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Table of Contents I. Announcements II. What's Happening? III. Activities and Links |
Special California Wildfire ReLeaf Fund As part of its Wildfire ReLeaf program, American Forests announced the creation of a national fund to help communities and organizations restore forests damaged by the recent wildfires in California. Ecological recovery in Southern California's forests, where wildfires burned more than 500,000 acres, is expected to take years. To help restore these forests, American Forests has set a goal of planting a million trees in California. American Forests' Wildfire ReLeaf program is a large-scale tree planting initiative started in 1999 to plant millions of trees in areas scorched by catastrophic wildfires. With the increase in size and intensity of wildfires comes a more urgent need to rehabilitate damaged areas to prevent further degradation of forest ecosystems. Drought conditions in many states, including California, and the effects of decades of fire suppression have given rise to hundreds of fires in the United States this year alone. Large fires-such as California's Old Fire, Cedar Fire, and Grand Prix Fire-differ greatly from the small, frequent fires that periodically burn forests of the West and Southeast. When the last flames of a larger, more intense fire are finally extinguished, the biggest challenge remains: healing the land. "Restoring fire-damaged forests prevents erosion of hillsides and protects waterways that provide important habitat for fish and other wildlife," says American Forests' executive director Deborah Gangloff. "Planting trees in these degraded forest ecosystems will prevent further damage; assist in the regeneration process; and return native tree species, such as ponderosa pine, to the forests." Wildfire ReLeaf depends on support from individuals, businesses, agencies, and organizations to help plant native trees in forest areas that might otherwise take years to regenerate. Wildfire ReLeaf also serves as a clearinghouse for information on wildfire, wildfire-related issues, and agencies that deal with wildfire. The campaign educates people of all ages about wildfire policy, fire suppression, the increase of woody debris in our nation's forests, actions individuals can take to reduce catastrophic wildfire, and how they can educate others about wildfire. American Forests designated a fund specifically to restore California forests after receiving an outpouring of questions and requests from California residents and people across the United States. Trees can be planted online for Wildfire ReLeaf in California at www.americanforests.org, by mail (to Wildfire ReLeaf-California, c/o American Forests, P.O. Box 2000, Washington, DC 20013), or by calling 800-545-TREE. Corporate, foundation, and organization donors may call 202/955-4500, ext. 212 for more information.
American Forests has a new Public Service Announcement available online at http://www.americanforests.org/news/psa.php. Help us contact your favorite magazines and other publications to get the word out about Wildfire ReLeaf! Or, tell a friend by sending them a Wildfire ReLeaf postcard. Prince of Monaco Plants Trees With royal patronage and a host of paparazzi in attendance, a grove of five trees rescued from the World Trade Center site in New York City and replanted near City Hall were dedicated in October as a living tribute to the victims and survivors of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The Living Memorial Grove was sponsored by American Forests and the Living Memorial Tree Foundation, which was established under the patronage of H.S.H Prince Albert of Monaco. New York City Parks & Recreation Department and the Municipal Art Society of New York also lent support to the effort. "On behalf of the Principality of Monaco and all the contributors to the Living Memorial Tree Foundation (LMTF), I am honored to establish this significant memorial in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives on September 11th," said Prince Albert, who has close ties with the United States, largely on account of his American-born mother, the late Princess Grace. In addition, the LMTF and American Forests will coordinate the planting of 2,792 trees grown by American Forests' Historic Tree Nursery in Jacksonville, FL, and planted on 11,000 acres of natural areas across New York City. The 10- to 12-foot-tall trees will be native to the New York City area. The City also aims to plant trees at each of the 197 fire stations, police precincts, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey facilities across the city. Each tree will be approximately 2.5 inches in diameter and 15 to 20 feet in height. Each planting will include a decorative wrought iron tree guard and maintenance for the life of the trees. To find out more about American Forests' Memorial Tree Grove Campaign, please visit www.americanforests.org. For information about the Living Memorial Tree Foundation, you can contact the Consulate General of Monaco at 565 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 286-0500; or e-mail at info@monaco-consulate.com. Urban areas in the United States are experiencing a severe and worsening deficit that is costing billions of dollars in added costs for storm-water removal, air pollution controls and energy, according to a new analysis by American Forests. The study used Landsat satellite data from the mid 1980s to mid-1990s to assess the amount of tree cover in 448 U.S. urban areas. While extrapolations from more recent Landsat data over 40 of those areas suggest that the urban tree canopy has shrunk 10 percent to 17 percent over the past decade-a loss of 1.7 billion trees, says American Forests' Urban Forest Center vice president Gary Moll. In fact, the "urban tree deficit" has grown even faster than that, he noted, because urban areas have been spreading out even as tree canopy has decreased. Altogether, urban areas have 21 percent less tree cover than they did a decade ago. Tree loss carries many costs. Storm-water runoff is significantly increased, requiring construction of larger storm pipes and other structures. Trees also clean the air and keep ground and air temperatures down, reducing summer energy costs for air conditioning. American Forests recommends that cities maintain a 35 percent tree cover, and applauded San Antonio, Texas for becoming the third city in the United States-along with San Diego and Charlotte-to