December 4, 2016 - Boy, it sure has been a while! Sorry about that, lots of health issues that made it just too hard to keep up with website building. Not to mention, it's pretty hard to find good news about the environment or trees. Considering recent events, it may be getting even harder. But there you go. In the meantime, I am working on Volume Three of my Secret Voices from the Forest books. This one is about trees of eastern North America, and here are the first two portraits: Virginia Live Oak and Longleaf Yellow Pine, both from Chapter One: The Gulf Coast. Southern Magnolia is next. Hope I can find all those great shots I took in New Orleans in February of 2011. If you're interested in Volumes One and Two: The WEST and MIDCONTINENT, visit my sister site: secret-voices.com
Trees in the News - April 11, 2015 - good news about trees for a change
Green side of drones: Flying bots may plant 1 billion trees a year, April 08, 2015, UAE Drones for Good
An Oxford-based startup has an ambitious plan to combat deforestation by planting 1 billion trees a year by using drones. BioCarbon Engineering is exploring new precision planting methods and mapping techniques to achieve this goal. “We are going to change the world 1 billion trees at a time,” said CEO and former NASA engineer Lauren Fletcher.
“The only option we had previous was hand planting, which is slow and really expensive and just can’t keep up with industry scale deforestation. We are hoping that our technologies will provide opportunities to really scale up reforestation and replanting rates.”
At the current rates up to 26 billion trees are being destroyed every year in comparison to the 15 billion that are being replanted. BioCarbon has improved the previously flawed dry seeding by air methods and minimized the human effort needed in the process. It uses drones to fly above an area and estimate the success rate of restoration. Then, the drones descend lower and spread out pods filled with pre-germinated seeds that are covered in a nutritious hydrogel.
Fletcher projects that with two drone operators controlling several UAVs up to 36,000 trees per day could be planted. BioCarbon is working to have the drones fully operational by the end of the summer. Fletcher has highlighted Brazil or South Africa as the first possible sight for the project.
The project was the finalist in the Drones for Good competition in the United Arab Emirates, reaching the semi-final stage.
http://rt.com/news/247709-drones-planting-trees-forests/
An Oxford-based startup has an ambitious plan to combat deforestation by planting 1 billion trees a year by using drones. BioCarbon Engineering is exploring new precision planting methods and mapping techniques to achieve this goal. “We are going to change the world 1 billion trees at a time,” said CEO and former NASA engineer Lauren Fletcher.
“The only option we had previous was hand planting, which is slow and really expensive and just can’t keep up with industry scale deforestation. We are hoping that our technologies will provide opportunities to really scale up reforestation and replanting rates.”
At the current rates up to 26 billion trees are being destroyed every year in comparison to the 15 billion that are being replanted. BioCarbon has improved the previously flawed dry seeding by air methods and minimized the human effort needed in the process. It uses drones to fly above an area and estimate the success rate of restoration. Then, the drones descend lower and spread out pods filled with pre-germinated seeds that are covered in a nutritious hydrogel.
Fletcher projects that with two drone operators controlling several UAVs up to 36,000 trees per day could be planted. BioCarbon is working to have the drones fully operational by the end of the summer. Fletcher has highlighted Brazil or South Africa as the first possible sight for the project.
The project was the finalist in the Drones for Good competition in the United Arab Emirates, reaching the semi-final stage.
http://rt.com/news/247709-drones-planting-trees-forests/
This is an ad I received from Mother Earth News this morning. It’s unusual for me to present news this way, but this is an issue that I’ve known about for over 30 years. It’s important that food and water is NOT controlled by big corporations. Even if you have only containers to grow in, or a small patio, you can produce food for yourself, but if you rely on hybrid seed companies, you have to keep buying seed from them. You need to start getting seed that can reproduce itself and is not genetically modified or laced with pesticides. Power to the People!
“Historically, seed companies were generally small, often family-run businesses. Because they were regionally based, they could focus on varieties well-suited to the local environment. A Pacific Northwest company, for example, would specialize in different cultivars than a company based in the Southeast. However, the absorption of these small, independent seed businesses into large multinationals, combined with the advancement of biotechnology resulting in hybrids and genetically modified seeds, has led to a serious loss of genetic diversity. The public is now at the mercy of the corporations who control the seeds.
“In the past few years, gardeners have realized the inherent danger in this situation. A growing movement is striving to preserve and expand our stock of heritage and heirloom varieties through seed saving and sharing opportunities. Seed Libraries is a practical guide to saving seeds through community programs, including step-by-step instructions for setting up a seed library, a wealth of ideas to help attract patrons and keep the momentum going, and examples of existing libraries and other types of seed saving partnerships.
Whoever controls the seeds controls the food supply. By empowering communities to preserve and protect the genetic diversity of their harvest, Seed Libraries is the first step toward reclaiming our self-reliance ... while enhancing food security and ensuring that the future of food is healthy, vibrant, tasty and nutritious.”
https://www.motherearthnews.com/order/order.aspx?promocode=MMEEMF45&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Merchandise%20Master&utm_campaign=04.11.15%20Seed%20Libraries
“Historically, seed companies were generally small, often family-run businesses. Because they were regionally based, they could focus on varieties well-suited to the local environment. A Pacific Northwest company, for example, would specialize in different cultivars than a company based in the Southeast. However, the absorption of these small, independent seed businesses into large multinationals, combined with the advancement of biotechnology resulting in hybrids and genetically modified seeds, has led to a serious loss of genetic diversity. The public is now at the mercy of the corporations who control the seeds.
“In the past few years, gardeners have realized the inherent danger in this situation. A growing movement is striving to preserve and expand our stock of heritage and heirloom varieties through seed saving and sharing opportunities. Seed Libraries is a practical guide to saving seeds through community programs, including step-by-step instructions for setting up a seed library, a wealth of ideas to help attract patrons and keep the momentum going, and examples of existing libraries and other types of seed saving partnerships.
Whoever controls the seeds controls the food supply. By empowering communities to preserve and protect the genetic diversity of their harvest, Seed Libraries is the first step toward reclaiming our self-reliance ... while enhancing food security and ensuring that the future of food is healthy, vibrant, tasty and nutritious.”
https://www.motherearthnews.com/order/order.aspx?promocode=MMEEMF45&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Merchandise%20Master&utm_campaign=04.11.15%20Seed%20Libraries
Trees in the News - March 29, 2015 - good news about trees for a change!
Wikipedia Commons
New Acoustic Insulation Material That Incorporates Fibers from Orange Tree Pruning, February 24, 2015, Asociación RUVID
Researchers have developed boards that, compared with the conventional gypsum boards, provide a 150% improvement in the acoustic insulation. The work is being done by a team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Universitat de Girona.
The raw material, the orange tree prunings, undergo a process to remove fiber. Together with the orange tree fibers, the insulator incorporates polypropylene, a very common plastic found in toys or automobile parts, among other products.
Also, if one uses a double solution material, that is, a material that incorporates two boards and an absorbent wool in between, like a sandwich, the improvement will insulate more than double the conventional system.
This research is a leading example in the field of the development of the materials commonly known as eco-friendly. Research using ground olive stones is also near completion.
One of the advantages of this new material is that it will enable an agricultural sub-product such as the waste from orange tree pruning to be used, with the resulting economic benefits for the industry.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224102608.htm
Researchers have developed boards that, compared with the conventional gypsum boards, provide a 150% improvement in the acoustic insulation. The work is being done by a team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Universitat de Girona.
The raw material, the orange tree prunings, undergo a process to remove fiber. Together with the orange tree fibers, the insulator incorporates polypropylene, a very common plastic found in toys or automobile parts, among other products.
Also, if one uses a double solution material, that is, a material that incorporates two boards and an absorbent wool in between, like a sandwich, the improvement will insulate more than double the conventional system.
This research is a leading example in the field of the development of the materials commonly known as eco-friendly. Research using ground olive stones is also near completion.
One of the advantages of this new material is that it will enable an agricultural sub-product such as the waste from orange tree pruning to be used, with the resulting economic benefits for the industry.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224102608.htm
Majority Kwaambwa
New, Useful Feature of Moringa Seeds Revealed, February 24, 2015,Uppsala Universitet.
Moringa trees are known as 'miracle' trees because of their many uses as food and as a source of oil. Seeds from the trees are also used to purify water. Research done on the special properties of the protein in the seeds, has shown that the seeds can also be used for separation of different materials, applicable to mining industries. The new knowledge could contribute to the reduction of the use of synthetic chemicals used to extract impurities.
I’m also assuming, I hope correctly, that this will also result in less pollution of the water supplies near mining operations.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224082920.htm>
Moringa trees are known as 'miracle' trees because of their many uses as food and as a source of oil. Seeds from the trees are also used to purify water. Research done on the special properties of the protein in the seeds, has shown that the seeds can also be used for separation of different materials, applicable to mining industries. The new knowledge could contribute to the reduction of the use of synthetic chemicals used to extract impurities.
I’m also assuming, I hope correctly, that this will also result in less pollution of the water supplies near mining operations.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224082920.htm>
Kent County Council
The Charter of the Forest: Influential Partner of Historic Magna Carta, March 15, 2015, by Molly Kersey
When a rare early edition of one of the British constitution’s keystones, the Magna Carta, was found by accident after a researcher at the Kent History and Library Centre had been sent on a mission to find an equally as ancient document - the intriguingly titled Charter of the Forest.
While the Magna Carta’s purpose and historical position is well known, the Charter of the Forest has, perhaps, an equally as fascinating background. Its role was hugely significant - opening up forests to the common man and enshrining it in law after the king tried to exert complete control over the land.
The Charter of the Forest was created initially by King Henry III in 1217, two years after the signing of the Magna Carta. It was particularly concerned with what was happening in the royal forests throughout the realm. The king was required to “disafforest” the royal forests, meaning that it became available to common people.
Roughly a third of the country was royal forest at the time. The word meant something very different to what we describe as a forest today, and it could actually include areas containing trees, moors or fields.
