Biodiversity loss accelerates with 1 million species at risk of extinction, UN report finds
PBS - May 6, 2019
People are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals, scientists said Monday.
But it’s not too late to fix the problem, according to the United Nations’ first comprehensive report on biodiversity.
“We have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet,” report co-chairman Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University said at a press conference.
Species loss is accelerating to a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past, the report said. More than half a million species on land “have insufficient habitat for long-term survival” and are likely to go extinct, many within decades, unless their habitats are restored. The oceans are not any better off…
Plan has new rules on killing wolves that prey on livestock
Associated Press Monday, April 15th 2019
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With Oregon's wolf population growing, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Monday issued a draft conservation and management plan that established a new timetable involving when wolves can be killed for preying on livestock.
The old plan allowed for hunts after two confirmed wolf depredations of livestock in an area. The new plan would allow hunts only after two confirmed depredations within a nine-month period, said Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist.
The new plan also includes a hefty section on how to attempt to resolve conflicts involving livestock without killing wolves, which environmental groups prefer, Broman said.
The goal of the 160-page proposal remains the same as previous plans issued in 2005 and 2010: "To ensure the conservation of gray wolves as required by...
Wolves ‘Established’ in Netherlands for First Time in 140 Years
Olivia Rosane Apr. 10, 2019
For the first time in 140 years, wolves have an official home in the Netherlands.
Ecologists told BBC Radio 4 that a female wolf they had been tracking had stayed in the country for six months and could therefore be called "established," BBC News reported Tuesday.
The ecologists had been tracking two females in the Hoge Veluwe nature reserve, which has now been designated as a wolf habitat, Dutch News reported. There is also evidence that a male wolf has been moving in and out of the area, and scientists told BBC that the wolves could form a pack within...
Biodiversity loss accelerates with 1 million species at risk of extinction, UN report finds
PBS - May 6, 2019
People are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals, scientists said Monday.
But it’s not too late to fix the problem, according to the United Nations’ first comprehensive report on biodiversity.
“We have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet,” report co-chairman Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University said at a press conference.
Species loss is accelerating to a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past, the report said. More than half a million species on land “have insufficient habitat for long-term survival” and are likely to go extinct, many within decades, unless their habitats are restored. The oceans are not any better off…
Plan has new rules on killing wolves that prey on livestock
Associated Press Monday, April 15th 2019
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With Oregon's wolf population growing, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Monday issued a draft conservation and management plan that established a new timetable involving when wolves can be killed for preying on livestock.
The old plan allowed for hunts after two confirmed wolf depredations of livestock in an area. The new plan would allow hunts only after two confirmed depredations within a nine-month period, said Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist.
The new plan also includes a hefty section on how to attempt to resolve conflicts involving livestock without killing wolves, which environmental groups prefer, Broman said.
The goal of the 160-page proposal remains the same as previous plans issued in 2005 and 2010: "To ensure the conservation of gray wolves as required by...
Wolves ‘Established’ in Netherlands for First Time in 140 Years
Olivia Rosane Apr. 10, 2019
For the first time in 140 years, wolves have an official home in the Netherlands.
Ecologists told BBC Radio 4 that a female wolf they had been tracking had stayed in the country for six months and could therefore be called "established," BBC News reported Tuesday.
The ecologists had been tracking two females in the Hoge Veluwe nature reserve, which has now been designated as a wolf habitat, Dutch News reported. There is also evidence that a male wolf has been moving in and out of the area, and scientists told BBC that the wolves could form a pack within...
Forest Web of Cottage Grove
Fight Climate Change - Save Mature and Old-Growth Forests
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Defend the
Endangered Species Act
Welcome to Forest Web…
Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them...This simple quotation lives at the heart of Forest Web. If we want to change this sad truth, we need to change the concepts of how we relate to the natural world on which all of us depend.
Root systems may occupy an area four to seven times the surface area
occupied by the crown of the tree. Not only do these roots provide
nutrients to the tree and prevent soil erosion, they also play host to a
variety of fungi, or Mycorrhizae, forming symbiotic relationships.
These fungi receive sustenance from the tree and, in turn, increase
the efficiency of the tree’s root system, creating a web throughout a
healthy forest.
Forest Web applies this lesson from Nature to our organization,
working with a variety of environmental groups and individuals,
co-hosting events and hikes, collaborating on lobbying efforts and
united campaigns, and sharing information and support to nurture
all our common goals.
And, to continue building this network, we operate an ever-growing email list, Facebook page and group, YouTube channel,Instragram account,Forest Web blog, and this website to activate, educate and inform. To receive updates, action alerts, and event notices, please contact us at forestweb.cg@gmail.com.
When Tree Planting Goes Wrong
Environmental Groups Call for a National Forest Policy to Protect Mature, Old-Growth, Trees, Forests
Forest Web is proud to be a part of a coalition of more than 70 groups who launched a new campaign on February 15th called the Climate Forests Campaign and called on the Biden administration to take executive action to protect mature trees and forests on federal lands, which are critical in the fight against climate change.
Missing Link in Biden’s Climate Agenda: Letting Older Trees Grow
“It’s completely unacceptable that federal land managers lack strong policies to protect old trees and forests, given all we know about how critical they are to our climate and biodiversity,” said Randi Spivak, public lands program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re calling on President Biden to safeguard these beautiful, life-giving ecosystems to have a shot at a livable planet. It’s cheaper, smarter, and quicker than logging them. We just need to let them grow.”
