ForestBytes --- December 2002 Volume III, Issue 32 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.americanforests.org AMERICAN FORESTS People Caring for Trees and Forests Since 1875 To subscribe to ForestBytes: Visit http://www.americanforests.org/ If you find this information valuable, please pass it on to friends and colleagues. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Announcements ¤ Trees Offer Solace for Arlington ¤ Bush Administration to Ease Forest Management Rules ¤ We're Growing! Historic Tree Nursery 2002 Highlights II. What's Happening? ¤ Helpful Hints For Choosing Your Christmas Tree ¤ Plant the Gift of Trees This Holiday Season ¤ IKEA Christmas Trees to Benefit AMERICAN FORESTS ¤ Race for Trees! ¤ Listening for Larvae ¤ Tree Leaves Central Park to Stretch Its Roots in China III. Environmental News from ENS-news.com ¤ "Paper Partnership Benefits Tennessee Forests" ¤ "Bush Change to NW Forest Plan Would Ease Logging" ¤ "Human Pressure on Earth's Carrying Capacity Rises" == ANNOUNCEMENTS ================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Trees Offer Solace for Arlington ---------------------------------------------------------------- Arlington County, Virginia, is planting living memorials for the victims of the September 11 attack on the Pentagon. In early December, AMERICAN FORESTS joined county officials to plant a small grove of 11 maples and oaks at a condominium a few miles from the crash site. The tree planting was one of a series of public memorials planned for the Washington, D.C. area. In November Arlington County parks and recreation planted 368 red maples, willow oaks, tulip poplars, sycamores, Chinese elms, and other trees throughout the country. In all, two trees were planted for each of the 184 people who died when terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Half of those trees will grow on public sites at elementary schools, community centers, fire stations and libraries. As for the other trees, Arlington leaders also invited private citizens to join in the tribute, an offer that prompted hundreds of residents to request a memorial tree to plant on their property. Homeowners and condominium associations agreed to water and maintain the trees. Joyce Johnson and Bruce Serva, whose spouses were among the 184 killed, attended the memorial planting behind Carlyle House condominiums. They said that the beauty and enduring life that trees provide offer a poignant reminder of their loved ones. "To have a tree planted in my husband's memory means a lot. It's more than just fresh air, it's a way of life we shared," Joyce Johnson of Burke, Virginia said in the Washington Post. Her husband, Army Lt. Col. Dennis Johnson, 48, was working in the office of the deputy chief of staff for personnel when the attack took place. Johnson helped shovel a final layer of soil around a newly planted willow oak. Also helping was Bruce Serva, who lost his wife of 26 years, Marian. Congress has authorized a memorial on the Pentagon's west facade, next to the helicopter pad and near the crash site. AMERICAN FORESTS has already planted more than 30 trees outside the new Pentagon Metro enterance, which opened in November. To learn more about our Memorial Trees Campaign, please visit us at http://www.americanforests.org/campaigns/memorial_trees/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bush Administration to Ease Forest Management Rules ----------------------------------------------------------------- On November 27 the Bush administration unveiled a plan to give local forest managers greater control over recreational and commercial activities in U.S. forests, a policy opponents said skirts environmental rules designed to protect fish and wildlife habitat. In a proposal that has triggered a new round of skirmishes between the administration and some environmental groups over how to manage U.S. forestland, Bush said increasing the power of local foresters would "cut out red tape" and reduce court appeals that have muddled forest policy. These rules alter a 2000 plan by the Clinton administration, which directed the U.S. Forest Service to manage some 200 million acres of forestland with "ecological sustainability" as the top priority. Under the Bush plan, environmental protection in 155 national forests would be judged equally with social uses and economic concerns, such as logging, on a case-by-case basis. "This new planning rule will give managers access to the tools they need to prevent problems before they happen and to respond to them quickly," said Sally Collins, associate chief with the Forest Service. "It's time to bring national forest planning into the 21 century." In a 90-page Forest Service document, the agency said the new rules would exempt forest managers from preparing time-consuming environmental impact statements (EIS) when they revise forest plans. The agency said it would consider undertaking an in-depth environmental study once it has determined whether the land would be used for hiking, camping, logging, oil drilling, or other activities. "In many cases, an EIS for a forest plan is not providing useful information for the public," said Fred Norbury, Forest Service director of ecosystem management. The Forest Service estimated it could take as many as seven years to complete a forest plan. The Bush administration has long complained that federal environmental rules and court appeals, dubbed by Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth as "analysis paralysis," make it nearly impossible to approve projects necessary to manage forests. The administration said the new plan could save some $300 million of the estimated $1 billion needed to revise more than 100 