Before the Charter of the Forest was re-issued, the king had a monopoly over all of these and tenants were forbidden to change or develop their land without the permission of the reigning monarch. This made it very difficult for the common people who were trying to farm and use the land that they lived on.
After the Charter, the king was required to give up possession of forest land, which meant that it provided a common right for anyone to use it. One aim of the charter was to reduce the area of royal forest by removing everything which Henry II, who was largely blamed for its vast extent, had put in it.
In contrast to Magna Carta, which dealt with the rights of barons, it provided some real rights, privileges and protections for the common man against the abuses of the encroaching aristocracy.It covers anybody, the most humble, and people who wouldn’t be able to afford to pay a fine, so if they were going to be punished they would have to be put in prison or forced to suffer corporal punishment. Interestingly, the charter did ban severe punishments for forest offenses including poaching and hunting protected deer. It also banned mutilation, as a ‘less harsh’ punishment. A clause in chapter ten says that people will not be punished by “life or limb” for taking a deer or hunting one in the forest, although they would be fined heavily or imprisoned if they had no money. However, they could hunt, under the supervision of the forester.
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/the_charter_of_the_forest_influential_partner_of_historic_magna_carta_1_3993416?utm_source=WIT032015&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
When a rare early edition of one of the British constitution’s keystones, the Magna Carta, was found by accident after a researcher at the Kent History and Library Centre had been sent on a mission to find an equally as ancient document - the intriguingly titled Charter of the Forest.
While the Magna Carta’s purpose and historical position is well known, the Charter of the Forest has, perhaps, an equally as fascinating background. Its role was hugely significant - opening up forests to the common man and enshrining it in law after the king tried to exert complete control over the land.
The Charter of the Forest was created initially by King Henry III in 1217, two years after the signing of the Magna Carta. It was particularly concerned with what was happening in the royal forests throughout the realm. The king was required to “disafforest” the royal forests, meaning that it became available to common people.
Roughly a third of the country was royal forest at the time. The word meant something very different to what we describe as a forest today, and it could actually include areas containing trees, moors or fields.
Before the Charter of the Forest was re-issued, the king had a monopoly over all of these and tenants were forbidden to change or develop their land without the permission of the reigning monarch. This made it very difficult for the common people who were trying to farm and use the land that they lived on.
After the Charter, the king was required to give up possession of forest land, which meant that it provided a common right for anyone to use it. One aim of the charter was to reduce the area of royal forest by removing everything which Henry II, who was largely blamed for its vast extent, had put in it.
In contrast to Magna Carta, which dealt with the rights of barons, it provided some real rights, privileges and protections for the common man against the abuses of the encroaching aristocracy.It covers anybody, the most humble, and people who wouldn’t be able to afford to pay a fine, so if they were going to be punished they would have to be put in prison or forced to suffer corporal punishment. Interestingly, the charter did ban severe punishments for forest offenses including poaching and hunting protected deer. It also banned mutilation, as a ‘less harsh’ punishment. A clause in chapter ten says that people will not be punished by “life or limb” for taking a deer or hunting one in the forest, although they would be fined heavily or imprisoned if they had no money. However, they could hunt, under the supervision of the forester.
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/the_charter_of_the_forest_influential_partner_of_historic_magna_carta_1_3993416?utm_source=WIT032015&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
Biggest Morel Mushroom Harvest in World History, Smithsonian Magazine
Last year’s Birch Creek fire wreaked havoc in the Northwest Territoies’ boreal forests, but it also laid the foundation for a bumper crop of morel mushrooms, which spring up after forest fires. Now the territory is preparing itself for a harvest worth up to $100 million,a mushroom glut that will “flood the territory with pickers, buyers and millions in cash this summer.”
Why so much excitement about a shriveled shroom? The Kitchn’s Christine Gallary explains that the hollow mushrooms are fragile and perishable, difficult to cultivate, and hard to predict—three factors that rank morels both among the most coveted of ingredients and among the world’s most expensive mushrooms. In 2013, some morel pickers in Idaho made $1,500 a day in cash, and last year, morels attracted smugglers after foragers were banned from California’s Stanislaus National Forest. Canada's seasons means that more people might enjoy morels momentarily—but for mushroom lovers, there will never be a bumper crop big enough to fully satisfying their desires.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/will-2015-be-best-mushroom-year-ever-180954575/#uleWhQiG7ZXPjMAR.99
Last year’s Birch Creek fire wreaked havoc in the Northwest Territoies’ boreal forests, but it also laid the foundation for a bumper crop of morel mushrooms, which spring up after forest fires. Now the territory is preparing itself for a harvest worth up to $100 million,a mushroom glut that will “flood the territory with pickers, buyers and millions in cash this summer.”
Why so much excitement about a shriveled shroom? The Kitchn’s Christine Gallary explains that the hollow mushrooms are fragile and perishable, difficult to cultivate, and hard to predict—three factors that rank morels both among the most coveted of ingredients and among the world’s most expensive mushrooms. In 2013, some morel pickers in Idaho made $1,500 a day in cash, and last year, morels attracted smugglers after foragers were banned from California’s Stanislaus National Forest. Canada's seasons means that more people might enjoy morels momentarily—but for mushroom lovers, there will never be a bumper crop big enough to fully satisfying their desires.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/will-2015-be-best-mushroom-year-ever-180954575/#uleWhQiG7ZXPjMAR.99
Volume Two of Secret Voices From the Forest is for sale, both thru Amazon--
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Voices-Forest-Thoughts-Midcontinent/dp/098482992X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412432999&sr=1-2&keywords=secret+voices+from+the+forest
and on my own site--
http://secret-voices.com/buy-now.html
Secret Voices From the Forest received a 5-star review from Foreword Clarion Reviews -
“This personification of wise trees offers spiritual insight into leading a peaceful, satisfying life. . . . Secret Voices from the Forest strongly evokes magic realism in that it both relates opinions and advice from trees and delivers real information about the ecosystems that surround them. This combination of fact and fantasy results in a refreshing new perspective on the natural world that lingers long past the last page. . . . Plant enthusiasts and lovers of nature will relish in this short but highly re-readable volume. . . . Anyone who picks it up will have a hard time putting it down, if for no other reason than the renewed sense of wonder it infuses into the natural world.
And from Kirkus Reviews - “The overall aesthetic effect is accessible and pleasing, but the combination of informed nature writing with the work’s fantastical elements, which depart wholly from realism, may be challenging for some readers. . . [M]emorable factoids . . . show the writer’s expertise, which may persuade more concrete nature-loving readers to at least consider her forays into mystical and even mythical worlds. An unusual, fact-filled appreciation of the natural world blended with ventures into mysticism.”
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Voices-Forest-Thoughts-Midcontinent/dp/098482992X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412432999&sr=1-2&keywords=secret+voices+from+the+forest
and on my own site--
http://secret-voices.com/buy-now.html
Secret Voices From the Forest received a 5-star review from Foreword Clarion Reviews -
“This personification of wise trees offers spiritual insight into leading a peaceful, satisfying life. . . . Secret Voices from the Forest strongly evokes magic realism in that it both relates opinions and advice from trees and delivers real information about the ecosystems that surround them. This combination of fact and fantasy results in a refreshing new perspective on the natural world that lingers long past the last page. . . . Plant enthusiasts and lovers of nature will relish in this short but highly re-readable volume. . . . Anyone who picks it up will have a hard time putting it down, if for no other reason than the renewed sense of wonder it infuses into the natural world.
And from Kirkus Reviews - “The overall aesthetic effect is accessible and pleasing, but the combination of informed nature writing with the work’s fantastical elements, which depart wholly from realism, may be challenging for some readers. . . [M]emorable factoids . . . show the writer’s expertise, which may persuade more concrete nature-loving readers to at least consider her forays into mystical and even mythical worlds. An unusual, fact-filled appreciation of the natural world blended with ventures into mysticism.”
Trees in the News - February 28, 2015 - good news about trees for a change!
photo: Suzanna Gonzales/Bloomberg
Scientists Seeking to Save World Find Best Technology Is Trees, by Louise Downing, February 2, 2015
Oxford University scientists, after a year of research, have determined the best technology to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and try to reverse global warming - it’s trees.
They considered methods ranging from capturing emissions from factories and power stations to extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air, and adding lime to oceans to increase their absorption of the gas, a study released on Tuesday showed.
None were more promising than planting trees, or baking waste wood to form a type of charcoal that can be added to soil. Relative to other so-called Negative Emissions Technologies, afforestation and biochar are low-cost, have fewer uncertainties and offer other benefits to the environment, the research shows.
The study follows a report by the university in November that also found using geoengineering, like spraying sea salt or sulphate aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, won’t provide a “magic bullet” to combat global warming. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in April said extracting emissions may become necessary to curb global risks.
Deploying NETs by 2050 could help to draw 2.5 years of CO2 from the atmosphere, almost exclusively using afforestation, biochar and improvements to soil carbon, the university found.
Most other technologies are high cost, need large amounts of energy and have many uncertainties and challenges, it said. Using them isn’t easier than cutting emissions to start with.
Beyond 2050, it’s “conceivable” that NETs will have more potential and investments now are sensible in case they’re needed. Their deployment doesn’t mean “business as usual” and shouldn’t foster continued fossil-fuel use, the research shows.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-03/scientists-seeking-to-save-world-find-best-technology-is-trees
Oxford University scientists, after a year of research, have determined the best technology to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and try to reverse global warming - it’s trees.
They considered methods ranging from capturing emissions from factories and power stations to extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air, and adding lime to oceans to increase their absorption of the gas, a study released on Tuesday showed.
None were more promising than planting trees, or baking waste wood to form a type of charcoal that can be added to soil. Relative to other so-called Negative Emissions Technologies, afforestation and biochar are low-cost, have fewer uncertainties and offer other benefits to the environment, the research shows.
