Invasive and exotic species threaten much of the World's biodiversity and ecosystems. Humanity has had very little success in addressing these super competiters which thrive in human disrupted ecoystems. Yet genetically modified super weeds that share these traits and more are a real possibility in the age of Franken-agriculture. Now it has been reported that a wild relative of the oilseed rape has picked up the traits of engineered crops. Genetic pollution has been feared by environmentalists and pooh poohed by agribusiness, but now apparently it is real and happening. I have never really understood the need for biotech agriculture. Do we not have enough agricultural products now, so that we need to risk the stability of eco/agri systems that have sustained humanity for millenia? When will humanity stop destroying natural ways of meeting our needs under the pretentious and false paradigm that we can and should bio-engineer a global ecosystem? It is simply outrageous that scientists are playing Russian Roulette with the biological underpinnings of all life.

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It is stunning how brazenly the current United States administration consistently ignores science when making environmental policy. The latest controversial selective and biased use of science finds the Bureau of Land Management disregarding government scientists' warnings concerning adverse environmental impacts of excessive cattle grazing on federal lands. Why are the getting away with this sort of thing?

Federal Officials Echoed Grazing-Rule Warnings

Federal wildlife managers across the West warned the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that new livestock grazing regulations were potentially harmful to wildlife and water quality, adding their voices to those of BLM scientists who said similar criticism was excised by Washington policymakers. Wildlife experts for the Fish and Wildlife Service's three Western regions, along with Environmental Protection Agency officials, expressed concerns in written comments to the BLM last year. The bureau solicited the comments as it was finalizing the new grazing rules, which go into effect this month.

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Below is disturbing information regarding illegal logging of the Canadian Boreal by Weyerhaeuser. There is a vibrant campaign that is showing signs of success in defending this massive and magnificent old-growth forest ecosystem. In the story below, the groups which include the Rainforest Action Network correctly highlight the predatory, law-breaking behavior of industrial loggers. Weyerhaeuser was found to have exceeded its logging and road building allowances to supply corporations including Xerox with paper. Shockingly, this corporate criminality was certified as being "sustainable" by a patsy industry certification organization.

However, where the campaign goes wrong is identifying achievement of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification as the desirable alternative. Canada's ancient boreal forests power planetary ecosystem functions ? these ancient behemoth trees should not be used to make paper or plywood. FSC certified industrial logging still involves bull-dozers rumbling through ancient forests, irreducibly diminishing an ecological treasure. No natural primary forest has ever been harvested more than a couple times under such standards. Yet implicitly FSC's green rhetoric, with which even WWF, RAN and Greenpeace have become enamored, suggests that their standards are environmentally benign. This is far from the truth. In reality, these areas will be further reduced with each harvest, eventually becoming virtually tree plantations.

The Earth has surpassed the amount of standing old-growth forests required for global ecological sustainability. The forest conservation movement would be well served by trying to end industrial logging of primary forests, rather than make it a bit less deadly. I understand the logic that certification as a strategy seems reasonable. But the ecological facts are incontrovertible: 80% of ancient forests are already gone, first time industrial forestry in primary forests permanently changes them, and even FSC's standards provide no guarantees of ecological sustainability of forest management. The answer is to limit FSC certification of industrial forestry to secondary and natural planted forests, while only certifying community based small scale eco-forestry in ancient primary forests. And simply leaving ancient forest ecosystems alone, while helping them to expand, is always by far the best outcome, however difficult it may be to achieve. Planetary survival will not come easily.

Well intended but ecologically depauperate forest conservation strategies must be confronted before there is nothing left. It is better that forest campaign strategies in our last old-growth cathedrals are somewhat naïve rather than ecologically insufficient. If just logging more carefully was the answer to global forest sustainability, the world's forests would have been saved long ago. The cold, hard and unpleasant truth is that FSC certification of industrial harvest of primary forests is the polar opposite of protecting endangered forests.
g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Weyerhaeuser illegally logging Canadian Boreal to supply Xerox, investigation finds
Source: Rainforest Action Network Press Release
Date: July 4, 2205
Byline: Dan Eaton and Tomi Soetjipto

For immediate release:
Friday, July 15, 2005

Contacts:
Paul West, Rainforest Action Network, (415) 398-4404 x319, media@ran.org
Allyson Brady, Saskatchewan Environmental Society, (306) 665-1915
Devon Page, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, (604) 685-5618 x233
Joys Dancer, citizen of Sasketchewan, (306) 342-4689

New Report Exposes Illegal Logging In Canada?s Boreal Forests By Weyerhaeuser Operations Supplying Xerox

* Saskatchewan residents and Weyerhaeuser loggers speak out in controversial new grassroots documentary.
* Clear-cut case study provides government documents proving Weyerhaeuser violations.
* Saskatchewan Environmental Society retains Sierra Legal Defence Fund to call on Minister of Justice Frank Quennell to investigate Weyerhaeuser.
* Illegal Weyerhaeuser operations certified as ?sustainable? by the Canadian Standards Association.

