ForestBytes --- September 2001 Volume II, Issue 17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. What's Happening? * Unveiling a New Study at Conference * Famous Actress Supports Global ReLeaf * Big Tree Nominations * Updating www.americanforests.org * Award-winning Organization II. Check It Out! * Public Comment Period on Roadless Rule * CRYSTAL GEYSER * Helping the Wood thrush * Chestnut Foundation meets III. GLOBAL RELEAF Spotlight * Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, Texas IV. Environmental News from ENN.com * "National Park Service grants millions for city parks" * "California fires heat up, Northwest rains on way" == What's Happening? ====================================== ------------------------------------------------------------ Unveiling a New Study at Conference ------------------------------------------------------------ AMERICAN FORESTS will unveil a dramatic new study, called "Gray to Green: Reversing the National Tree Deficit," to kick-off the 2001 National Urban Forest Conference. At the September 5th news conference, the organization's Urban Forest Center will release its latest analysis of the tree canopy of Washington, DC, using high-resolution satellite imagery, never before available to the Center. It will also give the estimated number of trees currently missing from our America's urban areas, hence the "national tree deficit." Held every other year by AMERICAN FORESTS, the National Urban Forest Conference brings a broad range of people together to examine the latest trends, public policy, technology, and action programs to engage communities in rebuilding the urban environment, especially its trees and forests. The theme of this year's Conference, held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC, September 5-8, is "Investing in Natural Capital." Sessions cover an array of issues including: trees and urban infrastructure; air quality, energy, and the urban heat island; protecting wildlife habitat; and trees and stormwater management. In-depth workshops and ten tours showcasing the rich urban environment and initiatives in the area will be offered. The closing session of the Conference will be a "journalists roundtable" featuring Ray Suarez, senior correspondent with PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Suarez and other journalists will discuss how urban foresters, citizen activists, and others can get their stories featured on local and national media sources. The fall 2001 issue of American Forests magazine, which as just been mailed, has a number of stories relating to urban forestry. Conference updates will be posted daily at www.americanforests.org. For more information on the 2001 National Urban Forest Conference, visit http://www.americanforests.org/trees_cities_sprawl/conference/. ------------------------------------------------------------ Famous Actress Supports Global ReLeaf ------------------------------------------------------------ Academy award-winning actress Meryl Streep will soon be heard narrating AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf public service announcements on television channels across the United States. Streep recently voiced the announcements in New York City. Tapes are being edited and will be distributed to ABC, CBS, Animal Planet, HGTV, and many other television channels and local cable companies across America that are already broadcasting AMERICAN FORESTS' public service announcements. "AMERICAN FORESTS has one of the best reputations in the conservation world," said Streep. "The nation's oldest nonprofit conservation organization, AMERICAN FORESTS has been planting and protecting trees and forests for more than 125 years. I'm honored to help this historic organization's Global ReLeaf tree-planting efforts to improve the environment and make the world a better place to live." For more than 20 years, Meryl Streep has captured the hearts and minds of film fanatics and theatergoers alike. She won her first Oscar in 1979 for her performance in Kramer vs. Kramer. She has also starred in The Dear Hunter, Sophie's Choice, and many other notable films and won numerous awards. Her latest film is Music of the Heart, based on the true story of a violin teacher who began an inner-city music program for children that became known worldwide. This summer, Streep is performing on stage in "The Seagull" as part of a theater series in New York City's Central Park. There are a lot of websites with information on Meryl Streep. http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&cf=bios&id=1800018835 provides a detailed summary of Streep's acting career. Meryl Streep is passionate about trees and the environment. Learn about the many environmental benefits Global ReLeaf trees provide by visiting http://www.americanforests.org/global_releaf/benefits/index.html. ------------------------------------------------------------ Big Tree Nominations ------------------------------------------------------------ AMERICAN FORESTS has received dozens of nominations to the National Register of Big Trees since that