The study follows a report by the university in November that also found using geoengineering, like spraying sea salt or sulphate aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, won’t provide a “magic bullet” to combat global warming. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in April said extracting emissions may become necessary to curb global risks.
Deploying NETs by 2050 could help to draw 2.5 years of CO2 from the atmosphere, almost exclusively using afforestation, biochar and improvements to soil carbon, the university found.
Most other technologies are high cost, need large amounts of energy and have many uncertainties and challenges, it said. Using them isn’t easier than cutting emissions to start with.
Beyond 2050, it’s “conceivable” that NETs will have more potential and investments now are sensible in case they’re needed. Their deployment doesn’t mean “business as usual” and shouldn’t foster continued fossil-fuel use, the research shows.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-03/scientists-seeking-to-save-world-find-best-technology-is-trees
photo: inhabitat.com
The 'Wind Tree' that could heat your home, by Phoebe Parke, for CNN, January 21, 2015
French company NewWind has created the "Arbre a Vent" or "Wind Tree," a 3-meter-tall generator designed for urban environments which makes the most of smaller air currents. The "leaves" are mini turbines and together could power 15 streetlights.
Operating in near complete silence, the wind tree consists of 72 micro turbine "aeroleaves" that rotate in the wind, generating an estimated 3.1. kW of power.
While this isn't much compared to industrial-sized turbines, which typically generate in the region of 1 - 3MW, having multiple smaller turbines has its uses. These need less wind to get started and produce around 3kW of energy, which could heat a small home, fuel lights or charge an electric car." The wind tree will be mass produced for sale from March 2015 and NewWind says it has raised €1.15 million ($1.34 million) to begin pre-production. "There is a very negative view of wind energy, people think it's ugly and it ruins their landscapes. Then they see the wind tree and they think differently,” says the designer.
NewWind has had interest from local government in France and Europe, as well as real estate agents and businesses that want to have the tree on their land. There are even talks about another demonstration tree in London next year.
The Wind Tree may not be affordable and practical for everyone, but there are other applications that could be more accessible. "Our technology is in the mini wind turbines (the aeroleaves)," says Revuz. "So we are developing other applications for them.
Other ideas for the aeroleaves include rooftop foliage installed on buildings, foliage on roadsides and the smart balcony -- where the mini turbines are attached to balcony railings.
However innovative, this is not the first urban energy source inspired by nature -- check out the "Power Flower" and others in the gallery above.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/21/tech/wind-tree-arbre-a-vent/
French company NewWind has created the "Arbre a Vent" or "Wind Tree," a 3-meter-tall generator designed for urban environments which makes the most of smaller air currents. The "leaves" are mini turbines and together could power 15 streetlights.
Operating in near complete silence, the wind tree consists of 72 micro turbine "aeroleaves" that rotate in the wind, generating an estimated 3.1. kW of power.
While this isn't much compared to industrial-sized turbines, which typically generate in the region of 1 - 3MW, having multiple smaller turbines has its uses. These need less wind to get started and produce around 3kW of energy, which could heat a small home, fuel lights or charge an electric car." The wind tree will be mass produced for sale from March 2015 and NewWind says it has raised €1.15 million ($1.34 million) to begin pre-production. "There is a very negative view of wind energy, people think it's ugly and it ruins their landscapes. Then they see the wind tree and they think differently,” says the designer.
NewWind has had interest from local government in France and Europe, as well as real estate agents and businesses that want to have the tree on their land. There are even talks about another demonstration tree in London next year.
The Wind Tree may not be affordable and practical for everyone, but there are other applications that could be more accessible. "Our technology is in the mini wind turbines (the aeroleaves)," says Revuz. "So we are developing other applications for them.
Other ideas for the aeroleaves include rooftop foliage installed on buildings, foliage on roadsides and the smart balcony -- where the mini turbines are attached to balcony railings.
However innovative, this is not the first urban energy source inspired by nature -- check out the "Power Flower" and others in the gallery above.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/21/tech/wind-tree-arbre-a-vent/
photo: Chion Wolf/NPR
Can Science Develop Stronger Trees in Connecticut? by Patrick Skahill, February 18, 2014
As part of a quest to stave off large-scale power outages in the wake of storms, United Illuminating continues revisions on its ambitious tree-cutting plan, a group of scientists at UConn is studying why trees fail, and how they can be made stronger.
Scientist Mark Rudnicki believes, “We need more information about [trees that fall]. How did they fail? Where did they fail? What kind of tree was it? Was it surrounded by neighbors? Was it all alone? Did it have root rot? This basic information about tree failure: nobody collects it. Everyone is -- after a storm -- really focused on getting the power back up, getting this mess cleaned up. And the data is literally chewed up in chippers."
About 80 to 90 percent of power outages during storms are caused by trees that fail. The mission behind Stormwise, a tree and forest management program at UConn, is to discover why it happens.
So far their efforts consist of thinning out the forest near the power lines, but not clear cutting it, then installing solar-powered motion sensing equipment that gathers tree-sway data.
"[We want ] to open this up," he said, "to get these trees to intercept more wind, [and] start moving more. It's that movement that sends the messages we need to grow stronger. We need to change our shape. Now the average wind loading has increased. Trees can't adapt to the extremes, but they do adapt to the average. If we increase the average, then when the extreme comes, their threshold of how much extreme they can handle is higher."
The crucial question they are attempting to answer is “how long would it take to increase the average strength of trees in a roadside forest?”
“We're going to monitor these sway dynamics very carefully." Jenna Klinck, a master's student at UConn, said the tree sway gizmos are her project. She's also observing how wind moves through the forest, comparing it with an adjacent open field. It's a lot of data. "We have a whole year of data before any thinning was done," she said. "So we have a great database to compare it to, how this thinning affected the trees."
Stormwise scientists said the Fenton site will be monitored for years to come. The project plans to set up roadside trimming experiments near power lines around the state, tracking how trees respond to a bit more open space, letting their branches dance on the wind.
http://wnpr.org/post/can-science-develop-stronger-trees-connecticut
As part of a quest to stave off large-scale power outages in the wake of storms, United Illuminating continues revisions on its ambitious tree-cutting plan, a group of scientists at UConn is studying why trees fail, and how they can be made stronger.
Scientist Mark Rudnicki believes, “We need more information about [trees that fall]. How did they fail? Where did they fail? What kind of tree was it? Was it surrounded by neighbors? Was it all alone? Did it have root rot? This basic information about tree failure: nobody collects it. Everyone is -- after a storm -- really focused on getting the power back up, getting this mess cleaned up. And the data is literally chewed up in chippers."
About 80 to 90 percent of power outages during storms are caused by trees that fail. The mission behind Stormwise, a tree and forest management program at UConn, is to discover why it happens.
So far their efforts consist of thinning out the forest near the power lines, but not clear cutting it, then installing solar-powered motion sensing equipment that gathers tree-sway data.
"[We want ] to open this up," he said, "to get these trees to intercept more wind, [and] start moving more. It's that movement that sends the messages we need to grow stronger. We need to change our shape. Now the average wind loading has increased. Trees can't adapt to the extremes, but they do adapt to the average. If we increase the average, then when the extreme comes, their threshold of how much extreme they can handle is higher."
The crucial question they are attempting to answer is “how long would it take to increase the average strength of trees in a roadside forest?”
“We're going to monitor these sway dynamics very carefully." Jenna Klinck, a master's student at UConn, said the tree sway gizmos are her project. She's also observing how wind moves through the forest, comparing it with an adjacent open field. It's a lot of data. "We have a whole year of data before any thinning was done," she said. "So we have a great database to compare it to, how this thinning affected the trees."
Stormwise scientists said the Fenton site will be monitored for years to come. The project plans to set up roadside trimming experiments near power lines around the state, tracking how trees respond to a bit more open space, letting their branches dance on the wind.
http://wnpr.org/post/can-science-develop-stronger-trees-connecticut
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Trees in the News - February 22, 2015 - good news about trees for a change!
Landov/Xinhua/Press Association Images
Great Wall of Trees Keeps China's Deserts at Bay, 12 December 2014, by Fred Pearce, New Scientist Magazine
China is holding back the desert, for now. The Great Green Wall – a massive belt of trees being planted across China's arid north in what might be the largest ecological engineering project on the planet – seems to work, according to a new study.
"Vegetation has improved and dust storms have decreased significantly in the Great Green Wall region, compared with other areas," says Minghong Tan of the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research in Beijing. But whether planting trees is a long-term solution remains disputed.
The Gobi and Taklamakan deserts of northern China are Asia's biggest dust bowls. Storms generated there regularly shroud Beijing in dust, which can also fall as far away as Greenland. In an effort to tame the deserts, in 1978 China began planting the wall, which is officially called the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program. It is due for completion in 2050 and will eventually contain more than 100 billion trees in a 4500-kilometre belt, covering more than a tenth of the country. But opinion is divided about its success and advisability, and it has met with widespread skepticism among Western geographers.
Some credit a rise in rainfall for the decrease in dust storms across northern China over the past three decades. But Tan and co-author Xiubin Li say that their analysis of rainfall data, satellite images and an index of dust storms shows conclusively that the Green Wall is the main cause of the improvement (Land Use Policy, doi.org/xk2).
Away from the wall, vegetation cover and dust storms have risen and fallen with precipitation. But nearer to the trees, vegetation increased and dust storms diminished between 1981 and 1998, the end of the study period. Tan says the improvement has since continued. "In most places in the study area, greenness continued to increase between 2000 and 2010," he says. "In North China as a whole, we think the environment is getting well."
I’m including the rest of the text of the article, as the critics have some good points:
There are exceptions, such as Minqin in Gansu province, where the Gobi and Taklamakan come close to meeting. "But these are small regions," Tan says.
Two prominent critics of the Green Wall did not challenge the findings when spoken to by New Scientist, but warned that they do not tell the whole story. Hong Jiang of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, says China's "aggressive attitude towards nature", especially planting trees where they do not grow naturally, will not ultimately work. "Instead of controlling nature, we need to follow nature," she says. Sometimes that means "allowing sand the freedom to roll".
