Environmentalism – Page 14 – Nullius in Verba

New Zealand Forestry (Part 1)

I liked New Zealand the moment I arrived. I arrived in early 2005 for a forester’s tour intent on “learning about forest ecology, biodiversity, conservation policy, the forest economy, and intensive plantation management.” I spent my first night there in Wellington, which felt like a smaller version of San Francisco. It had hills, Victorian houses,Continue reading “New Zealand Forestry (Part 1)”

Chain Saw Scouting Story – Colbert Earns Mythical Preservation Merit Badge

I think Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report is brilliant, but even brilliant people can get things wrong. The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Alpha Dog of the Week – Boy Scouts of America Colbert Report Full Episodes Funny Political News Christian Bale Parody Joke of the Day Here’s the story The Colbert ReportContinue reading “Chain Saw Scouting Story – Colbert Earns Mythical Preservation Merit Badge”

Conservation vs Preservation

Steve Nix, a professional forester, wrote this in his about.com blog: [The Hearst story: Chain Saw Scouting] has infuriated thousands of foresters, forest scientists and scout supporters that the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) has been attacked for actually living up to their conservation pledge by using sound forest management practices in most if notContinue reading “Conservation vs Preservation”

California Tree Carbon Calculator

This looks interesting. The Forest Service’s Center for Urban Forest Research (CUFR) has developed the California Tree Carbon Calculator (CTCC). The calculator is programmed in an Excel spreadsheet and is the only tool approved by the California Climate Action Registry’s Urban Forest Project Reporting Protocol for quantifying carbon dioxide sequestration from green house gasses (GHG)Continue reading “California Tree Carbon Calculator”

Short Logger

This is logging on Boggs Mountain State Forest around 1975. The forest manager a that time say this is probably called a short log log truck pulling a short log trailer. There were not too many of these around (nowadays log forks are added onto a flatbed trailer). The operator liked it since it gaveContinue reading “Short Logger”

A Regulated Forest – Part 2

Alston Chase’s 1995 book, In A Dark Wood, chronicles the clash over the last century between forest productionists and forest preservationists. He wrote about the strategy of removing decadent timber from timberlands, owned by timber companies or the government (though not from parks), to make way for young trees: [Private companies] sought to convert old,Continue reading “A Regulated Forest – Part 2”

A Regulated Forest

This circa 1967 picture* is of Cliff Fago scaling (measuring logs to determine their net volume) old growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) logs. Cliff became the first permanent forest manager of Boggs Mountain State Forest (BMSF) in 1965. In 1967, he conducted the BMSF’s first timber sale to begin removal of the remaining old growth. ThreeContinue reading “A Regulated Forest”

Take the 1908 Civil Service Exam for Forest Ranger

Think You Have What It Takes To Be a Forester? Here’s the a log scaling question: Name a log scale in common use in your locality and give the contents of logs of the following sizes by this scale: 16 feet long and 26 inches in diameter small end 18 feet long and 30 inchesContinue reading “Take the 1908 Civil Service Exam for Forest Ranger”

Officer, Arrest That Rodent!

“Green campaigners called police after discovering an illegal logging site in a nature reserve…” Maybe those beavers could use Kindles instead to build their natural dam.

Save Trees, Use More Paper

Earlier this year, Kevin Periera of G4 told Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal, the Amazon Kindle “is the savior to many, many forests in the future.” [Read it here] As a licensed forester and certified treehugger, I don’t think so. Trees don’t get cut down when you use electronic stuff, right? Well they may be, forever. TheContinue reading “Save Trees, Use More Paper”