incorporate urban tree cover data in the same computer databases that hold information about wires, underground pipes and other infrastructure details. To find out more information about this and other Urban Ecosystem Analyses, visit www.americanforests.org. Request to Fight Bark Beetles Denied Just as the Southern California wildfires were reaching record size and intensity this fall, the Bush administration turned down a six month-old emergency request by Governor Gray Davis for help in removing dead and dying trees in the same forests that were devastated and consumed by flames recently. Last spring, Davis asked for a federal emergency declaration in three counties where bark beetle infestation had left thousands of acres of dense woodland dead or dying and more vulnerable to fire. If approved, the proclamation would have provided millions of dollars in federal support for clearing dead trees in San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties--though the funding might have been too late to make a difference for this year's fires. After four years of drought, nearly a half-million acres of dense woodland in Southern California had become infested by the bark beetle. Local and state officials had warned that the forests were a disaster waiting to happen. The beetles, which are native to California, drill into bark, seeking the moist inner layers to feed on. Typically they can kill only drought-weakened trees. Healthy trees are able to expel the invaders by flooding the infestation with resin, which drought-stressed trees can't produce. Once the infestation has begun, the trees are starved of water and nutrients and quickly die. To learn more about the ecology of wildfire, visit www.wildfirereleaf.org or learn more about American Forests' policy statements at http://www.americanforests.org.
A Wish Can Change Your Life, a new book by Gahl Sasson and Steve Weinstein, declares trees to be our greatest teachers and the keepers of the keys to fulfilling our dreams. What does all this mean for the reader? "To bring your wish to life, you can plant a tree on Earth to anchor your spiritual work," says author Gahl Sasson. Through the book's program of meditations, myths, rituals and philosophies, the authors suggest, "sowing the seed of a metaphysical "Tree of Life" in the astral realm." Part Jewish mysticism and part multicultural exploration, this book serves to open doors of the Jewish tradition of the Kabbalah, whose symbol is a tree. Using history of trees throughout time, the book explores ideas of advocacy for one of the planet's most precious resources-trees. And Sasson and Weinstein offer a new way to confirm spirituality through planting trees. Through American Forests' "A Wish Can Change Your Life" program, readers may plant trees in Tahoe National Forest's Onion Valley where a Tree of Life Grove has been established. The goal of this project is simple: if each reader plants a tree, you can help the ecological health of the planet while at the same time confirming the ideas of the Kabbalah. To plant your tree in the Tree of Life Grove, you can click here or call 1-800-368-5748 (ext. 202). Be sure to specify that you would like your trees to be included as part of the Tree of Life Grove.
On October 30, the Senate passed its version of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HR 1904) by a vote of 80-14. The Senate's version was developed through a bipartisan staff process that attempted to address a number of concerns with the House-passed bill, such as old-growth protection, appeals and judicial challenges of projects, focus on projects in the wildland-urban interface, and funding for the projects. Although the Senate bill is not perfect, and many groups are concerned about what might happen to the bill in a House-Senate conference to reconcile the two bills, American Forests appreciates the efforts of the bipartisan staff groups to craft a bill that focuses on the right objectives--reducing wildfire threats to communities by removing underbrush and thinning forests of small trees in the wildland-urban interface. If local communities are effectively involved in identifying projects through "community wildfire protection plans," and in collaboratively monitoring project effects, we believe that hazardous fuels reduction projects might move forward with limited controversy, and lessons might be learned to improve future projects. "We don't see this legislation as a forest restoration bill," says Gerry Gray, American Forests' vice president of Forest Policy. "We see it as a bill to authorize fuels reduction projects in areas where people's homes and forests coexist. In the near future Congress will still need to address concerns about the big picture of forest health and the social and economic well-being of rural communities." In recent weeks, several fast-moving fires in Southern California scorched more than 500,000 acres- an area larger than Rhode Island. The fires destroyed thousands of homes and killed dozens of people, leaving many forests scorched and charred-damage that may take decades to restore. You can help! American Forests has a new Public Service Announcement available online. Help us contact your favorite magazines and other publications to get the word out about Wildfire ReLeaf! Or, tell a friend by sending them a Wildfire ReLeaf postcard. Spotted Owl May Go Extinct Anyway For months, American Forests has brought you the latest news about the plight of the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest. Now, after years of legal efforts by environmentalists to ban logging in Northwest forests to save the spotted owl, scientists say the bird may be headed for extinction regardless. Scientists believe barred owls have taken over spotted owl territory and the survivors may have fled. "Natural systems are pretty unpredictable," said Eric Forsman, USDA Forest Service biologist. "When you set about trying to manage a particular species there are lots of things that can happen that are unplanned." The spotted owl is one of the most studied, protected animals in U.S. history, but despite efforts to halt the logging of its natural habitat, scientists the owl's recovery is endangered. Now it appears the bird may become extinct for completely natural reasons. Keep reading ForestBytes for the latest information about spotted owls and other updates about the many species of trees and wildlife we are tracking. For more information and news, visit www.americanforests.org.
