Author: Site Owner

Find out the latest in forest news in this week’s Forest Digest!

Credit: j van cise photos via Flickr.

• On #worldwetlandsday, Stakeholders Form Alliance to Conserve Wetland Forests of the U.S. South — Voices.nationalgeographic.com
  The Wetlands Forest Initiative is a new, collaborative effort that aims to preserve and improve the conditions of the wetland forests of the American South. The initiative will work landowners, communities, conservation organizations and government agencies in order to ensure abundant and healthy wetland forests.
• How Camping Helps You Sleep Better — Time.com
  A new study released in Current Biology shows that spending time in nature may improve sleep by resetting our internal clocks to a natural sleep cycle.
• Science and the US Supreme Court: The cases to watch in 2017 — Nature.com
  President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge, to the Supreme Court. Learn more about the science-related cases to look out for this year, including those concerning biological drugs, patents for genes, water pollution limits, endangered species and climate change rules.
• Researchers investigate decline in South Africa’s forest-birds — Phys.org
  A new study from Bird Conservation International shows that forest-dwelling bird species are disappearing from some of South Africa’s indigenous forests. Forest birds in the Eastern Cape are the most affected group.

By Justin Hynicka, Manager of Forest Conservation

The Rio Grande River in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Credit: Christopher Horn.

Over the past few years, stories from across the United States reflect a new mood and reverence for a basic, but essential, resource many of us take for granted. Of course, I’m talking about water. The stories that have made a lasting impression on me include the purchasing of water rights to allow the Colorado River to run freely to the Gulf of California for the first time in 16 years, the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., and other cities and the Standing Rock water protectors protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Collectively, these stories represent how greatly we’ve changed the course of water, it’s vulnerability to contamination and a re-defining the actions that must be taken to safeguard this basic, but essential, resource. Inspired by these diverse and powerful examples, I sought to answer the question: how have American Forests’ restoration projects benefited our nation’s water resources?

To answer this question, I focused on a specific suite of projects in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (LRGV) where they receive roughly half the annual rainfall (~20 inches) compared to the northeastern U.S., making water in this region difficult to come by. Moreover, like many other parts of the country, there is growing competition and tension for water resources between domestic versus agriculture uses. Restoring agricultural fields to native tamaulipan thornscrub conserves water by reducing the need for irrigation and by preventing rain from running quickly off of the land surface and, instead, allowing it to slowly soak into the soil. It is evident that the LRGV community really cares about restoring their native forests and the benefits thy provide, as more than 1,300 volunteers participated in the 2016 Rio Reforestation Event!

I estimated water saving benefits of LRGV forest restoration projects using the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service Runoff Curve Number Method (USDA 1989), which was originally designed to estimate stormflow from large precipitation events for flood control planning, but is now widely used for watershed analysis (Garen and Moore 2005).

Based on this analysis, I was excited to learn that our forest restoration projects in the LRGV save an average of 250,000 liters of water (~66,000 gallons) per acre! In total, our nine restoration projects in 2017 in the LRGV should save nearly 89 million liters of water per year (23.5 million gallons), once tree seedlings become established.

References

1. Garen, David C., and Daniel S. Moore. 2005. Curve Number Hydrology in Water Quality Modeling: Uses, Abuses, and Future Directions. Wiley Online Library.
2. USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Conservation Enginering Divisions. 1989. “Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds.” TR-55.

By Austin Bosworth, American Forests

The chitter-chatter of two blue jays pulls me back to reality and away from the dazzling glitter of the sun reflecting off of the cool blue water below me. The opposite crest of this long-dormant volcano allows only a sliver of the rising sun to appear, though that is all it takes to illuminate the majesty beneath me. Wizard Island, like a turtle shell bobbing above the water, juts out from the incredibly deep and bone-chilling water that surrounds it. The nearby pine trees creak in the soft wind that swirls my hair and leaves fleeting wrinkles on the water’s surface. I am standing in Crater Lake National Park, a landmark of my evergreen state.