last Register was printed in the spring of 2000. August 1, 2001, was the deadline for submissions to the 2002 Register. Published biennially by AMERICAN FORESTS, the National Register of Big Trees lists the largest specimens of some 826 species that are native or naturalized to the United States. The 2002 Register will be published this spring. More than 90 species did not have champions trees listed on the 2000 register. But thanks to the keen eyes of Big Tree hunters, close to half-a-dozen species could now have champs. Florida and Georgia had the most nominees to the 2002 Register followed by Tennessee and Oregon. You'll have to wait until the 2002 Register is published to get more interesting Big Tree facts and to see which trees were dethroned and which retained their titles. You'll receive a free copy of the 2002 Register with your AMERICAN FORESTS' membership. Join the nation's oldest nonprofit conservation organization by visiting https://www.americanforests.org/acorn/membership/memberself/memberself.jsp?uid=997726584265&verb=init&searchType=i&tx_type=nc&product=trees. ------------------------------------------------------------ Updating www.americanforests.org ------------------------------------------------------------ AMERICAN FORESTS is in the process of updating and improving its website, www.americanforests.org. The work will be performed over the course of several months. Our goal is to the make the website as informative, educational, fun, and user-friendly as possible. If you have ideas on how www.americanforests.org can be improved, let us know. We also want to hear what you like about our website's current layout. Send your thoughts to our new Webmaster, Josh Williams, at josh@amfor.org. ------------------------------------------------------------ Award-winning Organization ------------------------------------------------------------ AMERICAN FORESTS recently won awards for both print and television. American Forests magazine's spring 2001 issue received a pewter award from the Gold Ink Awards. For fourteen years, the Gold Ink Awards has been considered the nation's most prestigious print competition. The Gold Ink Awards remains the standard bearer of excellence for the highly competitive and ever-evolving printing industry. Top-notch professionals in the print world judge this rigorous competition. Find more information on the Gold Ink Awards by clicking to http://www.goldink.com/. "Silent Witnesses: America's Historic Trees" has received a 2001 Telly Award. The documentary, produced by AMERICAN FORESTS and WJCT public television, premiered in the spring of 2000 on public TV stations across the United States. The program profiles dozens of trees that have direct links to famous people or historic events. The Telly Awards was founded in 1980, to showcase and give recognition to outstanding non-network and cable commercials. The competition was expanded several years ago to include film and video productions. In the past 21 years, winners and finalists have come from a cross-section of agencies, production companies, television stations, and cable operations, as well as corporate video departments. Learn more about AMERICAN FORESTS' Historic Tree Nursery at www.historictrees.org. == Check It Out! =========================================== * The public comment period for the proposed Roadless Rule is rapidly coming to an end. Comments on the plan must be post-marked by September 10, 2001. USDA Forest Service offers ten optional questions that respondents can answer or reformat the questions to suit their needs. Find the list at http://www.roadless.fs.fed.us/xcomments.shtml. Send your comments: 1) by mail to: USDA-Forest Service -- CAT Attention: Roadless ANPR Comments P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84122 2) via electronic mail to roadless_anpr@fs.fed.us 3) or by fax to 1-801-296-4090, Attention: Roadless ANPR Comments. All comments, including names and addresses when provided, are placed in the record and are available for public inspection and copying at Salt Lake City, Utah. Last year, the Clinton Administration and USDA Forest Service proposed the Roadless Rule, which restricts development on some 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in National Forests. In May 2001, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman and Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth announced USDA was going forward with the Roadless Rule, but with some possible amendments to address the concerns of some who questioned the fairness of the decision-making process. The official response by AMERICAN FORESTS to USDA's decision to uphold the Rule can be found at http://www.americanforests.org/news_and_pubs/news/roadless.html. * CRYSTAL GEYSER NATURAL Alpine Spring Water is AMERICAN FORESTS' newest corporate partner, sponsoring the planting of at least 150,000 trees in the next two years. Like AMERICAN FORESTS, CRYSTAL GEYSER cares about pure water. Here's a passage from the website. "The source of our pure spring water is located at one of our three protected