Illegal Logging Blamed in Indonesian Flood Disaster The floods that began at the end of October sent thousands of logs and rocks crashing through the heart of Bukit Lawang, Indonesia. The water leveled dozens of houses and restaurants, piling debris two stories high. In addition, hundreds of thousands of logs-many of them illegally felled-came crashing down into the valley from the upper reaches of the mountains when the water pressure became too great. The flood follows a spate of similar disasters elsewhere in Indonesia - a sprawling archipelago with some 210 million inhabitants - that some blame on widespread illegal logging of the county's forests. Unchecked logging disrupts the natural absorption and flow of rainwater from the highlands, triggering floods and landslides that sweep into the valleys. Sumatra, the county's largest island, has several national parks that are home to endangered tigers, elephants, and orangutans. Corruption and poor law enforcement - familiar complaints in Indonesia, which is struggling to come to terms with democracy after 32 years of dictatorship ended in 1998 - means the logging and road building in these parks go largely unchecked. New Venezuela Bird Species Is Discovered Homeless The species was spotted on Carrizal Island, an originally uninhabited islet on the Caroni River in biodiverse southeastern Venezuela, in July 2001. Three examples were found, but in the two years it took to determine the bird was indeed a new species, its habitat of trees and thickets were removed as part of the construction of a massive hydroelectric dam. The discovery of the Carrizal seedeater has been overshadowed by the knowledge that its only habitat has been destroyed. The bird has never been spotted outside of Carrizal. There have been no recent sightings of the bird, and scientists believe it will be hard for the species to survive without its natural habitat. The electricity company EDELCA allowed scientists to do a wildlife inventory in 2001 but by then it was too late to change the dam's plans. Keep reading ForestBytes for the latest news about trees and forests in the United States and around the globe. Have a question? Contact us at info@amfor.org.
American Forests' Feature Creature: Although recently plagued by wildfires, the San Bernadino National Forest in Southern California is rich in biological diversity. Wet meadow, pebble plain, and carbonate plant habitat support a large number of threatened, endangered, and forest-sensitive wildlife. Aquatic, riparian and forested habitats along Holcomb Creek support many species of wildlife, including nesting pairs of southwestern willow flycatcher. The southwestern willow flycatcher is one of four distinct races of willow flycatchers that breed in North America. All four breed in shrubby or woodland habitats, usually adjacent to or near surface water or saturated soil. The bird is particularly fond of riparian areas-woodlands and shrubs along streams and rivers; in fact, the southwestern species will breed only in riparian vegetation. It prefers tall, dense willows and cottonwood habitat where vegetation is thick from the ground to the canopy. Wildfire is a growing threat for species such as the southwestern willow flycatcher. Trees help stop erosion-which can damage streambeds-clouding the water with mudflows and smothering many riparian species. The southwestern willow flycatcher has declined during the last 100 years, primarily due to the loss, fragmentation, and modification of riparian habitats. In part, thanks to recent wildfires. In 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally included the flycatcher as a federal endangered species, and to designate critical habitat. To find out more about Wildfire ReLeaf and other American Forests' tree-planting programs, visit www.americanforests.org.
Question: Resulting winds from a wildfire can top 120 mph! When wind-driven flames leap from treetop to treetop it's called...
a) fire jumpers If you answer correctly, you have been automatically included in the November drawing to win a tree! One lucky winner will receive a Historic Tree (species depends on your local climate) from American Forests' Historic Tree Nursery. Make sure you include your phone number please!
Fun Fact: Flames from a wildfire can reach 300 feet in height with smoke columns sometimes reaching 40,000 feet. Are You a Member? You can do your part to help the environment today by joining AMERICAN FORESTS. Not only are 25 trees planted for you in a damaged ecosystem or forest restoration project, but you will also receive:
Join Today! Visit http://www.americanforests.org/ ENS and ENN News Links
Alarming Lack of Forest Protection in Europe Forest Bytes Don't forget to forward this information to friends or colleagues. |