Today’s campaign launch comes a year after Biden signed an executive
order setting a path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by
2050 and work with partners internationally to put the world on a
sustainable climate pathway.
This month marks the 117th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service. For
more than a century, the agency has focused much of its resources on
logging and timber sales. The Climate Forests Campaign is calling on
the Biden administration to kick off a new era of climate and forest
policy that values trees and forests as key pieces of the climate solution.
Forests, particularly older forests, store vast amounts of carbon and
continue absorbing carbon as they age. Logging trees in these areas
releases most of that carbon back into the atmosphere. Even under the
best-case scenario, newly planted forests would not reabsorb this carbon
for decades or centuries —timescales irrelevant to avoiding the worst
consequences of climate change.
Older trees and forests also are more fire resistant and help curb the effects of climate change by slowing soil erosion and moderating temperatures.
Carbon-absorbing older forests are also the best habitat for thousands of wildlife species, including spotted owls, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and pine martens.
The last comprehensive federal policy to protect national forests, the Roadless Rule, was enacted in 2001 under President Bill Clinton. The rule was adopted to protect nearly 60 million acres of designated roadless areas from logging and roadbuilding, safeguarding significant stands of remaining old growth. Though these areas act as a critical carbon sink, most older trees on federal land lie outside of roadless areas.
“Older forests on federal lands work as a natural climate solution, drawing down massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Spivak. “The science is clear that we should be protecting existing old-growth trees and allowing mature trees and forests to grow. This would show the world that Biden takes his pledge to end global forest losses seriously.”
Other members of the coalition include the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Environment America, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Standing Trees, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center and Wild Heritage.
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Vagneur: Our debt to the wild wolves
By Tony Vagneur
Aspen Times – March 17, 2023
More than once, I traveled up to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, right outside of Ely. It’s a protected wilderness area. I’ve been there twice — once with a friend and once alone, not because I like canoes and water so much, but more because I like really cold winter weather, wilderness, and wolves.
It never got cold enough, and I never saw a wolf there; but at night in the dark, we could hear the howls and then the excitement as they downed something to eat. The signal was sent out far and wide for whatever scavengers there were in the area; and once in the morning, we found a close spot not more than 50 yards from the cabin. There was basically nothing left, except some blood-stained snow, packed-down from large footprints, hair and, pieces of bone here and there. It’s worth the trip just to hear the howls.
Lobo, creature of the twilight hours, making a living in tough territory. It is said the gray wolf is second in intelligence only to man, which might explain why Manifest Destiny, fear, and misunderstanding caused settlers in the 19th and early 20th centuries to almost extirpate the species from the Lower 48. Didn’t need the competition…
The Significance of Carbon Emissions from Logging on Federal Forests
Climate Forests
Scientific research indicates that logging on federal forests is a substantial source of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere that is at least comparable to and likely greater than levels associated with wildfires.
Emissions from logging scale up faster than those from fire. When mature trees are logged, a significant proportion of their carbon is emitted to the atmosphere shortly after logging, even when accounting for carbon stored in wood products that are made from the logged trees. In contrast, when mature trees are affected by fire, they often survive with their carbon stores intact—protected by adaptations such as thick bark and high crowns—and continue to grow. Even when severe fire does kill these mature trees, field research indicates that only a relatively small amount of their carbon is combusted into the atmosphere, and the remainder can remain in the forest for decades or even centuries, as the trees slowly decompose. This is why, even in dry forests, on a per acre basis, emissions from logging are generally greater than those from wildfire and often substantially so—up to 8 times greater in certain circumstances.
As a result, total national carbon emissions from logging exceed those from fire, even though in many areas more acres of land are affected by fire. The government’s own assessment found this to be true on forests owned and managed by the federal government across the country, where overall fire affects many more acres than logging. In a first-of-its-kind assessment from 2018 focused on carbon emissions associated with federal lands, the United States Geological Survey estimated that across the conterminous U.S., carbon emissions from logging of federal forests were more than double those from fire on those lands.
Groups Urge Trudeau and Biden to Transparently Report Logging Emissions
Nature Canada – March 22, 2023
Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa, ON – March 22, 2023 – Over 80 civil society organizations and scientists from across the United States and Canada today called on President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address a forest-sized hole in their countries’ climate plans at their upcoming summit.
In a joint letter to the leaders, the signatories assert that the failure to separately and transparently report greenhouse gas emissions from industrial logging jeopardizes the achievement of the two countries’ 2030 climate goals.
“Transparent and accurate reporting of emissions from all sectors is key to effective climate action,” said Michael Polanyi, Policy and Campaign Manager at Nature Canada. “Canada and the US won’t meet their 2030 emission reduction targets unless they clearly recognize – and address – the climate impacts associated with industrial logging.”
A recent study by Nature Canada and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) based on government data found that emissions from logging and wood use in Canada were at least 75 Megatonnes in 2020, roughly equal to emissions from oil sands operations.
Canada and the United States subsume logging emissions under the broader category of land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), making it exceedingly difficult to discern what carbon fluxes are attributable to the logging industry. While this practice complies with international guidelines, there is nothing preventing Canada and the US from clearly and separately reporting logging emissions in their emissions reduction plans, as they do for other sectors. In the latest IPCC report, scientists stress the need for comprehensive mitigation measures to avoid catastrophic climate change…
