I. Featured News

1. The Fog of War: A Conversation with Environmental Historian Stephen Pyne on America's Complex (and Unresolved) Relationship with Wildfire

NFPA Journal (October 2011) - Since the publication of his book, Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire, in 1982 Stephen Pyne has been regarded as one of the world's leading experts in the environmental history of fire. He spent 15 seasons as a wildland firefighter on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 1988. He is a professor at Arizona State University, specializing in the history of ecology, the history of exploration, and the history of fire. He is at work on a book on the history of wildland fire in the US from 1960 to the present day.

2. Ponderosa: Gone in Jemez Mountains?

Durango Herald (October 13) - The landscape of the Jemez Mountains-twice logged, twice burned-may never again see ponderosa forests. After loggers harvested many of the larger trees, the 1996 Dome Fire took some of what remained. Then, on June 26, the Las Conchas Fire blazed through a 50-square-mile patch where now the only signs of movement are gray ashen dust devils.

3. Oregon Officials Approve Logging Increase

Associated Press (October 12) - State officials have approved a new way of protecting threatened species such as salmon and spotted owls on the Elliott State Forest so that they can increase timber harvests and provide a little more money to schools.

4. Wildfire Threat Rises in Northwest Wisconsin

NewsoftheNorth.net (October 11) - Department of Natural Resources area forestry supervisor Steve Runstrom said that with the lack of rain, warm temperatures, and dry fall fuels, wildfire conditions are escalating across northwest Wisconsin.

5. Caterpillar Outbreak Threatens Trees in Washington State

News Tribune (October 12) - An inchworm with an appetite for western hemlock needles is again munching on trees in parts of northwest Washington.

Known as western hemlock loopers, they are currently in their adult, or moth, phase. As such, they are mottled-gray to dark-brown with an intricate pattern of darker markings, according to the US Forest Service.

Federal Lands Management

6. America's Great Outdoors Progress Report Shows Conservation, Recreation Gains, and Economic Benefits

USDA (October 12) - The Obama Administration has detailed how its America's Great Outdoors Initiative is opening up access to lands and waters, restoring critical landscapes, reconnecting Americans to the natural world, and supporting thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity.

With the release of the 2011 America's Great Outdoors Progress Report, 15 federal agencies outlined their combined conservation and recreation successes, including gains in youth employment, new trail designations, the creation of urban campgrounds, and historic investments in large landscapes, such as the Everglades.

7. FWS Finds Golden Trout Not at Serious Risk

The Recorder (California, October 10) - The US Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that the California golden trout does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

8. City to Urge Immediate Federal Action against Pine Beetle Spread

Rapid City Journal (October 12) - Rapid City is joining other Black Hills communities in taking a stronger stance on mountain pine beetles, urging immediate action from the US Forest Service before next year's hatch.

And in related news …

Bark Beetles Continue to Ravage National Forests
Valley Courier (Colorado, October 12)

Public Safety among Priorities on Beetle-Plagued Forest
Pueblo Chieftain (Colorado, October 12)

For more on pine beetles, see #3 under Science and Tech

Forest Products Industry

9. Washington's "Timber Counties" Ponder Their Budgets, Futures

Public News Service (October 10) - The Secure Rural Schools Act has provided money to Washington's timber counties to make up for tax revenue they can't collect on their National Forest acreage. But the program expired last month, and the last county payments will be made in January unless it is reauthorized.

A new proposal introduced this week in the US Senate to reinstate the county payments for 5 more years, reducing the payment amounts by five percent a year.

10. Wood Pellets Energizing Europe, Timber Industry

Miller-McCune.com (October 12) - A thriving transatlantic trade in compressed wood scraps is creating "new world" timber jobs and meeting "old world" clean energy requirements.

11. Huge Timber Purchases Make Malone America's Biggest Landowner

Forbes (October 11) - Earlier this year, Liberty Media's John Malone passed fellow media mogul Ted Turner to become America's biggest landowner with 2.2 million acres, thanks to a giant investment in timberland in New England.

II. Publications, Resources, and Items of Interest

1. NAU Receives $2.5 Million NSF Grant to Study Impacts of Climate Change on Plant Communities

Northern Arizona University (October 11) - Northern Arizona University's College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation for experiment and research purposes. This grant will go toward constructing the Southwest Experimental Garden Array, in which scientists will be able to better discern the impacts of climate change on various plant genotypes and communities throughout northern Arizona.

2. Pine Wilt Can Only Be Controlled

Great Bend Tribune (October 11) - Kansas Forest Service district forester Jim Strine was in the Barton County area recently to discuss the spread of pine wilt in Kansas and how it will eventually cause the loss of introduced pines.

3. US Pest Invasions Date Back to Early Settlers Marco Eagle (Florida, October 10) - Foreign pests hitched their first ride to North America aboard ships carrying early European settlers, and many quickly developed an appetite for the continent's crops and trees.

III. Science and Technology

1. Spreading Like Wildfire? Maybe, Maybe Not

Newswise (October 11) - Department of Homeland Security-funded research, with "The Dragon and Baby Dragon," helps define fire standards to protect homes. The department is conducting experimental fire research to discover when and how quickly wildfire embers ignite fires in structures along the wildland urban interface, and what can be done to prevent it.

2. Turning Slash Piles to Soil Benefit

University of Washington (October 6) - Students at the University of Washington have teamed up on a startup that promises to turn slash piles of forest refuse into biochar, a crumbly charcoal-like product for farmers that helps their soil hold water and nutrients.

3. Alberta Plan Offers Strategies for Effectively Fighting Pine Beetle

Black Hills Pioneer (October 7) - The mountain pine beetle has spread all across the western United States and into Canada, and has claimed uncountable acres of pine forestland in the past 10 years. But the battle isn't lost yet. Some forestry programs, like the one used by the Alberta, Canada government have proven effective in keeping the beetle population low and, for the most part, under control.

IV. SAF News

1. Society of American Foresters 2011 National Election

Electronic ballots were sent via e-mail on October 1 to members who have a current, working e-mail address listed with the SAF. If you did not receive your e-ballot, please contact Patricia Adadevoh, leadership services manager, to request a ballot.

2. National Committee Positions Now Open

SAF currently has openings on 12 National Committees. National committees work with the SAF Council and the staff of the national office to help shape policy and guide the future development of SAF. For information about available openings, see the August issue of The Forestry Source.

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.

4. SAF Members Selected for EPA Science Advisory Board Biogenic Carbon Emissions Panel

Five SAF members were chosen from a short list of 80 candidates to participate on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) SAB Biogenic Carbon Emissions Panel.

Robert Abt, Richard Birdsey, Marilyn Buford, Roger Sedjo, and Ken Skog will assist the EPA in the review and interpretation of relevant research materials, examine and provide suggested revisions to preliminary greenhouse accounting methodology drafts, and alert the EPA to innovative research projects and advances in the field.

Congratulations to the five SAF members selected, as well as to the 17 other SAF members who were nominated for the panel.

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