David Shankman of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa says it is not clear how permanent the Green Wall would be. "What is the mortality rate of planted trees? What happens when they die? And how do these trees affect grass and shrubs, which in general are more resistant to drought and more effective at erosion control?"
Tan agrees that the authorities should not just focus on increasing forests. "Grass may be better in most places in north China," he says.
This viewpoint is echoed elsewhere. The African Union aims to tame the Sahara with a Great Green Wall of trees, but scientists from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, reported in October that grasses and shrubs would grow faster and be more useful (Sustainability, doi.org/xk5).
More trees are still to come in China: last month the country announced that it will plant 1.3 billion trees along the Silk Road in partnership with the UN.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429994.900-great-wall-of-trees-keeps-chinas-deserts-at-bay.html#.VOi4gMajSMY
China is holding back the desert, for now. The Great Green Wall – a massive belt of trees being planted across China's arid north in what might be the largest ecological engineering project on the planet – seems to work, according to a new study.
"Vegetation has improved and dust storms have decreased significantly in the Great Green Wall region, compared with other areas," says Minghong Tan of the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research in Beijing. But whether planting trees is a long-term solution remains disputed.
The Gobi and Taklamakan deserts of northern China are Asia's biggest dust bowls. Storms generated there regularly shroud Beijing in dust, which can also fall as far away as Greenland. In an effort to tame the deserts, in 1978 China began planting the wall, which is officially called the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program. It is due for completion in 2050 and will eventually contain more than 100 billion trees in a 4500-kilometre belt, covering more than a tenth of the country. But opinion is divided about its success and advisability, and it has met with widespread skepticism among Western geographers.
Some credit a rise in rainfall for the decrease in dust storms across northern China over the past three decades. But Tan and co-author Xiubin Li say that their analysis of rainfall data, satellite images and an index of dust storms shows conclusively that the Green Wall is the main cause of the improvement (Land Use Policy, doi.org/xk2).
Away from the wall, vegetation cover and dust storms have risen and fallen with precipitation. But nearer to the trees, vegetation increased and dust storms diminished between 1981 and 1998, the end of the study period. Tan says the improvement has since continued. "In most places in the study area, greenness continued to increase between 2000 and 2010," he says. "In North China as a whole, we think the environment is getting well."
I’m including the rest of the text of the article, as the critics have some good points:
There are exceptions, such as Minqin in Gansu province, where the Gobi and Taklamakan come close to meeting. "But these are small regions," Tan says.
Two prominent critics of the Green Wall did not challenge the findings when spoken to by New Scientist, but warned that they do not tell the whole story. Hong Jiang of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, says China's "aggressive attitude towards nature", especially planting trees where they do not grow naturally, will not ultimately work. "Instead of controlling nature, we need to follow nature," she says. Sometimes that means "allowing sand the freedom to roll".
David Shankman of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa says it is not clear how permanent the Green Wall would be. "What is the mortality rate of planted trees? What happens when they die? And how do these trees affect grass and shrubs, which in general are more resistant to drought and more effective at erosion control?"
Tan agrees that the authorities should not just focus on increasing forests. "Grass may be better in most places in north China," he says.
This viewpoint is echoed elsewhere. The African Union aims to tame the Sahara with a Great Green Wall of trees, but scientists from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, reported in October that grasses and shrubs would grow faster and be more useful (Sustainability, doi.org/xk5).
More trees are still to come in China: last month the country announced that it will plant 1.3 billion trees along the Silk Road in partnership with the UN.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429994.900-great-wall-of-trees-keeps-chinas-deserts-at-bay.html#.VOi4gMajSMY
P&G to Harness Power of Peanuts, Pecans and Scrap Wood to Make Charmin, Bounty
Feb 12, 2015, Barrett J. Brunsman, for the Cincinnati Business Courier
Steam to run one of Procter & Gamble's largest paper manufacturing plants will soon be created by using peanut and pecan shells, treetops and mill waste such as sawdust. P&G revealed today that a $200 million biomass cogeneration plant, which is now under construction in Georgia, will significantly increase the Cincinnati-based company's use of renewable energy.
The cogeneration facility will be built, owned and operated by Constellation, a Baltimore-based subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC). The power plant is set to begin commercial operation in June 2017.
The fuel supply will come from organic matter that otherwise might be burned, sent to landfills or left to decay. In addition to peanut shells, pecan shells and mill waste, such biomass, is expected to include discarded treetops, limbs, branches and scrap wood from local forestry operations.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) said the cogeneration plant will help move the company closer to its 2020 goal of obtaining 30 percent of its total energy from renewable sources.
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/02/12/p-g-to-harness-power-of-peanuts-pecans-and-scrap.html?utm_source=WIT022015&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
While this is essentially a positive effort on the part of P & G, I personally have an issue with removing the “waste” product of timber-cutting, as it leaves the forest, which is often clear-cut to begin with, no cover at all, which can cause flooding, soil erosion and a dearth of fertilizing material that helps the forest reestablish itself. They should stick to peanut and pecan shells - waste from sugar cane and cotton are other good things to use.
Feb 12, 2015, Barrett J. Brunsman, for the Cincinnati Business Courier
Steam to run one of Procter & Gamble's largest paper manufacturing plants will soon be created by using peanut and pecan shells, treetops and mill waste such as sawdust. P&G revealed today that a $200 million biomass cogeneration plant, which is now under construction in Georgia, will significantly increase the Cincinnati-based company's use of renewable energy.
The cogeneration facility will be built, owned and operated by Constellation, a Baltimore-based subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC). The power plant is set to begin commercial operation in June 2017.
The fuel supply will come from organic matter that otherwise might be burned, sent to landfills or left to decay. In addition to peanut shells, pecan shells and mill waste, such biomass, is expected to include discarded treetops, limbs, branches and scrap wood from local forestry operations.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) said the cogeneration plant will help move the company closer to its 2020 goal of obtaining 30 percent of its total energy from renewable sources.
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/02/12/p-g-to-harness-power-of-peanuts-pecans-and-scrap.html?utm_source=WIT022015&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
While this is essentially a positive effort on the part of P & G, I personally have an issue with removing the “waste” product of timber-cutting, as it leaves the forest, which is often clear-cut to begin with, no cover at all, which can cause flooding, soil erosion and a dearth of fertilizing material that helps the forest reestablish itself. They should stick to peanut and pecan shells - waste from sugar cane and cotton are other good things to use.
wikimedia commons
Chiefs’ Joint Restoration Projects to have Meaningful Impact on Family-Owned Forests
February 19, 2015
Among the projects being funded are in Oregon’s Elkhorn Mountains and Wisconsin’s Lake Superior watershed, where family forest owners are being engaged to help reduce the risk of wildfire, improve the habitats of threatened fish and animals, ensure clean water, and other critical outcomes.
More than a third of U.S. forests are owned by individuals and families – a larger share than the federal government or various companies.
In Oregon, funding will be targeted on the landscape to augment and increase fuels reduction activities on adjoining private, state and federal lands. The East Face area contains high wildfire potential on both public and private land. This goal of this work is to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire to a number of private residences across three separate Wildland Urban Interfaces. This will also reduce the threat of wildfire to the watersheds that contain the municipal water supply for La Grande and Baker City. The project area also contains key habitats for federally threatened bull trout, and steelhead and Chinook salmon.
In Wisconsin, priorities focus on restoring critical habitats for brook trout, golden-winged warbler, sharp-tailed grouse and Kirtland’s warbler, as well as mitigating wildfire risk, improving stream hydrology and reducing manure and sediment runoff to Lake Superior.
https://www.forestfoundation.org/joint-chiefs-restoration?utm_source=WIT022015&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees#.VOi1iRKunL0.facebook
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February 19, 2015
Among the projects being funded are in Oregon’s Elkhorn Mountains and Wisconsin’s Lake Superior watershed, where family forest owners are being engaged to help reduce the risk of wildfire, improve the habitats of threatened fish and animals, ensure clean water, and other critical outcomes.
More than a third of U.S. forests are owned by individuals and families – a larger share than the federal government or various companies.
In Oregon, funding will be targeted on the landscape to augment and increase fuels reduction activities on adjoining private, state and federal lands. The East Face area contains high wildfire potential on both public and private land. This goal of this work is to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire to a number of private residences across three separate Wildland Urban Interfaces. This will also reduce the threat of wildfire to the watersheds that contain the municipal water supply for La Grande and Baker City. The project area also contains key habitats for federally threatened bull trout, and steelhead and Chinook salmon.
In Wisconsin, priorities focus on restoring critical habitats for brook trout, golden-winged warbler, sharp-tailed grouse and Kirtland’s warbler, as well as mitigating wildfire risk, improving stream hydrology and reducing manure and sediment runoff to Lake Superior.
https://www.forestfoundation.org/joint-chiefs-restoration?utm_source=WIT022015&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees#.VOi1iRKunL0.facebook
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Trees in the News - February 14, 2015 - good news about trees for a change!
Well, at least interesting - Diver finds 10,000-year-old FOREST which originally stretched as far as Europe hidden under the North Sea, by Emma Glanfield for The Daily MailOnline, 26 January 2015
Diver Dawn Watson, 45, discovered a remarkable 'lost forest' when she was diving just 300 meters off the coast of Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. She found complete oak trees with branches measuring eight meters long under the sea and experts believe they have been hidden off the coast of Norfolk since the Ice Age.
It is believed the forest was drowned when the ice caps melted and the sea level rose 120 meters, and may have become exposed following the stormy weather last winter.