forest plans. For more news and information about the Bush administration's suggested forest plan, you can log onto http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48576-2002Nov27.html, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/28/politics/28FORE.html For decades, AMERICAN FORESTS has provided information and perspectives on urban and rural forest policy issues and brings its own voice as an advocate for trees and forests to the national policy arena. You can read about our views on forest policy by visiting at http://www.americanforests.org/resources/fp/AFpolicyviews/. Let us know what you think! Email us at info@amfor.org We'd like to hear your opinions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We're Growing! Historic Tree Nursery 2002 Highlights ----------------------------------------------------------------------- It's been an amazing year for AMERICAN FORESTS' Historic Tree Nursery, so we've collected some of our most shining Historic Tree Nursery moments. ---Historic Tree Nursery Director Jeff Meyer appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and presented him with a tree grown from seeds collected in his hometown of Broad Ripple, Indiana. The David Letterman Tulip Poplar grows next to the Atlas Grocery Store where Letterman worked as a box boy in his youth. ---Last spring, the first of a 13-episode series, TreeStories, aired on PBS. TreeStories, hosted by Meyer, took viewers on adventures to America’s largest trees, haunted trees, and tree houses (to name a few) and brought Meyer across 26 states in four months. Hope you’re watching these TreeStories unfold on your local PBS station. ---Meyer also joined Martha Stewart for an episode of Martha Stewart Living. They filmed at George Washington’s Mount Vernon where they picked tulip poplar seeds from Washington’s prized trees and demonstrated how to propagate them and grow direct-offspring historic seedlings. ---Peter Jennings and ABC produced a thoughtful and moving salute to AMERICAN FORESTS’ Historic Tree Nursery on the national news broadcast of "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings." ---In September, Meyer joined actor, Val Kilmer in wildfire-damaged Los Alamos, New Mexico, to plant the 20 millionth Global ReLeaf tree. By the time you read this... Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri will be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate Walt’s 100th birthday. Jeff Meyer will join Missouri’s governor, Bob Holden and 12 Disney animators in dedicating the "Disney Dreaming Tree." Each will plant a tree from the Historic Tree Nursery to inaugurate a new Disney Historic Arboretum. Last, but not least, AMERICAN FORESTS is continuing its grass-roots project to identify and document trees of historic legacy in every state in the nation. Visit http://www.historictrees.org to nominate a tree in your community! == WHAT'S HAPPENING =================================================== * Helpful Hints For Choosing Your Christmas Tree Did you ever think that by using a cut Christmas tree in your house that you were actually helping the environment? Although millions of trees are bought every year, millions more are planted, helping the environment from the time they are planted until after the holiday season when they can be recycled. While they are growing for up to 16 years, Christmas trees support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases while giving off fresh oxygen. Every acre of Christmas trees planted gives off enough oxygen to meet the needs of 18 people. Today in America there are enough Christmas trees planted that 18 million people a day are supplied with oxygen. Also, the farms that grow Christmas trees stabilize soil, protect water supplies, and provide a refuge for wildlife. Often, Christmas trees are grown on soil that will not support any other crops. And when one Christmas tree is cut down, one or two are replanted in its place. After the holiday season is over, the branches and trunk are biodegradable and can be made into mulch for the garden. AMERICAN FORESTS recommends keeping and planting a live tree this holiday season, because of the many benefits planting trees has for the environment. If you have space for a "ball and burlapped" or containerized tree and you have the patience to provide the extra care this type of tree requires, it’s well work the additional cost and effort. To care for you living Christmas tree, keep the root ball of your replantable tree moist at all times. After no more than 10-14 days of indoor appreciation, move the tree to a protected place outdoors for several days to help it make the adjustment from a warm house. Your local nursery should be able to answer any other questions you have concerning the care of your tree. As soon as you can, plant the tree in the hole you dug earlier (if your area is frost prone). In the event that you don’t have a planting site, we suggest that before you buy, check with a local tree-planting group to see if they have a program to accommodate your tree. If you can't keep a live Christmas tree, there are a few helpful rules to follow for choosing and care of your cut tree: 1. Buy a fresh tree, checking the condition of the needles—fresh needles bend rather than break with gentle pressure. 2. Shake your tree gently to check for loss of needles. Lossing needles may mean the tree is too dry and could be dangerous for your home. 3. Check the cut end of the trunk. A fresh tree should be sticky with sap rather than smooth and dry. 4. Trim the end of the trunk before placing trunk in water. This allows a fresh route for water to travel into the trunk. 