The men I owe this experience to are William Gladstone Steel and President Theodore Roosevelt. Steel began research expeditions to the park in the 1870s, expeditions that would include topographers, geologists and a half-ton survey boat named the Cleetwood, a vessel carried to the rim and then lowered into the lake to measure its depth and explore Wizard Island. Because of Steel’s research and the lobbying by himself and others, President Roosevelt signed the Park into existence on May 22, 1902. Without this protection, the Park would have undoubtedly been developed with the bottom line in mind, not an accurate representation of the magic that exists there.

That magic had a profound effect on me as a young man, and my desire to protect that magic for the next generation is what brought me here to American Forests. Growing up in Oregon kept me in touch with the outdoors constantly, and hikes up Spencer Butte on the edge of Eugene, my hometown, are some of my first memories. Willamette National Forest to the east holds hidden gems like the Rosary Lakes and Tenas Lakes, accessible only by walking trail.  The Oregon Dunes Recreation Area possesses one of my favorite spots in Oregon, Threemile Lake, which nestles itself within the dunes and serves as home for a family of river otters. In middle school I had the opportunity to embark on a 12-day van trip across Oregon with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. While on that trip, visiting the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and witnessing its stark and simple beauty will forever be a cherished memory, and I hope one day to go back and instill that same awe in my own children.

I work at American Forests with the hope that my efforts protect those miracles of nature’s awesome power that touched me as a child, so as to offer the child that comes after me the same experience. Though my intensity will never compare to the might demonstrated 7,000 years ago by Mount Mazama as it blew its top and became Crater Lake, I fight for our forests and our Parks. I fight because now more than ever, the threat of excesses fossil-fuel development, as well as the movement to transfer public lands to state and private entities, are very real possibilities.

By Maverick Ryan, American Forests

When one thinks about the border wall for which the President signed an Executive Order on January 25th to expedite its construction, typically, the first thing to pop into one’s head probably isn’t the endangered ocelot. No, ideas typically associated with the wall involve human rights, border security and immigration — things that strictly affect the political lines that we as a society have drawn on our collective maps.

Ocelots, however, aren’t concerned with the borders that nations have placed. But, an impermeable border wall would have an immense effect on the ability of the endangered ocelots in the U.S. to move freely and access needed habitat and resources in Mexico and vice versa.

The border ocelots are concerned with is that of their habitat, and it is shrinking. The Tamaulipan thorn-scrub, the ocelot’s native habitat, has been decimated by agriculture and local development projects, with 95 percent of the shrub being cleared out of the Lower Rio Grande Valley since the 1920s.

The remaining 5 percent of thorn-scrub is located mostly in fencing rows, canals and highway right-of-ways. This is additionally problematic as seven ocelots have been found dead on the side of roads in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in the last year alone. While seemingly a small number, the entire ocelot population in the area has dwindled to only 50 cats. Therefore, the restoration of thorn-scrub habitats is vital to restoring ocelot populations.

American Forests has been working in the Lower Rio Grande Valley since 1997, restoring the thorn-scrub habitat. We have planted 2,048,082 trees and restored 4,150 acres for the ocelot and all the species that rely on this important, biologically diverse ecosystem. This year, we are planting another 300 acres. A fundamental portion of American Forests’ recovery efforts, aside from reforestation work, involves ensuring the safe migration of ocelot throughout its habitat. A continuous and impenetrable border wall would prevent the ocelot from moving to and from the vital resources they need.

In addition to a rash of concerns about international relations along our southern border, a border wall will have vast ecological consequences for the southwestern ecosystem of the ocelot and the Tamaulipan thorn-scrub. Typically, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), ecological impacts must be taken into account for federal projects. However, Homeland Security actions are exempt from NEPA requirements. Therefore, American Forests will continue to find other avenues to raise our concerns about the ecological impact of a border wall and its effects on the ocelot and all ecosystems impacted.

Find out the latest in forest news in this week’s Forest Digest!

Credit: Torrenegra via Flickr.