The fallen trees are now lying on the ground where they have formed a natural reef, which is teaming with colourful fish, plants and wildlife. It is hoped radio carbon dating will now be carried out on the trees to discover how long they have been there.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2925776/Shocked-diver-finds-amazing-10-000-year-old-FOREST-hidden-North-Sea-originally-stretched-far-Europe.html#ixzz3RkCEcPnd
Diver Dawn Watson, 45, discovered a remarkable 'lost forest' when she was diving just 300 meters off the coast of Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. She found complete oak trees with branches measuring eight meters long under the sea and experts believe they have been hidden off the coast of Norfolk since the Ice Age.
It is believed the forest was drowned when the ice caps melted and the sea level rose 120 meters, and may have become exposed following the stormy weather last winter.
The fallen trees are now lying on the ground where they have formed a natural reef, which is teaming with colourful fish, plants and wildlife. It is hoped radio carbon dating will now be carried out on the trees to discover how long they have been there.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2925776/Shocked-diver-finds-amazing-10-000-year-old-FOREST-hidden-North-Sea-originally-stretched-far-Europe.html#ixzz3RkCEcPnd
Minnesota Halts Conversion of Forests to Cropland - The Grand Island Independent, February 7, 2015
Minnesota halts conversion of forests to cropland Minnesota officials on Thursday put the brakes on the rapid conversion of pine forests to potato fields in the northwestern part of the state while they conduct an environmental review to get a better understanding of the potential threats to groundwater, fish and wildlife.
Let's hope this is a permanent halt! This is a story worth following, for as we know, big business usually gets it’s way - these guys - R.D. Offutt, the nation’s largest potato grower, supplying the fast food industry and potato chip manufacturers with potatoes commonly drowned in pesticides - has obtained permits for 32 irrigation wells in 4 counties since 2010, with applications pending to drill 35 more. The forests they intend to clear are in an area whose sandy soils are highly permeable to agricultural fertilizers. That raises the risks of nitrate contamination of waters that feed into the Mississippi River, which supplies drinking water to Minneapolis and other downstream communities.
http://www.theindependent.com/news/ag_news/minnesota-halts-conversion-of-forests-to-cropland/article_54c00160-af44-11e4-b012-c3a763076991.html?utm_source=WIT021315&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
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Minnesota halts conversion of forests to cropland Minnesota officials on Thursday put the brakes on the rapid conversion of pine forests to potato fields in the northwestern part of the state while they conduct an environmental review to get a better understanding of the potential threats to groundwater, fish and wildlife.
Let's hope this is a permanent halt! This is a story worth following, for as we know, big business usually gets it’s way - these guys - R.D. Offutt, the nation’s largest potato grower, supplying the fast food industry and potato chip manufacturers with potatoes commonly drowned in pesticides - has obtained permits for 32 irrigation wells in 4 counties since 2010, with applications pending to drill 35 more. The forests they intend to clear are in an area whose sandy soils are highly permeable to agricultural fertilizers. That raises the risks of nitrate contamination of waters that feed into the Mississippi River, which supplies drinking water to Minneapolis and other downstream communities.
http://www.theindependent.com/news/ag_news/minnesota-halts-conversion-of-forests-to-cropland/article_54c00160-af44-11e4-b012-c3a763076991.html?utm_source=WIT021315&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
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Trees in the News - January 24 2015 - good news about trees for a change!
thechatanoogan.com
$10 Million Forest Restoration Project Will Benefit Imperiled Golden-Winged Warbler, Dozens Of Wildlife Species In Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, The Chatanoogan.com, January 14, 2015
A large forest management and habitat conservation effort was announced on Wednesday by U.S. D.A. Secretary Tom Vilsack that will target improvements on approximately 64,000 acres of key habitat in several Great Lakes states.
This tri-state project includes 100 high-impact projects involving all 50 states, providing more than $370 million for targeted conservation efforts in the states through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Golden-Winged Warbler, which depends on the conservation of key habitat in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin for breeding, has suffered one of the steepest population declines of any songbird species, with a decline of more than three percent annually over the last 40 years across its range. That decline is due primarily to habitat loss, particularly the loss of early successional, or “young” forest habitat. Other factors contributing to the decline are habitat loss due to suburban sprawl, competition from and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers, cowbird parasitism, and loss of non-breeding period (winter) habitat in Central and South America.
“Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have the largest remaining breeding population of the GWWA, and habitat management actions there are considered critical to rebuilding populations rapidly,” said Dr. George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy, which has been a national leader on the warbler’s conservation. “This is the poster-bird for recovery of early successional forest habitat and one that we are proud to contribute to saving for generations of Americans to come.”
This will be achieved by providing technical support to private landowners whose properties lie within designated focal areas, helping them develop and implement conservation management plans for their properties. Similar to other NRCS programs, financial assistance will be available to qualifying landowners. Prescribed management practices may include aspen management, timber improvement, and shrubland restoration.
In addition to benefiting the GWWA, the conservation effort is expected to aid preservation of approximately 20 additional at-risk species such as American Woodcock, Ruffed Grouse, Black-billed Cuckoo, Moose, Canada Lynx, and Northern Long-eared Bat.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2015/1/14/292052/10-Million-Forest-Restoration-Project.aspx?utm_source=WIT012315&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
A large forest management and habitat conservation effort was announced on Wednesday by U.S. D.A. Secretary Tom Vilsack that will target improvements on approximately 64,000 acres of key habitat in several Great Lakes states.
This tri-state project includes 100 high-impact projects involving all 50 states, providing more than $370 million for targeted conservation efforts in the states through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Golden-Winged Warbler, which depends on the conservation of key habitat in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin for breeding, has suffered one of the steepest population declines of any songbird species, with a decline of more than three percent annually over the last 40 years across its range. That decline is due primarily to habitat loss, particularly the loss of early successional, or “young” forest habitat. Other factors contributing to the decline are habitat loss due to suburban sprawl, competition from and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers, cowbird parasitism, and loss of non-breeding period (winter) habitat in Central and South America.
“Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have the largest remaining breeding population of the GWWA, and habitat management actions there are considered critical to rebuilding populations rapidly,” said Dr. George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy, which has been a national leader on the warbler’s conservation. “This is the poster-bird for recovery of early successional forest habitat and one that we are proud to contribute to saving for generations of Americans to come.”
This will be achieved by providing technical support to private landowners whose properties lie within designated focal areas, helping them develop and implement conservation management plans for their properties. Similar to other NRCS programs, financial assistance will be available to qualifying landowners. Prescribed management practices may include aspen management, timber improvement, and shrubland restoration.
In addition to benefiting the GWWA, the conservation effort is expected to aid preservation of approximately 20 additional at-risk species such as American Woodcock, Ruffed Grouse, Black-billed Cuckoo, Moose, Canada Lynx, and Northern Long-eared Bat.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2015/1/14/292052/10-Million-Forest-Restoration-Project.aspx?utm_source=WIT012315&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
greenforest-avenue blogspot
New restoration focus for western dry forests, January 14, 2015
The most significant current threat to western dry forests is from insect outbreaks and droughts, not wildfires, research shows. Historically abundant small trees offer the greatest hope for forest survival and recovery after these events, authors say.
Dry forests are low-elevation western forests with tall pines. The study used government records of insect and wildfire damage to compare current threats to dry forests and used records from land surveys conducted in the late 1800s to understand how dry forests persisted for thousands of years in spite of insect outbreaks, droughts, and fires. These forests persisted, this study suggests, by having both young and old trees that together provided bet-hedging.
Data on recent threats to dry forests used government maps of insect outbreaks and wildfires from 1999-2012 across 64 million acres of western dry forests or 80% of the total dry-forest area.
Key findings:
Over the last fourteen years, insect outbreaks have impacted 5 to 7 times more dry forests than have wildfires.
Historically, dry forests had large trees, but were numerically dominated by small trees, 52-92% of total trees.
The variable structure of past forests provided bet-hedging insurance against multiple disturbances and continued persistence.
Removing most small trees for modern restoration treatments may reduce the resilience of these forests.
Frontiers, William L. Baker, Mark A. Williams.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150114101646.htm
The most significant current threat to western dry forests is from insect outbreaks and droughts, not wildfires, research shows. Historically abundant small trees offer the greatest hope for forest survival and recovery after these events, authors say.
Dry forests are low-elevation western forests with tall pines. The study used government records of insect and wildfire damage to compare current threats to dry forests and used records from land surveys conducted in the late 1800s to understand how dry forests persisted for thousands of years in spite of insect outbreaks, droughts, and fires. These forests persisted, this study suggests, by having both young and old trees that together provided bet-hedging.
Data on recent threats to dry forests used government maps of insect outbreaks and wildfires from 1999-2012 across 64 million acres of western dry forests or 80% of the total dry-forest area.
Key findings:
Over the last fourteen years, insect outbreaks have impacted 5 to 7 times more dry forests than have wildfires.
Historically, dry forests had large trees, but were numerically dominated by small trees, 52-92% of total trees.
The variable structure of past forests provided bet-hedging insurance against multiple disturbances and continued persistence.
Removing most small trees for modern restoration treatments may reduce the resilience of these forests.
Frontiers, William L. Baker, Mark A. Williams.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150114101646.htm
Trees in the News - January 10, 2015 - good news about trees for a change
photo: Daniel Avila
OK, it's Christmas tree recycling time again! Here are a couple of nice stories about that. I hope you are able to find someplace local to recycle yours.
Christmas trees get a second life as plant food during the city's annual MulchFest recycling program, by Lisa L. Colangelo, New York Daily News, January 9, 2015
Announcement: The city Parks Department has set up 30 chipping sites and 55 drop-off sites across the five boroughs for Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. People should remove all lights and ornaments from the trees. They will be chipped into mulch that will be used for trees, plants and gardens in the city.
Individuals can also take a bag of mulch for use at their homes or for street trees.
Locations include Metropolitan Oval Parkchester in the Bronx, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Travers Park in Queens, Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan and Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island.