springs; Mt. Shasta and Olancha Peak in California or The Cherokee National Forest of Tennessee. Pristine snow and rain are filtered and purified through the layers of the mountain and captured at the spring, then bottled directly at the source. CRYSTAL GEYSER alpine spring water guarantees you freshness, purity and taste." Learn more about CRYSTAL GEYSER NATURAL Alpine Spring Water at http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/cgasw_frontpage.html. To find out how your company can plant trees through Global ReLeaf, contact Steve Walsh, AMERICAN FORESTS' director of corporate development. His email address is swalsh@amfor.org. * If you read the Autumn 2000 issue of American Forests magazine, you know many songbird populations are declining. Dozens of songbirds belong to a select group of birds known as forest interior dwelling species or "FIDS." These birds require large areas of contiguous forest to forage and breed. FIDS are in trouble because the vast forests that once covered the eastern U.S. are falling prey to roads, shopping centers, and housing developments. One of the species adversely affected by sprawl and habitat loss is the Wood thrush, which is often heard before it is seen. With what one expert has called "perhaps the most beautiful song of any North American bird," wood thrushes fill the forests of the eastern half of the United States with distinctive trills. The Wood thrush is relatively indistinctive except for a dazzling brown and cream splotched belly. AMERICAN FORESTS reforestation efforts are increasing habitat for FIDS populations, like the Wood thrush. Working with The Nature Conservancy, AMERICAN FORESTS planted more than 33,000 red and white oak and other seedlings from 1999-2001 to the Milford Neck Preserve in Delaware, an important nesting site for over 100 species of birds. The project also enlarges forests, improves forest corridors, and buffers sensitive coastal wetlands and the Delaware Bay estuary from human-caused nutrient runoff and sedimentation. Find more information on wood thrushes at http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/WOOTHR/. Go to http://www.cevl.msu.edu/~sg1410/docs/commonbirds_files/Wood Thrush.jpg for another photo. Plant Global ReLeaf trees via http://www.americanforests.org/global_releaf/env_rest.html * After attending the 2001 National Urban Forest Conference, you might consider participating in another exciting tree-related conference. The American Chestnut Foundation will hold its annual meeting October 26-October 28 in Chattanooga, TN. Meeting fees are due by September 15. Members pay $145 and others $155. Chestnut enthusiasts, scientists and experts, and many others from far and wide will participate in an array of workshops ranging from "The Appalachian Forest Ecosystem and the American chestnut" to "Artificial Regeneration of American Chestnut in Forest Openings." Visit www.acf.org for more information. If you have a story idea for ForestBytes, send it to Stevin Westcott, AMERICAN FORESTS' director of communications. His email address is swestcott@amfor.org. ******************* ARE YOU A MEMBER??********************* Do your part to help the environment today by joining AMERICAN FORESTS. You'll get 25 trees planted for you in a damaged ecosystem or forest restoration project. You'll also receive: - A free subscription to our quarterly magazine - A free Big Trees calendar - A window decal Join Today! Visit http://www.americanforests.org/ ************************************************************ == GLOBAL RELEAF Spotlight ==================== Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, Texas Ten thousand longleaf pine seedlings in the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary will restore the native longleaf pine-little bluestem ecosystem that once dominated the Big Thicket region. It protects unique and ecologically significant areas within the Big Thicket region, including one of the last remaining drought-resistant longleaf pine communities in Texas. Village Creek, a major tributary of the Neches River, meanders through the floodplain forest. Some 800-plant species and numerous animal species reside in the sanctuary including at least 18 species of amphibians, 107 bird species, 27 reptiles, and 22 mammal species. Educate a friend about AMERICAN FORESTS' efforts to improve the planet with trees and forests by encouraging her or him to sign up for ForestBytes. == ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS AND FEATURES FROM ENN.COM ============ * "National Park Service grants millions for city parks" http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/08/08202001/parks_44676.asp * "California fires heat up, Northwest rains on way" http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/08/08222001/reu_firesrains_44705.asp ____________________________ ForestBytes __________________ Thanks for your support of ForestBytes, AMERICAN FORESTS' monthly email newsletter. Don't forget to forward this information to friends or colleagues. 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