Water is more precious than gold, and its availability depends upon maintaining
large and intact natural ecosystems. In a marvelous development, Brazil has
designated a significant portion of the enormous Pantanal wetland in Mato
Grosso State as a Wetland of International Importance. In the mid to long term,
the Pantanal is vastly more important for Brazil and the World's future as an
intact wetland than for farming or other uses. Water and forests are the future
as well as the past. This announcement is indeed good news, but really only the
beginning of major regional land protection and restoration activities necessary
to achieve global ecological sustainability.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. Forest Service is blocking e-mail comments on proposed rule
changes that originate as form email or mail. Over past years Forests.org has
facilitated through its network the sending of hundreds of thousands of such
genuine messages in support of forest conservation. If you are a concerned
citizen that uses a web site to send comments to the U.S. Forest Service, they
do not want to hear from you.

This is in sharp contrast to the different treatment given to well-heeled timber
(and assuredly oil - only Cheney isn't talking) industry executives. The timber
industry has achieved unequalled access to the forest policy making process.
They have successfully moved, against the wishes of most Americans, to
increase the amount of timber cut on the nation's forests - weakening
protections for wilderness, salmon, clean water, and old-growth forest ecosystems.

The Bush regime is unlawfully blocking public input to forest conservation policy
while agreeing to virtually all of industry's demands. By rejecting genuine
public comments regarding the importance of forest ecological sustainability,
democracy is being thwarted, while the Planet and its occupants continue to
careen towards global ecocide. This is an evil regime in the most selfish,
dangerous and profound sense.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)

Citigroup - the financial services conglomerate - has announced it will engage
in dialogue with environmentalists regarding its social and environmental
policies. This stunningly positive development - hopefully the precursor to a
permanent victory - is largely the result of relentless pressure by the Rainforest
Action Network (RAN). RAN and others have highlighted
Citigroup's "disproportionate support for extractive industries around the world,
particularly fossil fuels and logging". As a result of Citigroup's agreement to
talk, RAN has agreed upon a 90 day campaign suspension.

Some, including myself, had been critical of RAN for focusing too widely on
finance rather than rainforests. Clearly I was wrong. Over the past few years
RAN has done their homework, and shown that large financial companies -
Citigroup in particular - are major funders of rainforest and other habitat
destruction, and energy projects that release high levels of greenhouse gases
that contribute to climate change. In so doing, they have innovatively opened a
new "financial front" in the battle for global forest and ecological sustainability.
On occasion, we have passed along information on this campaign, and the
Forests.org network has taken part in campaign alerts and actions.
Congratulations to the forest conservation movement!

Now we depend upon RAN sealing the deal with Citigroup, and achieving firm
commitments that get Citigroup out of the rainforest and climate destroying
businesses - and into the business of supporting ecologically sustainable
development.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Bush administration is engaged in an unprecedented roll-back of
environmental protections - frequently using the shrewd strategy of "sue and
settle". By settling a series of lawsuits, many of them filed by industry groups,
this ecocidal regime is increasing logging and generally pursuing a wide range
of regressive environmental policies. Ignorance of the fundamental ecological
nature of being threatens America and the World with the gravest threat to the
human race ever - looming ecological overshoot and collapse. There can be no
sustainable economy, security, equity or justice without viable and healthy
ecosystems. The oil barons ruling America clearly do not get it. This greedy,
callous and cowardly bunch threatens the Planet's very existence. Shame on
them.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally, a reasonable response to wild fires in America's West. A new bill has
been introduced that focuses forest thinning near at risk communities, and does
not depend upon logging remote old-growth. This is sound, science based policy
making. Let us hope it is successful - and not the Republican alternative which
is based upon wide-spread logging of National Forests to make them fire proof.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Bush administration has suspended reviews of new wilderness areas. This
will leave millions of undeveloped acres vulnerable to oil and gas development
and off-road vehicle use, allowing public lands in the West to continue to be
degraded, and lose their eligibility for wilderness designation. And the
Republican dominated house continues petulantly to demand America's last
great wilderness be developed for a pittance of oil. Americans overwhelming
support wilderness protection. Who exactly does the Bush cabal represent?
Certainly fat cat oil tycoons; and not the majority of the country's people, nor
the needs of the Earth.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)

Irresponsible marketing and consumption of paper products is a primary threat
to the World's forests. Recently Forest Ethics and other groups spearheaded a
successful campaign against Staples - securing initial commitments to recycled
papers and forest conservation. The campaign is now targeting Office Max
and Office Deport - calling upon these mega-forest consuming corporations to
shift significantly to recycled paper products, and to refuse products originating
from "endangered forests".

This term - which has been used in other consumer based forest campaigns -
elicits some concern from me and others. It is purposefully vague in order to
find common ground, but in practice may include FSC or otherwise "certified"
industrial logging of primary and old-growth forests for throw away consumer
products. This is not acceptable.

With so little large, wild and ecologically intact forests remaining globally, we
must remain vigilant that ALL old-growth and primary forests are rightly
considered "endangered forests" and are not logged industrially, "certified" or otherwise.

Please partake in the day of action on April 24th which coincides with Earth
Day. This is a good forest campaign - get involved.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0)