More than 30,000 trees were recycled in 2014. For more details go to www.nyc.gov/parks.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/new-life-old-christmas-trees-article-1.2072385
Christmas trees get a second life as plant food during the city's annual MulchFest recycling program, by Lisa L. Colangelo, New York Daily News, January 9, 2015
Announcement: The city Parks Department has set up 30 chipping sites and 55 drop-off sites across the five boroughs for Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. People should remove all lights and ornaments from the trees. They will be chipped into mulch that will be used for trees, plants and gardens in the city.
Individuals can also take a bag of mulch for use at their homes or for street trees.
Locations include Metropolitan Oval Parkchester in the Bronx, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Travers Park in Queens, Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan and Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island.
More than 30,000 trees were recycled in 2014. For more details go to www.nyc.gov/parks.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/new-life-old-christmas-trees-article-1.2072385
photo: Ottawa Citizen
Maine farm feeding goats discarded Christmas trees, January 05, 2015. Fox News via Associated Press
A Westbook, Maine farm is extending an invitation to residents who don't know what to do with their discarded Christmas tree.
Hillary Knight, the barnyard manager at Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, says the farm's goats are more than happy to eat the trees. She says it's a win-win. Humans can recycle their trees and the goats get a treat.
She told WCSH-TV the trees are a good source of vitamin C for the goats. She says it's like humans eating oranges dipped in chocolate — a treat with health benefits.
So far, 200 trees have been donated. To donate a tree, swing by the farm and drop it off by the barnyard fence.
Elsewhere, the Vermont Goat Collaborative is also collecting trees for goats.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/05/maine-farm-feeds-goats-discarded-christmas-trees-excellent-source-vitamin-c/
A Westbook, Maine farm is extending an invitation to residents who don't know what to do with their discarded Christmas tree.
Hillary Knight, the barnyard manager at Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, says the farm's goats are more than happy to eat the trees. She says it's a win-win. Humans can recycle their trees and the goats get a treat.
She told WCSH-TV the trees are a good source of vitamin C for the goats. She says it's like humans eating oranges dipped in chocolate — a treat with health benefits.
So far, 200 trees have been donated. To donate a tree, swing by the farm and drop it off by the barnyard fence.
Elsewhere, the Vermont Goat Collaborative is also collecting trees for goats.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/05/maine-farm-feeds-goats-discarded-christmas-trees-excellent-source-vitamin-c/
Trees in the News - January 3, 2015 - good news stories about trees for a change
Photo: Cathy Cripps
Native Fungus suggested As Another Tool for Restoring Ghostly Whitebark Pine Forests, December 12, 2014, Montana State University
A scientist has found hope for the whitebark pine forests in a native fungus called Siberian slippery jack. Whitebark pine forests have been devastated by mountain pine beetles and white pine blister rust, but a study has demonstrated a 10 to 15 percent increase in the survival rate of whitebark pine seedlings when Siberian slippery jack spores are injected into the soil around them. The injection takes place in nurseries before the seedlings are transplanted in the mountains.
I've only published the summary of the story here. For the rest of it, please visit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141212150313.htm
A scientist has found hope for the whitebark pine forests in a native fungus called Siberian slippery jack. Whitebark pine forests have been devastated by mountain pine beetles and white pine blister rust, but a study has demonstrated a 10 to 15 percent increase in the survival rate of whitebark pine seedlings when Siberian slippery jack spores are injected into the soil around them. The injection takes place in nurseries before the seedlings are transplanted in the mountains.
I've only published the summary of the story here. For the rest of it, please visit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141212150313.htm
This is a sweetly-written story I saw posted on Facebook by a friend. I haven't posted the link, since I've included 99.9% of the text:
Say hello to... Chikkanna and Thimmakka, by Geeta Padmanabhan, for The Hindu, January 1, 2015
Do ask your parents to take you to the road between Kudur and Hulikal in Karnataka. Get down and walk there. Towering trees on the sides will give you shade, and the crisp leaves underfoot will make the road soft to walk on. The 300 trees on this road were planted by Thimmakka, who is now 85 years old. She was born in a Gubbi village in Karnataka. As a girl, she went to work as a laborer. She cut stones in a quarry. Her parents married her off to Chikkaiah, a cattle-herder from Hulikal.
The couple did not have any children, and this made them sad. Thimmakka found the evenings lonely. Chikkiah, a kind man, wondered what they could do to overcome their sadness.
One day, 50 years ago, Chikkanna and Thimmakka decided to plant trees. Their trees would line the four km road between Hulikal and Kudur. The dusty, hot road had no trees. It would be nice if trees came up and shaded the way.
They chose the peepul tree [Ficus religiosa]. They raised saplings in a tiny nursery and planted them, taking care to embed them away from the edges of the road. When the road became a highway, not a single tree had to be cut down!
They started with ten saplings and increased the number every year. Chikkanna built thorn guards around the baby plants. He and Thimmakka would set out in the mornings, she with pots on head and hip and Chikkanna with pots hanging from the ends of a pole over his shoulder. They refilled the pots from wells and ponds along the way and watered the plants. They did this for 10 years. Though Chikkanna passed away in 1991, Thimmakka continued the work. The happy villagers named her Saalumurada (row of trees) Thimmakka.
In 1995, Thimmakka was given the National Citizen’s Award. The famous US environmental organisation is now called Thimmakka’s Resources for Environmental Education. She received many certificates but the one that stands out is a crayon drawing by a school girl: It shows a girl planting trees. Her name is Saalumurada Thimmakka.
Say hello to... Chikkanna and Thimmakka, by Geeta Padmanabhan, for The Hindu, January 1, 2015
Do ask your parents to take you to the road between Kudur and Hulikal in Karnataka. Get down and walk there. Towering trees on the sides will give you shade, and the crisp leaves underfoot will make the road soft to walk on. The 300 trees on this road were planted by Thimmakka, who is now 85 years old. She was born in a Gubbi village in Karnataka. As a girl, she went to work as a laborer. She cut stones in a quarry. Her parents married her off to Chikkaiah, a cattle-herder from Hulikal.
The couple did not have any children, and this made them sad. Thimmakka found the evenings lonely. Chikkiah, a kind man, wondered what they could do to overcome their sadness.
One day, 50 years ago, Chikkanna and Thimmakka decided to plant trees. Their trees would line the four km road between Hulikal and Kudur. The dusty, hot road had no trees. It would be nice if trees came up and shaded the way.
They chose the peepul tree [Ficus religiosa]. They raised saplings in a tiny nursery and planted them, taking care to embed them away from the edges of the road. When the road became a highway, not a single tree had to be cut down!
They started with ten saplings and increased the number every year. Chikkanna built thorn guards around the baby plants. He and Thimmakka would set out in the mornings, she with pots on head and hip and Chikkanna with pots hanging from the ends of a pole over his shoulder. They refilled the pots from wells and ponds along the way and watered the plants. They did this for 10 years. Though Chikkanna passed away in 1991, Thimmakka continued the work. The happy villagers named her Saalumurada (row of trees) Thimmakka.
In 1995, Thimmakka was given the National Citizen’s Award. The famous US environmental organisation is now called Thimmakka’s Resources for Environmental Education. She received many certificates but the one that stands out is a crayon drawing by a school girl: It shows a girl planting trees. Her name is Saalumurada Thimmakka.
Trees in the News - December 20, 2014
Brian van der Brug, for L.A. Times
Yurok tribe hopes California's cap-and-trade can save a way of life, By TONY BARBOZA
Instead of preparing to sell lumber, as it has in the past, the state's largest Indian tribe is taking stock of its firs, redwoods and tanoaks to make money in California's cap-and-trade program. By managing its forest near Redwood National Park for carbon storage instead of timber harvest, the tribe is generating credits to sell to oil companies and other businesses that must reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the state's effort to slow climate change.
When trees are allowed to grow, they absorb more carbon dioxide from the air and store it in their trunks, branches and roots. That sequestered carbon, which would otherwise be contributing to global warming, is now a valuable commodity for landowners like the Yurok.
The Yurok tribe has sold millions of dollars' worth of carbon credits, known as offsets, to some of the state's biggest polluters. The tribe's forestry program is one of more than two dozen operations across the nation that have generated offsets for California's growing carbon market.
The initiative is giving the Yurok tribe a new way to make money while it improves wildlife habitat, expands its forestry staff and acquires land in its ancestral territory near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte and Humboldt counties.
Driving the new activity is the state's 2006 global warming law, AB 32, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The state's cap-and-trade program, which launched in 2012 for hundreds of the state's top carbon emitters and is set to expand Jan. 1, is key to meeting that target.
Cap-and-trade sets a statewide limit on greenhouse gas emissions and requires companies to buy one permit, called an allowance, for each metric ton they emit. Allowances can be purchased in government-issued auctions or on California's carbon market.
The amount of pollution permitted declines each year, making allowances more scarce and expensive over time and giving businesses an economic incentive to cut emissions.
Companies can use less-expensive carbon offsets — credits obtained by essentially paying others to reduce greenhouse gases — to cover up to 8% of their emissions. If used to their full potential, offsets could account for as much as half of the required pollution reductions over the next several years.
The California Air Resources Board issues offsets to businesses that destroy planet-warming refrigerants, to dairies that capture the potent greenhouse gas methane, and to landowners, such as the Yurok tribe, who commit for the next 100 years to manage their forest to pull more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Carbon offsets can also produce reductions outside of California and in industries that wouldn't otherwise be required to cut emissions under the cap-and-trade regulations, such as livestock and forestry.
But critics of carbon offsets, including some environmental groups, say there is no way to know whether additional carbon stored in forests is a result of cap-and-trade or whether it would not have occurred otherwise.
There is a great deal more to this story: http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-carbon-forest-20141216-story.html#page=1&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekI
Instead of preparing to sell lumber, as it has in the past, the state's largest Indian tribe is taking stock of its firs, redwoods and tanoaks to make money in California's cap-and-trade program. By managing its forest near Redwood National Park for carbon storage instead of timber harvest, the tribe is generating credits to sell to oil companies and other businesses that must reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the state's effort to slow climate change.
