I. Featured News

All of these items and more appear in the "Featured News" section on the SAF home page

1. New Michigan Council to Focus on Forestland

UpNorthLive.com (December 7) - Several business owners across northern Michigan are taking part in a new council for the timber industry.

The Timber Advisory Council will work closely with the new state forester, who will be hired by the Department of Natural Resources in the near future.

The 10-person council will focus on state forestry and land use policy to achieve the best, most prudent utilization of forest industry resources.

2. UGA Study Documents Lung Function Declines in Firefighters Working at Prescribed Burns

University of Georgia (December 6) - After monitoring firefighters working at prescribed burns in the southeastern United States, University of Georgia researchers found that lung function decreased with successive days of exposure to smoke and other particulate matter.

According to researchers in the UGA College of Public Health, the study was designed to investigate whether the 26 firefighters experienced a decrease in lung function working at prescribed burns compared with days they spent away from the fires. Previously, researchers had looked only at changes in lung function of wildland firefighters on days with exposure to smoke.

3. Merkley Addresses H-2B Program Allowing the Hire of Foreign Workers

Lebanon-Express.com (December 7) - Though Oregon's timber counties have among the highest unemployment rates in the Northwest, a recent report from the Department of Labor's Inspector General revealed that millions of dollars in stimulus funds were used by contractors employing foreign workers to perform forest-thinning work.

Recently, Senator Jeff Merkley sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew proposing changes to the H-2B foreign worker visa program that would help prevent similar incidents in the future.

4. Arkansas Forestry Commission Lays Off 36 Workers

CBS News.com (December 6) - The Arkansas Forestry Commission is laying off 36 workers in January to make up for a $4 million shortfall in its budget because of declining timber sales.

State Forester John Shannon said the employees were informed that they would be laid off effective Jan. 13. The 298-person state agency oversees conservation and fire suppression in the state's forests.

5. Colorado Mining Association Challenges Roadless Rule

Summit County Voice.com (December 6) - The legal battle over the management of national forest roadless areas will go at least one more round, as the Colorado Mining Association and Wyoming has asked the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear last month's decision that upheld a 2001 national roadless rule.

Environmental Groups Sue over Wyoming Coal Lease

Billings Gazette (December 7) - WildEarth Guardians, the Powder River Basin Resource Council, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the US Forest Service in US District Court in Colorado earlier this week opposing a lease of coal in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

The groups oppose the agency's approval of plans to lease the South Porcupine coal tract, portions of which are in the Thunder Basin National Grassland. The five-square-mile tract near Wright holds 402 million tons of coal and would be likely to expand the adjacent North Antelope Rochelle Mine owned by St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp.

Federal Lands Management

6. Forest Service, Bozeman Release Final Municipal Watershed Decision

NBCMontana.com (December 6) - The Gallatin National Forest and City of Bozeman have agreed on a plan to reduce the impacts of wildfire on Bozeman's water supply.

The Bozeman Municipal Watershed Decision identifies 4,800 acres to be mechanically treated or treated with prescribed burns in the Hyalite and Bozeman Creek drainages.

7. US Forest Service Unveils Integrated New Approach to Invasive Species

US Forest Service (December 6) - The US Forest Service recently announced the publication of its first-ever national-level direction on the management of invasive species across aquatic and terrestrial areas of the National Forest System.

Although the Forest Service has long had a Forest Service Invasive Species Program, this new policy adds requirements for agency-wide integration of invasive species prevention, early detection and rapid response, control, restoration, and collaborative activities across all National Forest System lands.

The proposed policy was published on June 3, Federal Register for a 60-day public comment period. The final policy published today reflects the consideration of comments received from a wide variety of stakeholders in the public and private sectors, including nongovernment organizations, state and local government agencies, private individuals, and other Federal government agencies.

8. Plan to Expand Olympic National Forest Wilderness

Seattle Times (December 6) - The process to expand wilderness protections in the Olympic National Forest is underway, but a spokesperson for Sen. Patty Murray said there's no timeline for legislation. According to reports, the plan would link existing wilderness areas near Olympic National Park and ban logging on more than 200 square miles.

More:

Olympic National Park Wilderness Plan Meeting Draws Crowd in Port Angeles
Peninsula Daily (December 5)

Forest Products Industry

9. Potlatch's Moves May Hasten Go Private Process: Analyst

The Street.com (December 5) - Potlatch, the real estate investment trust and timberland owner, cut its quarterly dividend 39 percent to 31 cents a share and reduced its harvest. According to analysts, these moves might speed up Potlatch's chances of going private.

10. Prefab Buildings: Can Cross-Laminated Timber Be Used for LEED?

Green Buildings.com (December 6) - Although cross-laminated timber (CLT) is not readily available in the United States, it likely will be in the near future given its obvious benefits and continued development. This may have implications for LEED buildings, which may benefit from CLT panels.