Saskatchewan, Canada ? Investigations by local residents, Saskatchewan Environmental Society and Rainforest Action Network reveal that Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY, TSX: WYL) is illegally logging in Canada?s Boreal forests to make plywood and copy paper for Xerox (NYSE: XRX) and other U.S. corporations.

Saskatchewan Environmental Society has retained Sierra Legal Defence Fund to appeal Weyerhaeuser?s certification and call on Minister of Justice Frank Quennell to investigate ?the long-standing, continuing and current legal non-compliance by Weyerhaeuser?s Saskatchewan Forestlands operations.? The Canadian conservation community is calling on Weyerhaeuser customers like Xerox to suspend purchases until the company attains Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all of its operations.

In ?Saskatchewan: The Province of Weyerhaeuser,? a case study released today, government documents confirm that Weyerhaeuser exceeded its legal summer logging allowance by 100 percent and 20-year road building allowance by 70 percent in less than five years. According to Saskatchewan law, Weyerhaeuser currently owes the province almost $1.5 million in fines for these violations. In a grassroots documentary webcast on RAN.org, Saskatchewan residents and former Weyerhaeuser loggers testify to the company?s disregard of community concerns and destruction of public forests. Despite known violations, Weyerhaeuser is currently certified as ?sustainable? by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).

The case study, grassroots video documentary and source documents (PDF) are available for viewing and download online at: http://www.ran.org/weyerhaeuser/

?The CSA framework contains no specific criteria and indicators,? said Allyson Brady of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. ?By allowing repeat offenders like Weyerhaeuser to write the rules, the CSA fails to guarantee even minimal forest protections. The FSC is the only certification system that is trusted by companies, consumers and communities.?

?Most people associate illegal logging with endangered forests in South America, Southeast Asia and Central Africa and are shocked to learn that it is going on in their own back yard right here in North America,? said Brant Olson, director of the Old Growth Campaign at Rainforest Action Network. ?Unlike industry leaders Tembec and Domtar, Weyerhaeuser is a rogue corporation, consistently refusing to respond to constructive community engagement until they are caught red handed. From Haida Gwaii to Pemberton, Weyerhaeuser has proven that it takes the threat of a blockade to get their attention. Until Weyerhaeuser attains FSC certification and adopts a global policy to protect endangered forests and respect human rights, communities across Canada will continue to call on customers to cancel the contracts.?

Saskatchewan Environmental Society

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is a non-profit, registered charity whose mandate is to help build a sustainable society by promoting healthy ecosystems, healthy livelihoods and healthy human communities. For more information, please visit EnvironmentalSociety.ca.

Rainforest Action Network

Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through education, grassroots organizing and non-violent direct action. For more information, please visit RAN.org.

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There are many men and women around the World who have made a life out of understanding biological life, ecological systems and requirements for global ecological sustainability. One such man ? Peter Raven of the Missouri Botanical Society, truly a hero of the planet ? is profiled in this Guardian article. Here is an individual fully engaged with the preposterous task of reconciling unlimited human desires, the needs of biodiversity and ecosystems, with the reality of global poverty and the crying need for equitable, just and global sustainable development. The Guardian story goes into these issues in depth.

There are many others doing a myriad of activities on behalf of the Planet, and there are many ways to give your life's work back to the Earth. There is an unmet need for taxonomists ? and other scientists ? in order to understand life forms with which we share the Planet. We also need communicators ? people to enunciate these scientific findings. And we need enlightened policy-makers, and activists to lead them to bright green environmental policies. And if there is to be such a thing as long-term global ecological sustainability, we need most everybody to live an ecological life, in accordance with the rhythms and flows, as well as the opportunities and limits, of the Earth.

There is much ecological understanding that must be mainstreamed through society. The same water courses through the Earth's aquifers, as pulses through our veins, and circulates from ocean to atmosphere and back again. We are made from the land, and completely dependent upon its plants for our existence. The atmosphere and oceans surround us, seemingly infinite, but in fact endangered by our callous lack of awareness of our connection to the air and sea. The Earth is truth, beauty and holiness ? the very foundation of being.

The task of sustaining the Earth is eminently doable ? and it depends upon you. Pick a piece and dig in ? become a specialist on a particular forest region, organize your community to protect its groundwater, cut your energy use and advocate for others to do so as well. More of us must choose to rise above the mediocre, aspiring to be more than robotic consumers seeking identity from things, and refusing to be squelched by the vulgar and as of yet unenlightened. By feeling and nurturing our connection with the Earth, we connect to sublime ancient truths, which provide motivation and know how to save the Planet, ourselves and our children. Find your ecological niche and give yourself to Gaia.
g.b.