When trees are allowed to grow, they absorb more carbon dioxide from the air and store it in their trunks, branches and roots. That sequestered carbon, which would otherwise be contributing to global warming, is now a valuable commodity for landowners like the Yurok.
The Yurok tribe has sold millions of dollars' worth of carbon credits, known as offsets, to some of the state's biggest polluters. The tribe's forestry program is one of more than two dozen operations across the nation that have generated offsets for California's growing carbon market.
The initiative is giving the Yurok tribe a new way to make money while it improves wildlife habitat, expands its forestry staff and acquires land in its ancestral territory near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte and Humboldt counties.
Driving the new activity is the state's 2006 global warming law, AB 32, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The state's cap-and-trade program, which launched in 2012 for hundreds of the state's top carbon emitters and is set to expand Jan. 1, is key to meeting that target.
Cap-and-trade sets a statewide limit on greenhouse gas emissions and requires companies to buy one permit, called an allowance, for each metric ton they emit. Allowances can be purchased in government-issued auctions or on California's carbon market.
The amount of pollution permitted declines each year, making allowances more scarce and expensive over time and giving businesses an economic incentive to cut emissions.
Companies can use less-expensive carbon offsets — credits obtained by essentially paying others to reduce greenhouse gases — to cover up to 8% of their emissions. If used to their full potential, offsets could account for as much as half of the required pollution reductions over the next several years.
The California Air Resources Board issues offsets to businesses that destroy planet-warming refrigerants, to dairies that capture the potent greenhouse gas methane, and to landowners, such as the Yurok tribe, who commit for the next 100 years to manage their forest to pull more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Carbon offsets can also produce reductions outside of California and in industries that wouldn't otherwise be required to cut emissions under the cap-and-trade regulations, such as livestock and forestry.
But critics of carbon offsets, including some environmental groups, say there is no way to know whether additional carbon stored in forests is a result of cap-and-trade or whether it would not have occurred otherwise.
There is a great deal more to this story: http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-carbon-forest-20141216-story.html#page=1&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekI
photo: Tanya Murphy
'Elite trees' new weapon in blister rust battle, by Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune, December 14, 2014
The U.S. Forest Service is growing "elite" whitebark pine trees to improve the chances of survival of the key high-elevation species, which blister rust is wiping out in the Northern Rockies. "It's just using the natural selection process and giving it a little bit of a boost," said Tanya Murphy, a silviculturist with Great Falls-based Lewis and Clark National Forest.
Some whitebark pine trees have genetic traits that make them more resistant to disease, and through the Intermountain Whitebark Pine Restoration Program, genetics from those disease-resistant trees are being collected and grafted into regular whitebark pines. Those genetically enhanced trees are being planted in orchards across the region, including one in Lewis and Clark National Forest, where whitebark is most populous in the Castle Mountains, Rocky Mountain Front and Kings Hill area of the Little Belt Mountains.
Eventually, seeds produced at the elite tree orchards, more resistant to drought, disease and the cold, will be planted in areas where whitebark is targeted for restoration.
For lots more detail: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2014/12/14/elite-trees-new-weapon-blister-rust-battle/20419015/?utm_campaign=%5B%27WeekI%27%5D&utm_source=%5B%27WIT121914%27%5D&utm_medium=%5B%27Email%27%5D
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The U.S. Forest Service is growing "elite" whitebark pine trees to improve the chances of survival of the key high-elevation species, which blister rust is wiping out in the Northern Rockies. "It's just using the natural selection process and giving it a little bit of a boost," said Tanya Murphy, a silviculturist with Great Falls-based Lewis and Clark National Forest.
Some whitebark pine trees have genetic traits that make them more resistant to disease, and through the Intermountain Whitebark Pine Restoration Program, genetics from those disease-resistant trees are being collected and grafted into regular whitebark pines. Those genetically enhanced trees are being planted in orchards across the region, including one in Lewis and Clark National Forest, where whitebark is most populous in the Castle Mountains, Rocky Mountain Front and Kings Hill area of the Little Belt Mountains.
Eventually, seeds produced at the elite tree orchards, more resistant to drought, disease and the cold, will be planted in areas where whitebark is targeted for restoration.
For lots more detail: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2014/12/14/elite-trees-new-weapon-blister-rust-battle/20419015/?utm_campaign=%5B%27WeekI%27%5D&utm_source=%5B%27WIT121914%27%5D&utm_medium=%5B%27Email%27%5D
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December 13, 2014 - Trees in the News
Photo: Eric Guinther
A decade after a devastating tsunami, new forests protect Indonesia's coast, By Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, December 8, 2014, reprinted in Christian Science Monitor
The coastline of Aceh, the northernmost province of Indonesian Sumatra, took the brunt of the tsunami on December 26, 2004. Its waters ran red with blood as an estimated 167,000 Indonesians perished, nearly all of them from Aceh. Whole villages disappeared. But now, villagers have used an innovative scheme to restore mangrove forests and other coastal ecosystems as a natural barrier against future killer waves and storms. Survivors in this community have planted 70,000 mangrove trees. The trees are growing well, and villagers see them as protection against any future invasion from the ocean.
An ingenious microcredit project funded by the Dutch branch of the humanitarian charity Oxfam Novib, and carried out with local partners by the Netherlands-based NGO Wetlands International, has been helping villagers plant mangroves and other trees. They will revive nature, improve local livelihoods, and — perhaps most important of all — protect against cyclones, coastal erosion, and any future killer waves.
The trees are bringing a return of nature. Birds flock in the cool new forests. The ponds around the mangroves have become feeding areas for shrimp and crabs. “We thought we had lost the green turtles from the beach, but a few are now returning,” said a local fisherman who survived, like others, because he was at sea that day.
Mangroves were the trees of choice for replanting. But where sand now lines the shore, the project chose instead casuarina trees, a fast-growing type of sea pine common in the area. In Gampong Baro, a fishing community on the northern coast of Aceh, a group of 50 villagers planted 50,000 native casuarina trees on a bank of sand piled up by the tsunami wave. In places these evergreens have grown over 20 meters high in just five years. That, as locals like to point out, is higher than the tsunami wave. In the muddy places behind the new sand dunes, they have planted mangroves.
A study done of a unique length of coast in southeast India hit by the tsunami in 2004 showed that the straight shoreline had a largely homogeneous beach profile, making possible meaningful comparisons between the wave’s impact on stretches of beach with and without mangroves. The study, published in Science in 2005, found that areas with mangroves or casuarina shelterbelts “were significantly less damaged than other areas.” On one stretch, two villages on the coast “were completely destroyed,” whereas three others behind mangroves “suffered no destruction.”
There’s a lot more detail at: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2014/1208/A-decade-after-a-devastating-tsunami-new-forests-protect-Indonesia-s-coast?utm_source=WIT121214&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
The coastline of Aceh, the northernmost province of Indonesian Sumatra, took the brunt of the tsunami on December 26, 2004. Its waters ran red with blood as an estimated 167,000 Indonesians perished, nearly all of them from Aceh. Whole villages disappeared. But now, villagers have used an innovative scheme to restore mangrove forests and other coastal ecosystems as a natural barrier against future killer waves and storms. Survivors in this community have planted 70,000 mangrove trees. The trees are growing well, and villagers see them as protection against any future invasion from the ocean.
An ingenious microcredit project funded by the Dutch branch of the humanitarian charity Oxfam Novib, and carried out with local partners by the Netherlands-based NGO Wetlands International, has been helping villagers plant mangroves and other trees. They will revive nature, improve local livelihoods, and — perhaps most important of all — protect against cyclones, coastal erosion, and any future killer waves.
The trees are bringing a return of nature. Birds flock in the cool new forests. The ponds around the mangroves have become feeding areas for shrimp and crabs. “We thought we had lost the green turtles from the beach, but a few are now returning,” said a local fisherman who survived, like others, because he was at sea that day.
Mangroves were the trees of choice for replanting. But where sand now lines the shore, the project chose instead casuarina trees, a fast-growing type of sea pine common in the area. In Gampong Baro, a fishing community on the northern coast of Aceh, a group of 50 villagers planted 50,000 native casuarina trees on a bank of sand piled up by the tsunami wave. In places these evergreens have grown over 20 meters high in just five years. That, as locals like to point out, is higher than the tsunami wave. In the muddy places behind the new sand dunes, they have planted mangroves.
A study done of a unique length of coast in southeast India hit by the tsunami in 2004 showed that the straight shoreline had a largely homogeneous beach profile, making possible meaningful comparisons between the wave’s impact on stretches of beach with and without mangroves. The study, published in Science in 2005, found that areas with mangroves or casuarina shelterbelts “were significantly less damaged than other areas.” On one stretch, two villages on the coast “were completely destroyed,” whereas three others behind mangroves “suffered no destruction.”
There’s a lot more detail at: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2014/1208/A-decade-after-a-devastating-tsunami-new-forests-protect-Indonesia-s-coast?utm_source=WIT121214&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
photo: Dr. Edward Louis
Replanting for Madagascar’s Future, from Arbor Day magazine, Dec. 2014
Lemurs are little mammals found only in the forests of the island nation of Madagascar, with a close relationship to trees in a land where, sadly, forests have often been leveled for short-term, gains. The lemurs are the victims. So are Madagascars impoverished citizens.
Dr. Edward E. Louis Jr. of the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium explains that 90 percent of a lemur’s diet is fruit. Because of their enormous appetites, lemurs eat frequently and process their meals rapidly. Amazingly, this leaves behind seeds that have had their coatings removed through partial digestion but are otherwise intact. Dr. Louis has found that this produces seeds with a germination rate of nearly 100 percent, compared to only 5 percent of unprocessed seeds.
Thanks to the generosity of Arbor Day Foundation members, Rain Forest Rescue donations are being used to help residents and students collect these seeds for planting in nurseries that are being built in critical locations. It is all part of a plan devised by Dr. Louis and his colleagues to help restore the forests of Madagascar, provide habitat to save the endangered lemurs, and improve the economy and living conditions of local people.
