I. Featured News

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

1. Salazar Reverses Course on "Wild Lands"

Salt Lake Tribune (June 1) - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has reversed his order to allow the Bureau of Land Management to set aside federal acres as "wild lands" and now says he'll focus on locally supported efforts to preserve wilderness.

2. Forest Service Examines Fire Retardant Policy

New West.com (June 1) - Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics is taking federal officials to task for the way they dispense fire retardants from the air while fighting wildfires.

The group says federal officials took a small step in the right direction with last week's release of a new draft environmental impact statement on fire retardants, which calls for better mapping of areas where endangered species might live, so firefighters can avoid dispensing retardant in those areas.

And in a related article:

Study Finds Common Fire Retardant Harmful to Aquatic Life

Baylor University (May 24) - A study by Baylor University environmental health researchers found that zebra fish exposed to several different technical mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)-a common fire retardant-during early development can cause developmental malformations, changes in behavior, and death.

3. Film Aims to Clear Forests of Misconceptions

Philly.com (May 29) - Professional forester (and SAF member) Bob Williams knows quite a bit about growing trees.

But making movies? Not so much-until he produced A Working Forest with the help of a family-run film and video company in Atlantic County and a friend who plays with the Rolling Stones.

Williams says the public generally doesn't understand the complexity of forestry, reducing questions of how best to manage our woodlands into arguments about whether or not to cut particular trees.

Nuances about commercial lumbering, land development, and private stewardship-in particular, management techniques such as controlled burning-get lost amid calls to save it all, he adds.

4. Undersecretary Jensen Heads to the White House

National Association of State Foresters (May 20) - According to the National Association of State Foresters website, US Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) Jay Jensen will resign from the his current post at USDA on June 10 to begin work at the White House Council on Environmental Quality as the associate director for lands and water.

Doug Crandall, legislative director for the Forest Service, will serve as acting deputy undersecretary until a replacement is appointed, according to NRE Undersecretary Harris Sherman.

5. National Fire News

According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), as of June 1, wildland fire activity remains light across the country, with nine new large fires reported in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Mississippi.

For the latest national fire information, visit the NIFC website.

To read news articles about some of the nation's recent fires, see the following:

Firefighters Battle Alaska Blazes
Mail Tribune (Oregon, June 1)

Alaska Burning: 58 Interior Wildfires Active
News Tribune (Washington, June 1)

Wildfires Destroy 11 Homes in Texas Panhandle
Associated Press (May 30)

Fires Near Southern Colorado Border Burn 11,000 Acres
Denver Post.com (May 31)

Wildfire Growing in Jemez Mountains
KRQE.com (New Mexico, May 30)

Federal Lands Management

6. Vilsack Renews Interim Directive Covering Roadless Areas in National Forests

US Department of Agriculture (May 31) - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that he is renewing an interim directive regarding inventoried roadless areas within National Forest System lands and National Grasslands for an additional year.

The directive provides decisionmaking authority to the Secretary over proposed forest management or road construction projects in inventoried roadless areas. This directive also ensures a consistent national review of all proposed projects. In 2009, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2001 Roadless Rule. The Rule is currently under appeal in the 10th Circuit.

The revised interim directive does not require secretarial approval for activities such as emergency fire-fighting activities and small diameter timber cutting to improve endangered species habitat and to reduce risk of catastrophic wildfire. These activities were also exempted under the previous interim directives and are consistent with the 2001 Roadless Rule.

7. Agencies Create Strategy for Whitebark Pine Decline in Yellowstone Park

The Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee, a coalition made up of the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, has released its strategy that aims to restore the whitebark pine.

The strategy outlines a 3-year plan that includes adding chemicals to some trees in trials to reduce the effects of the mountain pine beetle and blister rust. The plan also calls for producing rust-resistant seedlings and increased fire protection.

8. Forest Service Warns of Pot Fields

NV Daily.com (May 30) - The US Forest Service has issued a nationwide warning to members of the public about what they should do if they stumble on a marijuana cultivation site in a national forest. Agency officials say the warning wasn't prompted by any particular incident, but that the public should "be aware of what's out there and the potential dangers that can come along with that."

Forest Products Industry

9. Bill Could Increase "Sustainable Harvesting"

The Daily Triplicate (May 31) - Nonprofit conservation organizations could potentially use bonds to buy private, working forests for sustainable harvesting if Congress adopts a bipartisan bill introduced last week.

US Reps. Mike Thompson (D) of California and Dave Reichert of Washington submitted the bill in hopes of providing a way to both protect land and allow timber harvesting to continue.

Thompson said the proposed Community Forestry Conservation Act would mean "more trees in the future for sustainable forestry," and characterizes the bill as "pro-job" and "pro-timber."

10. Lumber Town Finds a Way to Survive

Northcoast Citizen.com (May 5) - Oregon was once full of mill towns, but very few are left today. But the town of Pilot Rock continues to survive, largely because Boise Cascade purchased its Kinzua Lumber mill in 2009 to fill a specific niche.

11. Sino-Forest Signs Deal to Buy 266,000 Hectares of Forestland in China

Winnipeg Free Press (May 30) - Sino-Forest Corporation, a Toronto company that operates commercial forest plantations in China, says some of its subsidiaries have struck deals with Bolin Forestry Co. Ltd. and Yuangao Forestry Development Co. Ltd. to buy forests in Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces in China.

Under the agreements, a Sino-Forest unit will acquire up to 260,000 hectares of mature plantation-grown pine, fir, birch, spruce, and cedar trees. The company can also lease the underlying land over a number of years.