5. Check the water level every other day, adding if needed. If the water level drops below the trunk, a seal will form preventing the tree from absorbing water. 6. Keep your tree away from heat sources such as a heating duct or television set. 7. Recycle your tree. Call your county disposal service for the best disposal route. Mulch your tree for the garden. It’s important to note: Never burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace. The trees are fire hazards, as the pitch content in the bark and needles can cause them to burst into flames from the intense heat. To learn more about the history of Christmas trees, click to http://www.americanforests.org/news/ * Plant the Gift of Trees This Holiday Season AMERICAN FORESTS is offering holiday gift-givers the opportunity to plant trees in environmental restoration projects in the name of a friend or relative for the holidays. Planting trees is an opportunity for people to remember friends and loved-ones with a gift that lasts a lifetime: trees that provide clean air, pure water, and beautiful vistas for decades to come. Trees planted through AMERICAN FORESTS will help restore forests and watersheds in locations across the nation. Trees are planted in ecosystem restoration projects called Global ReLeaf Forests. Many of these areas have been damaged by natural or human causes. These trees help clean the air and water, filter polluted runoff, slow global warming and erosion, and provide habitat for wildlife. The trees planted in the name of the recipient will benefit our environment in many ways, such as restoring habitat for bald eagles, brook trout, and black bears, filtering polluted runoff, and slowing global warming. Holiday shoppers can help restore thousands of acres damaged forest such as those in New York’s Beaverkill Forest. To restore the rivers and streams of the Beaverkill watershed, tree species such as willow, sycamore, eastern white pine and green ash among others will be planted to help stabilize land along the stream and riverbeds. The trees will help reduce flood speeds, encourage nutrient cycling, provide shade, and create habitat for animals including the brown trout, northern leopard frog, eastern worm snake, and the Karner Blue Butterfly. Donations could also support efforts to replant the banks of Oregon’s Applegate River where decades of agriculture, logging, and residential development have damaged the river basin. Reforesting of this area will increase the diversity of wildlife and habitat, while improving water quality which is important for spawning salmon. Every dollar contributed to AMERICAN FORESTS plants one tree. For a $15 minimum donation, AMERICAN FORESTS will plant 15 trees in one of its ecosystem restoration projects in the United States or overseas. Planting 500 trees will reforest an entire acre. AMERICAN FORESTS sends the holiday certificate directly to the gift recipient. Donors also have the option of receiving the certificates suitable for framing and display, which certify that trees have been planted. Holiday shoppers can plant trees as gifts with AMERICAN FORESTS in the following ways: 1) Visit www.americanforests.org and www.care2.com to plant trees online; 2) Call AMERICAN FORESTS’ tree-planting hotline at 1-800-545-TREE (8733); 3) Mail a check for $15 or more to AMERICAN FORESTS, Attn: Holiday Gifts, PO Box 2000, Washington, DC 20013. Be sure to include your name and phone number, and the name and address of the person receiving the gift, and your greeting (for example: "Happy Holidays 2002"). Global ReLeaf is AMERICAN FORESTS’ ecosystem restoration campaign that plants trees in areas that have been damaged by human or natural causes. Each tree planted this holiday season will count toward the organization’s 50 million tree-planting goal. More than 20 million trees have been planted to date. * IKEA Christmas Trees to Benefit AMERICAN FORESTS IKEA is having its annual Christmas Tree sale event this weekend through December 8, 2002. During IKEA's Tree Event, for the fifth year in a row, customers can buy a tree for $20 for the holidays and in return IKEA will donate $1 to plant a tree in one of AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf projects. IKEA's yearly Tree Event has enabled AMERICAN FORESTS to plant more than 69,000 trees, restoring damaged ecosystems and reestablishing wildlife habitat. We greatly appreciate IKEA's long-term commitment to the environment. Please stop by participating IKEA stores in the U.S. to purchase your tree. A small reminder: Trees will not be available at IKEA's East Bay, Seattle and Houston, Texas stores. This offer is only valid while supplies last. Please visit http://www.ikea-usa.com/ for more details, or http://www.americanforests.org to find out more about AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf Campaign. * Race For Trees! To help AMERICAN FORESTS plant trees in restoration projects, the annual Uwharrie Mountain run will be held February 8th, 2003 in the Uwharrie National Forest in central North Carolina. For the first time, a portion of the proceeds from the race will go to charity, and AMERICAN FORESTS is proud to have been selected as the recipient of this honor. Racing in the 40-mile run costs $50 per person. The 20-mile trail costs $35; and the 8-mile run costs $20. A pre-race Pasta Dinner will be held on Friday, February 7 from 6-8 p.m. at The Exchange, a renovated historic building at 204 S. Fayetteville St in downtown Asheboro, just 5 minutes from the race hotel. Cost is $8 per person. Awards are a special tradition at Uwharrie, a region well known for its beautiful pottery. All participants receive a race t-shirt and those finishing the race receive hand painted pottery awards crafted by a local Seagrove potter. The top