"We are creating a program that is sustainable," says Dr. Louis, head of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership (MBP). "It is providing jobs today and for the childrens’ future. It will also help Madagascar be less dependent on other countries," he says.
There is a great deal more to this story at the Arbor Day website: http://www.arborday.org/programs/rainforest/madagascar/
Lemurs are little mammals found only in the forests of the island nation of Madagascar, with a close relationship to trees in a land where, sadly, forests have often been leveled for short-term, gains. The lemurs are the victims. So are Madagascars impoverished citizens.
Dr. Edward E. Louis Jr. of the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium explains that 90 percent of a lemur’s diet is fruit. Because of their enormous appetites, lemurs eat frequently and process their meals rapidly. Amazingly, this leaves behind seeds that have had their coatings removed through partial digestion but are otherwise intact. Dr. Louis has found that this produces seeds with a germination rate of nearly 100 percent, compared to only 5 percent of unprocessed seeds.
Thanks to the generosity of Arbor Day Foundation members, Rain Forest Rescue donations are being used to help residents and students collect these seeds for planting in nurseries that are being built in critical locations. It is all part of a plan devised by Dr. Louis and his colleagues to help restore the forests of Madagascar, provide habitat to save the endangered lemurs, and improve the economy and living conditions of local people.
"We are creating a program that is sustainable," says Dr. Louis, head of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership (MBP). "It is providing jobs today and for the childrens’ future. It will also help Madagascar be less dependent on other countries," he says.
There is a great deal more to this story at the Arbor Day website: http://www.arborday.org/programs/rainforest/madagascar/
photo: John Partipilo/The Tennessean
Reba McEntire, Will Hoge, Big Kenny sing trees' praises, by Jessica Bliss, The Tennessean, September 18, 2014
The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Metro Parks to install custom tree signs in Centennial Park that have scannable QR codes and web addresses so you can go directly via smartphone to a video of a Nashville music artists telling you about that type of tree and why it's important to us.
As part of an initiative to preserve the leafy landscape that embellishes the city's parks and forests, The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee has created "If Trees Could Sing," a set of 18 Web videos with Nashville music artists talking (and sometimes singing) about trees, their benefits and how to take care of them.
If Trees Could Sing
To see videos of artists talking about their trees, visit Centennial Park (2500 West End Ave., Nashville) or go online at www.nature.org/iftreescouldsing.
• Big Kenny on the beauty and benefits of trees
• Rodney Atkins and the Eastern redbud
• Suzy Bogguss and the flowering dogwood
• Jerry Douglas and the red maple
• Mike Farris and the Eastern red cedar
• The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the bald cypress
• Ben Folds and the sweetgum
• Giancarlo Guerrero and the green ash
• Taylor Hicks and the sweetbay magnolia
• Will Hoge and the willow oak
• Jim Lauderdale and the sugarberry
• Reba McEntire and the pin oak
• Tim O'Brien and the chinkapin oak
• Kim Richey and the sycamore
• Farmer Jason and the hackberry
• Ketch Secor and the Osage orange
• Webb Wilder and the blue spruce
• Victor Wooten and the black walnut
For more of this article: http://www.tennessean.com/story/life/2014/09/17/reba-mcentire-will-hoge-big-kenny-sing-trees-praises/15805445/
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The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Metro Parks to install custom tree signs in Centennial Park that have scannable QR codes and web addresses so you can go directly via smartphone to a video of a Nashville music artists telling you about that type of tree and why it's important to us.
As part of an initiative to preserve the leafy landscape that embellishes the city's parks and forests, The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee has created "If Trees Could Sing," a set of 18 Web videos with Nashville music artists talking (and sometimes singing) about trees, their benefits and how to take care of them.
If Trees Could Sing
To see videos of artists talking about their trees, visit Centennial Park (2500 West End Ave., Nashville) or go online at www.nature.org/iftreescouldsing.
• Big Kenny on the beauty and benefits of trees
• Rodney Atkins and the Eastern redbud
• Suzy Bogguss and the flowering dogwood
• Jerry Douglas and the red maple
• Mike Farris and the Eastern red cedar
• The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the bald cypress
• Ben Folds and the sweetgum
• Giancarlo Guerrero and the green ash
• Taylor Hicks and the sweetbay magnolia
• Will Hoge and the willow oak
• Jim Lauderdale and the sugarberry
• Reba McEntire and the pin oak
• Tim O'Brien and the chinkapin oak
• Kim Richey and the sycamore
• Farmer Jason and the hackberry
• Ketch Secor and the Osage orange
• Webb Wilder and the blue spruce
• Victor Wooten and the black walnut
For more of this article: http://www.tennessean.com/story/life/2014/09/17/reba-mcentire-will-hoge-big-kenny-sing-trees-praises/15805445/
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I have deleted some articles, for space considerations—you may access the sites of these organizations devoted to trees by clicking on the links.
American Forests: Global Releaf:http://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/reforesting-michoacan/
The National Big Tree Program: http://www.americanforests.org/our-programs/global-releaf-projects/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/22/monarch-butterfly-secrets-revealed?newsfeed=true
The Tree Council http://www.treecouncil.org.uk
The African Rainforest Conservancy (ARC) http://www.aidforafrica.org/member-charities/african-rainforest-conservancy/
The UK's Woodland Trust http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx#.UIvmbbSRrzI
http://www.plant-for-the-planet-The Center for Plant Conservation
billiontreecampaign.org/About.aspx
http://for more information: internationaltreefoundation.org
http://www.isa-arbor.com/home.aspx
http://actrees.org
http://gifts.mercycorps.org/gift/donate-to-plant-a-tree?
http://www.treesforthefuture.org
http://www.beniciatrees.org/about-us
http://sierraclub.org
http://wilderness.org
FOREST RECOVERY CANADA http://www.treesontario.ca
Beacon Food Forest, Seattle WA http://beaconfoodforest.weebly.com
Parks and People Foundation http://www.parksandpeople.org
Tree Canada https://treecanada.ca/en/news-events/Trees for Energy Conservation: http://www.extension.org/trees_for_energy_conservation
http://www.treesforlife.org.au/about
The National Big Tree Program: http://www.americanforests.org/our-programs/global-releaf-projects/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/22/monarch-butterfly-secrets-revealed?newsfeed=true
The Tree Council http://www.treecouncil.org.uk
The African Rainforest Conservancy (ARC) http://www.aidforafrica.org/member-charities/african-rainforest-conservancy/
The UK's Woodland Trust http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx#.UIvmbbSRrzI
http://www.plant-for-the-planet-The Center for Plant Conservation
billiontreecampaign.org/About.aspx
http://for more information: internationaltreefoundation.org
http://www.isa-arbor.com/home.aspx
http://actrees.org
http://gifts.mercycorps.org/gift/donate-to-plant-a-tree?
http://www.treesforthefuture.org
http://www.beniciatrees.org/about-us
http://sierraclub.org
http://wilderness.org
FOREST RECOVERY CANADA http://www.treesontario.ca
Beacon Food Forest, Seattle WA http://beaconfoodforest.weebly.com
Parks and People Foundation http://www.parksandpeople.org
Tree Canada https://treecanada.ca/en/news-events/Trees for Energy Conservation: http://www.extension.org/trees_for_energy_conservation
http://www.treesforlife.org.au/about
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Greetings!
This is the website of Laura J Merrill. I am an artist and writer, and, as the name of the site suggests, a person who talks to trees!
It is my opinion that we will only have the capacity to preserve our natural resources when we feel ownership of them – not in the sense of "this is mine, and I can do what I want with it!"; rather, "this thing shares space on the planet with me, and it is my task to first recognize its intrinsic value, then nurture and protect it." This would manifest as admiration and respect, and an awareness of responsibility – the same things we would feel towards our own families.
But without the capacity to communicate, it's hard to relate very personally to something as different from us as a tree. After all, life on this planet is divided into two basic groups: the Animal Kingdom, and the Plant Kingdom, so, looking at it from a purely physical perspective, we couldn't be further apart.
I believe that I'm correct in thinking that all matter is composed of the same basic elements, configured in different ways. So it seems logical that the inability of disparate forms to communicate is largely a physical issue. Based on our own perceptive abilities, we have come to the conclusion that sentience is reserved for human beings.
I consider that conclusion to be erroneous; and so, I talk to trees.
NOTE:
For those of you looking for assistance with an ailing plant, please consult with a horticulturist or local nursery. If you think your plant has an emotional or spiritual problem, my advice is: tend to the physical, and let the spiritual take care of itself. Plants have been around for several hundred million years longer than we, so give them a little credit.
Greetings!
This is the website of Laura J Merrill. I am an artist and writer, and, as the name of the site suggests, a person who talks to trees!
It is my opinion that we will only have the capacity to preserve our natural resources when we feel ownership of them – not in the sense of "this is mine, and I can do what I want with it!"; rather, "this thing shares space on the planet with me, and it is my task to first recognize its intrinsic value, then nurture and protect it." This would manifest as admiration and respect, and an awareness of responsibility – the same things we would feel towards our own families.
But without the capacity to communicate, it's hard to relate very personally to something as different from us as a tree. After all, life on this planet is divided into two basic groups: the Animal Kingdom, and the Plant Kingdom, so, looking at it from a purely physical perspective, we couldn't be further apart.
I believe that I'm correct in thinking that all matter is composed of the same basic elements, configured in different ways. So it seems logical that the inability of disparate forms to communicate is largely a physical issue. Based on our own perceptive abilities, we have come to the conclusion that sentience is reserved for human beings.
I consider that conclusion to be erroneous; and so, I talk to trees.
NOTE:
For those of you looking for assistance with an ailing plant, please consult with a horticulturist or local nursery. If you think your plant has an emotional or spiritual problem, my advice is: tend to the physical, and let the spiritual take care of itself. Plants have been around for several hundred million years longer than we, so give them a little credit.