II. Publications, Resources, and Items of Interest

1. By Barcoding Trees, Liberia Looks to Save Its Rainforests

Yale Environment 360 (May 23) - A decade after a brutal civil war, the West African nation of Liberia has partnered with the European Union on a novel system for protecting its remaining forests-marking every harvestable tree so it can be traced to its final destination.

2. New Global Carbon Map for 2.5 Billion Hectares of Forests

Mongabay.com (May 31) - Tropical forests across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia stored 247 gigatons of carbon-more than 30 years' worth of current emissions from fossil fuels use-in the early 2000s, according to a comprehensive assessment of the world's carbon stocks.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by an international team of scientists, used data from 4,079 plot sites around the world and satellite-based measurements to estimate that forests store 193 billion tons of carbon in their vegetation and 54 billion tons in their root structure. The study has produced a carbon map for 2.5 billion ha (6.2 billion acres) of forests.

3. Climate Change Allows Invasive Weed to Out-Compete Local Species Purdue University (May 31) - When exposed to increased carbon dioxide, precipitation, nitrogen, and temperature-all expected results of climate change-yellow starthistle in some cases grew to six times its normal size while the other grassland species remained relatively unchanged, according to a Purdue University study published in the early online edition of the journal Ecological Applications.

The study is one of the first comparing the growth of invasive species versus their local competitors under future climate scenarios.

III. Science and Technology

1. Report Highlights Diversity and Value of Alaska's Coastal Forests

US Forest Service (June 1) - A new report published by the US Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station presents summaries of current southeast and south-central Alaska forest topics, ranging from carbon and forest products to lichens and invasive species.

Among its key findings:

• The southeast and south-central region contains 12 percent of Alaska's forestland (more than 15 million acres).
• Carbon flux in Alaska's coastal forests is substantial, with trees there having sequestered more than 31 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere between 1995 and 2003 and 2004 and 2008. Two-hundred-plus-year-old Sitka spruce forests stored the highest amounts of carbon, averaging 107 tons of carbon per acre.

The report, Forests of Southeast and South-Central Alaska, 2004-2008, highlights key findings from the most recent data collected by the station's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit.

2. Climbing Robot Feels Its Way Up a Tree

New Scientist.com (26) - Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong are developing a worm-like robot, known as Treebot, to assist humans with forestry. The robot is the first that can climb a tree it has never encountered before. Its design, which is inspired by inchworms, features actuators in its body that allow it to crawl up and down using claws that can grip a tree's trunk or branches.

3. Aerial Spray Program Targets Sawfly Outbreak

CBC News.com (June 1) - The Department of Natural Resources is planning a spray program over Crown forests to combat an unprecedented outbreak of balsam fir sawflies.

Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup said the biological control program would target only sawflies with a naturally occurring virus.

IV. SAF News

1. Business Sessions at the 2011 SAF National Convention

One of the several tracks offered at the 2011 SAF National Convention will be the Business of Forest Enterprise, which will cover several aspects of the business of forestry, including how new and existing technologies can increase efficiency and effectiveness at the local, regional, and global levels, and the new issues and challenges for land managers. Among the topics discussed will be:

• The use of technology to increase productivity
• Advances in GIS/GPS software and remote-sensing techniques for forest assessment and conservation, climate change impacts, and wildlife habitat management
• Advances in forest products processes
• TIMOs, REITs and other forest investment trends, and
• The impact of international trade agreements and markets on business development.

There will also be a specialized workshop—Integrating GIS and Remote Sensing (W3)—which will take place on Friday, November 4 from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

This intermediate level workshop will offer instruction on how to create, update, and assess GIS coverage using remotely sensed data.

For more information, the full convention program, and registration, visit the convention website.

2. SAF Comments on the 2011 Proposed Forest Service Planning Rule and DEIS

On February 14, the US Forest Service unveiled its proposed Forest Planning Rule (PR), which would establish a new national framework to develop land management plans that protect watersheds, wildlife, and forest restoration and conservation, and promote vibrant communities.

Last month, SAF submitted lengthy comments about the rule. To read them in their entirety, visit the forest policy page on the SAF website. For an abbreviated version, see the June 2011 issue of The Forestry Source.

3. Student Video Contest: Why Trees Are the Answer

Do you have talent? Do you have a video camera? Then you can be a star! Introducing the 2011 Student Video Contest. We want students and student chapters to show us why you think Trees Are the Answer. Make a 60- or 120-second video and you could win one of three awards. Winning videos will be presented at the 2011 National Convention. Submit your videos by Friday, September 30, 2011.

4. Membership Benefit: Consulting Forester's Liability and Prescribed Burn Liability Insurance Coverage

Do you need comprehensive, reliable, and affordable insurance coverage specifically designed to protect consulting foresters? If so, visit the SAF website to find out more on how SAF can help you get it.

5. 2011 Ben Meadows Scholarships

The Society of American Foresters is pleased to announce two new scholarships offered by Ben Meadows and administered by SAF.

All scholarship candidates must be enrolled, full time, as a junior or senior in a natural resource program working toward a Bachelor of Arts or Science degree, which includes, but is not limited to, agroforestry, urban forestry, environmental studies, natural resource management, natural resource recreation, wildlife management, wood science and fisheries management.

The scholarships, one for academic achievement and one based on leadership, are each worth $2,500.

Applications are due by June 30, 2011. Eligible students are encouraged to apply. Instructions, complete requirements, and the application form can be found on the Ben Meadows website.

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