic Province - is a globally significant Biodiversity Hotspot identified by the scientists of Conservation International!!)


Ruth

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

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


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

On the Way to protecting More Wilderness - the healthiest land on the planet!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
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At 8:14 PM this evening, the Press-Enterprise Riverside County published an article - the Senate has approved a new bill for protecting as Wilderness about 2 million acres nationwide and about 190,000 acres in Riverside County.

Article: http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_wilderness16.1.3fb1ea6.html

Quoting the article:
"Although the legislation still needs House of Representatives approval and the president's signature, backers were optimistic because the House approved a version of the bill last year and Obama ran on a pro-environment platform."

Looks good.

We need what Wilderness we have left protected.

Just a few days ago I quoted Aldo Leopold on Wilderness from his book, A Sand County Almanac and I am going to reiterate one of the quotes from "Wilderness For Science":

"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."

So, for planet-wide health, we need the healthy Wilderness lands protected, but they also serve to help us in their own biotic provinces in restoring other lands to a healthy condition as these Wilderness lands are examples/samples of healthy land in their biotic provinces.

Another quote from the same writing by Aldo Leopold:

"In many cases we literally do not know how good a performance to expect of healthy land unless we have a wild area for comparison with sick ones. .... In short all available wild areas, large or small, are likely to have value as norms for land science. Recreation is not their only, or even their principal, utility."

Though I think recreation in wild lands such as hiking, climbing, snow-shoeing and river-rafting is important for people to do, I am really concerned about the land health on our planet and protecting more Wilderness gives me hope for improving land health as well as protecting it!

From the above-referenced article, I understand that this bill incorporates many bills - about 160 - with support from California Congressional legislators Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Mary Bono Mack.

Also, from the article, I understand that some of the Wilderness protected will be in the Sierra Nevada - a globally significant Biodiversity Hotspot.

Thank You to them -- and all the supporters who will make it happen!!

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