• These colorful new maps reveal the hidden diversity of life in Peru’s Andean and Amazonian forests — Latimes.com
  Scientists at Stanford University have created colorful maps that shed new light on Peru’s Andean and Amazonian forests and show that they are more diverse than previously thought.
• More than 100 vineyards decimated in Chile’s ‘worst forest disaster’ in history — Chicagotribune.com
  More than 100 vineyards in Maule, Chile have been damaged by historic forest fires that began more than a week ago and have scorched more than 300,000 acres of forest across the country. The U.S. is sending a group of experts and funds to replace equipment at Chile’s national forestry agency.
• San Diego adopts urban forestry plan to boost tree canopy, slow climate change — Sandiegouniontribune.com
  The San Diego City Council approved a five-year urban forestry plan that would increase the number of trees in San Diego neighborhoods. This will help the city meet the goals of its climate action plan, boost property values, improve air quality, enhance wildlife habitat and shrink energy costs by reducing the need for air conditioning.
• Forests ‘held their breath’ during global warming hiatus, research shows — Phys.org
  A new study revealed that during extended periods of slower warming, worldwide forests “breathe in” carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, but reduce the rate at which they “breathe out,” or release the gas back to the atmosphere. The study offers a significant breakthrough for future climate modeling, which is used to predict how ecosystems will respond to rising global temperatures.

By Thomas Witherspoon, Forester, Sitka Ranger District

Group photo in front of the giant spruce. Left to right: Andrew Thoms (SCS], Thomas Witherspoon (FS), Pat Heuer (FS), Jennifer MacDonald (FS) and Lione Clare (SCS). Credit: Lione Clare.

Collaborative efforts between the United States Forest Service, Sitka Conservation Society and the American Forests Champion Tree program resulted in the successful location and measurement of a hidden giant living deep in the South Baranof Wilderness of the Tongass National Forest.

Alaska’s big tree coordinator, Don Bertolette, contacted the Sitka Ranger District in the fall of 2015 for assistance in coordinating a trip to the wilderness to measure the nominated Sitka spruce. Employees of the local Sitka Conservation Society had come across the tree on several trips to the South Baranof Wilderness and knew where to find it. The tree’s location will remain classified in an effort to minimize foot traffic. Sitka spruce are a shallow rooted species and high levels of foot traffic can damage the root system causing long term damage.

Harris Air float plane preparing for departure. Credit: Pat Heuer.

Once it was decided to measure the tree, and to label the location as “South Baranof Wilderness,” the focus turned to logistics. Waiting for schedules to align took nearly a year, and in August of 2016, a five-person crew flew across Baranof Island from Sitka, Ala., headed south towards the 375,000-acre designated wilderness. The U.S. Forest Service was conducting several remote surveys of reported campsites in the area presenting the perfect opportunity to track down the tree for an official measurement. The operation required two float planes chartered through Harris Aircraft Services out of Sitka. One plane was filled with enough gear for the group to overnight in the wilderness in case the weather changed. Having to spend a night in the field is not a rare occurrence in this part of the world, where weather conditions can change quickly, making float plane travel dangerous. The second larger plane held most of the crew, shown in the photo below.

Measurement crew taking in the scenery on the flight south. Credit: Jen MacDonald.

The hike to the tree took the crew along a highly productive salmon stream, through what could be called perfect brown bear habitat. Though no bears were spotted on the hike, (likely due to the group making lots of noise on purpose for this very result), everyone was outfitted with bear spray on the waist and a pair of high power rifles were carried in case of a bad bear encounter. After about an hour of ducking, climbing and bushwhacking, the group finally spotted the giant looming over its neighbors in the overstory. After taking a few minutes to rest and appreciate the truly massive size of the tree, the crew got started with the measurement process. After all, they had a pair of float planes to catch that afternoon.

The massive spruce dwarfing the “large” old-growth spruce trees around it. Credit: Pat Heuer.

Per the American Forest Big Tree Measurement Guidelines, nominated trees are scored with a points system comprised of three parts. First is the overall height of the tree, second is the circumference of the tree at breast height (4.5’) and finally is the average crown spread. The height is measured in feet, and this spruce measured 175 feet tall, earning 175 points for part one. The circumference is scored with each inch awarding a point. The giant spruce had a circumference of exactly 38 feet, earning it 456 points for part two. The crown spread is measured in feet, and then the points awarded are equal to 1/4 the crown spread value. A 62-foot crown spread earned the giant spruce 15.5 points for part three. The combined total for all three parts was 646.5 points, besting the previous Alaskan record tree by almost 100 points!

Jen and Lione using the spoke method to measure canopy spread. Credit: Thomas Witherspoon.