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President Bush deserves plaudits for his disingeous dismantling of roadless forest protections. First his administration refused to defend the rule in court without actually rolling them back, as courts threatened their position they then introduced a new rule passing management of federal forests to the states, and they have now finally succeeded in court because their new rule trumps the old one that was never actually implemented in the first place! This is a textbook example of resource cronyism, albeit through subtle maneuvering. President Bush would sell and/or destroy any natural wonder for the right price - monetary or political support.

President Clinton let down America's last great roadless forest landscapes in a more overt manner - saving their protection for the last moment, in order to leave a political mine-field rather than out of ecological concern. Isn't it interesting how he now speaks so frequently of environmental matters? America has witnessed a bi-partisan swindling of its citizens' forest heritage. Perhaps pending legislation and further court cases can protect these roadless forests, but given the corrupt influence of the growth machine upon American politics, I would not count on it.

Loss of many if not most of America's final roadless forest wildernesses will lead to the acceleration of continental scale ecological collapse.

Court Upholds New Federal Logging Rules

A federal appeals court dismissed an attempt by environmental groups to restore a Clinton-era ban on logging in roadless areas of national forests, saying their appeal became irrelevant when the Bush administration adopted a replacement rule. The Clinton administration's rule put 58.5 million acres of roadless forest off-limits to logging and other development. Under the new rule, those lands, most of which are in the West, are open to road building for potential logging, mining and other commercial uses.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (5)

TAKE ACTION
Tell Nippon Paper Group to Stop Buying Old-Growth
Comment Form: http://www.np-g.com/e/csr/ideology/materials_form.html
Background: http://www.np-g.com/e/news/news05061701.html

Japanese company Nippon Paper Group is following the lead of a key rival by reviewing its policy for purchasing woodchips from old growth forests. Nippon is the latest customer of Tasmanian exporter Gunns Ltd to consider new policies after Mitsubishi Paper Mill moved to reject woodchips derived from Tasmania, Australia's old growth and high-conservation value forests late last month. The Earth's forest conservation movement has a unique opportunity to follow up upon our recent victory in Tasmania ? taking the next step to transition the paper industry to a No Old-Growth stance. Nippon is carrying out a public consultation on their raw materials policy which would provide the opportunity it needs to follow the lead of Mitsubishi and dump Tasmanian old growth woodchips. Comments are being taken only through a form on their web site, where they ask for the "Main Point" and "Reason or Background" in regard to their raw materials procurement policy. Below are suggestions for the basic message we should be trying to communicate, which you can copy and paste, but please add your own language if possible.

Provide comments before July 19th on Behalf of Tasmanian Old-Growth at:
http://www.np-g.com/e/csr/ideology/materials_form.html

Main Point:
I am very upset that Nippon is still buying woodchips sourced from the old growth forests of Tasmania. Nippon should immediately stop buying woodchips sourced from all old growth and other high conservation value forests. To keep up with your competitor Mitsubishi, you must adopt a no old-growth forests use policy.

Reason or Background
A broad global consensus has emerged that industrial logging of old-growth, and other endangered forests, is antiquated and no longer acceptable. Ancient forests are required to maintain local as well as global ecological sustainability. Industrial development of Tasmanian and other endangered forests irrevocably diminishes them. To protect the Earth and all her life, the world's remaining old-growth must be protected from commercial scale development. World Heritage-class Tasmanian and other old-growth forests should not be fodder for woodchips. Businesses that fail to heed this message will feel the pain of market rejection.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (4)

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From Mining, Logging, Capitalism and Population Growth

Coveting of protected natural forest for logging, mining and drilling ? both legal and illegal ? never really diminishes. Several recent stories regarding mining in "protected" forests clearly illustrates that no forests are every truly preserved. The story is pretty much the same in Indonesia, India and the Philippines - in the face of unlimited human demands, any forest or other bit of nature could be lost at any time.

National Parks, conservation easements, state and local parks ? all will come down in the face of unchecked procreation and unsustainable consumption expectations. This does not mean that protected areas are not important. What it means is we need to work more on meeting development and ecosystem needs from managed and restored forests ? and defending protected areas from outside industrial intruders. It is clear that without population controls, improvements in efficiency, and adoption of simpler lifestyles; we can forget about operable forest ecosystems and intact forest biodiversity in the not too distant future.

Capitalism depends upon ever more growth ? impossible in a finite world with scarce resources. There is nothing sacrosanct about capitalism ? it has lifted many out of poverty but at tremendous costs to communities and ecosystems. In order not to devour the Earth, capitalism must continue to be reformed - including truly and wholly including external environmental costs into pricing, promoting sustainable and indeed restorative use of natural capital, banning particularly egregious Earth destroying industrial processes, limiting destabilizing financial flows and closing the gap between the super rich and billions with nothing. These ideas have been paid lip service for years but are not widely and uniformly implemented.

Either capitalism will change in order to not undermine ecosystems including forests and the climate upon which it and all life depends (and soon), or it must and will be overthrown. I would prefer the former, but the latter may be necessary for planetary ecological survival. Failure in either regard will see capitalism and human societies collapsing under their own excess and putrid waste.

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