three male and female winners in each race receive handmade commemorative plates. Awards are presented as runners finish. If you are interested in registering for the race or learning more about the tricky terrain of the trail, visit www.raceuwharrie.com. All proceeds benefiting AMERICAN FORESTS will go to our Global ReLeaf program. You can find out more about the program by visiting http://www.americanforests.org * Listening for Larvae Since it was first detected in Brooklyn, NY, in 1996, the Asian long-horned beetle (ALB) has destroyed more than 7,000 trees in New York and Chicago. And since there is no pesticide or known predator to reduce the beetle population, it has the potential to do tremendous damage to U.S. forests. To prevent the ALB from becoming a national problem the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has launched a pilot program to eradicate the pest in New York City using acoustic detection technology. The current eradication technique of a visual survey makes it difficult to determine if a tree is infested before it's heavily damaged. The acoustic detection system, on the other hand, picks up any feeding sounds inside the tree not audible to the human ear. The acoustic instrument called the "accelerometer" delivers a signal to a charge amplifier, which amplifies it on a display. If there are acoustic vibration signals of larvae feeding coming from the tree, the amplitude will increase. The signal from the charge amplifier also goes into a handheld computer. The computer then analyzes the signal to see if the sounds from the tree are from ALBs. Each time the larvae make a characteristic feeding sound, the "beetle bite counter" goes up. The bites can also be heard on a traditional headset. The equipment can be set to detect any one of five beetle sounds. In the case of a confirmed infestation, the tree is destroyed. Although the acoustic detection technology is being tested in the state of New York, some entomologists are skeptical that the idea is fool proof. For example, there are many stages in a bug's development. Some entomologists argue that detection of "chewing" sounds cannot be detected when the beetle is still in the egg. Trees containing thousands of eggs would be overlooked, leaving the tree vulnerable to the beetle larvae after hatching. For now, scientists remain optimistic. * Tree Leaves Central Park to Stretch its Roots in China The first time New Yorker Dave Karnosky saw a giant Chinese elm tree in City's Central Park, he knew he was looking at a special tree. Twenty-five years later, the elm is no longer there. It was destroyed in 1993 after a battle with rotten wood and posed a danger to park visitors. It was unfortunate, since the elm had already beat the odds and thrived in a climate that should have been too cold, and in an urban environment that should have been too harsh, and it grew to huge proportions, much larger than other Chinese elms. It may have been destroyed, but it's not down and out. The great elm, known as "Central Park Splendor," is alive and well, and it's living in China, its native land. Karnosky, now a professor of forestry at Michigan Technological University, cloned the tree from leaf tissues he collected long ago, and he recently took 150 trees back to China. He delivered the small trees to scientists at three institutions, and by the next day they were already planted in various nurseries. Karnosky told ABC NEWS, "I thought this was really a neat thing to have preserved this tree and then sent it back to its homeland." Scientists there were eager to get it, he says, because the Central Park elm is especially cold hardy and might extend the elm's range to northern China. The 60-foot tree was believed to have been presented to New York City in the 1870s by the King of Prussia. It had caught the attention of the Arthur Ross Foundation because it appeared to be dying of old age, and would eventually have to be destroyed. The foundation wanted to know if Karnosky could propagate the tree so that it could hang around longer, even if in different settings. This was considered a special tree because most Chinese elms were grown in southern climates, and this one thrived in New York. After growing seedlings from clippings Karnosky collected in the park, today many of them are growing in various New York City parks, and so the Central Park Splendor Lives! ********************* 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: - A free subscription to our quarterly magazine - A free Big Trees calendar - A window decal Join Today! Visit http://www.americanforests.org/ ***************************************************************** == ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS AND FEATURES FROM ENS-NEWS.COM and ENN.COM ================= * "Paper Partnership Benefits Tennessee Forests" http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2002/2002-11-18-09.asp#anchor1 * "Bush Change to NW Forest Plan Would Ease Logging" http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2002/2002-11-26-10.asp * "Human Pressure on Earth's Carrying Capacity Rises" http://ens-news.com/ens/nov2002/2002-11-28-10.asp ______________________________________ ForestBytes ______________ Don't forget to forward this information to friends or colleagues. FEEDBACK OR OTHER ASSISTANCE: mailto:forestbytes@amfor.org PLANT TREES WITH AMERICAN FORESTS: http://www.americanforests.org/global_releaf/ BECOME A MEMBER OF AMERICAN FORESTS: http://www.americanforests.org/membership/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://www.americanforests.org AMERICAN FORESTS People Caring for Trees and Forests since 1875. _________________________________________________________________