For an additional article on CLT timber, see "Cross-Laminated Timber: Poised to Compete with Steel and Concrete" in the December 2011 issue of The Forestry Source.

11. New Bamboo Charcoal Technology to Jumpstart African Bioenergy Sector, Slow Deforestation and Climate Change

EurkeAlert (December 2) - Bamboo, a plant not often associated with Africa, may be the key to combating soil degradation and massive deforestation on the continent as an alternative source of energy.

A partnership among African nations and communities, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, and China are working to substitute bamboo charcoal and firewood for forest wood on which 80 percent of the rural population in sub-Saharan Africa depends for its fuel needs.

II. Publications, Resources, and Items of Interest

1. In the Wake of BC's Pine Beetle Plague

Vancouver Sun (December 2) - Biblical plagues of mountain pine beetles sweeping across the Interior landscape in dark clouds, leaving a dead zone more than five times the size of Vancouver Island in their wake.

This was war. And the government fought back with an equally aggressive salvage-logging strategy, initially to try to stop the beetle's spread, and then to harvest as much dead wood as possible before it decayed or burned.

The BC Government promised that salvage logging of Interior pine forests would respect "other forest values"-the environment-but some say that isn't what happened.

For more pine beetle news, see #1 under science and tech.

2. Brazil Amazon Deforestation at Lowest Level in Years

BBC News.com (December 6) - The National Institute for Space Research said 6,238 sq km (2,400 sq miles) of rainforest disappeared between August 2010 and July 2011, a drop of 11 percent from the previous year.

3. Snakes' Movement Can't Outpace Warming, Scientists Warn

Courier-Journal (December 6) - Indiana University researchers are further documenting the challenge that critters like rattlesnakes will face in trying to adapt to climate change.

III. Science and Technology

1. Thick Forests, Climate Change Doom Trees

ScrippsNews.com (December 2) - Since 1997, a host of native beetle species has chewed through more than 40 million acres of Western forests, according to aerial surveys by the US Forest Service-and the beetles show no signs of crashing. Now scientists say warming temperatures have pressed the accelerator on the natural cycle of tree deaths by cranking up the beetle birthrate.

2. Scientists Help Tackle Forest Pests with Genomics

PhysOrg.com (December 6) - Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business professor Jeremy Hall is leading the social science research component in a new project that will use genomics to develop a DNA-based diagnostic test to detect and monitor pests that cause $2 billion worth of damage to Canada's forests annually.

3. "Dead" Pine Forests Very Much Alive

Vancouver Sun (December 6) - The pines in a stand located southwest of Prince George, British Columbia, were about 30 years old when the mountain pine beetle epidemic swept through there in 2005. Yet, although the pine may be dead, the understory on the forest floor is very much alive today, flush with white spruce, Douglas-fir, sub-alpine fir, alder, and a thick swath of green shrubs and berries.

IV. SAF News

1. Nor Cal, NY SAF Meetings

Northern California SAF Winter Meeting

The Northern California SAF Winter Meeting, "Getting to Consensus: How Organizations Collaborate to Solve Forestry Problems," will take place January 28, 2012.

The Program Committee is working to develop an interesting and informative agenda for the meeting. For more information, or if you would like to help, contact Anne Heissenbuttel, NorCal SAF Program Committee Chair, at (209) 296-2250.

New York SAF Annual Meeting

The New York SAF Annual Meeting will take place from January 25-27, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel in Syracuse, NY. The theme of the meeting is "The Forest beyond the Trees," and general and technical sessions will focus on a variety of topics addressing questions such as: What is the outlook on forest product markets, both regionally and globally? How can we use silviculture to improve wildlife habitat? What's the latest on biomass opportunities and techniques? There will also be a discussion of timber harvest practices in New York State.

For more information or to register contact Mariann Johnston, NYSAF Chair-Elect, at 315-848-2566 ext. 111, or visit the meeting website.

2. WA SAF Releases Position Statement on Working Forests

The Washington State SAF recently approved a position statement on working forests. To read it, visit the Washington SAF website.

3. ATFS, SAF, and ACF "Partner for Better Forests"-and Help Foresters in the Process

The "Partners for Better Forests" initiative, a collaborative effort among the American Tree Farm System, the Society of American Foresters, and the Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF), aims to increase the number of engaged inspectors across the United States to provide landowners with the tools they need for on-the-ground support, and promote better forest stewardship.

Because members of ACF and SAF have traditionally been those who have volunteered their time to work as Tree Farm inspectors and committee members, Partners for Better Forests is rewarding participating foresters with membership dues support to their respective professional association.

In return for completing two reinspections or two initial inspections, the program will give foresters $100 to be applied toward the annual dues of ACF or SAF. The money will be paid directly to SAF or ACF and will result in a $100 dues reduction for the member forester.

For more information, visit the SAF website.

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