Neil Abercrombie Speaks at 19th Annual Hawai'i Conservation Conference
August , 2011 |
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Governor Abercrombie delivering the Keynote address at the 19th annual Hawaii Conservation Conference (HCC).
The 2011 HCC theme "Island Ecosystems: The Year of the Forest" aligns itself with the United Nation's International Year of the Forests, which focuses on strengthening the sustainable conservation and development of all types of forests for the benefit of future generations.
The HCC is the largest gathering of people actively involved in the protection and management of Hawaiian ecosystems and attracts more than one thousand natural resource managers, scientists and ecosystem restoration specialists interested in conservation issues relevant to Hawaii and the Pacific.
Gov. Abercrombie spoke on the fragility of the Hawaiian ecosystem and of how the environment is the lifeblood of the economy. He stated that we must honor the legacy of Hawaii's past and that our actions must reflect and embody our values.
We are grateful to have a governor who shares the vision in building a sustainable, resilient future for Hawaii. HLH wishes to thank Neil Abercrombie and his Cabinet members including William Aila (Dept. of Land and Natural Resources) Russell Kokubun (Dept of Agriculture) Albert Alapaki Nahale-a (Dept of Hawaiian Homelands) and Glenn Okimoto (Dept of Transportation) on their focus for conservation and development of forests for the benefit of generations to come.
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From the Field
Darrell Fox C.O.O. HLH
August 2011 |
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July is usually a more relaxed time of year since all of the planting is done and nursery gear up for the next planting has yet to start. This year has been anything but relaxed. We are way ahead of schedule for the coming year.
Our fencing crews are moving at a record pace. We have totally enclosed 70 acres that has been cleared of rocks and deadfall in preparation for the 2011 planting. The fencing of another 200+ acres is within weeks of being completed. The clearing and preparation of that land will start in the coming month. The following picture will give you an idea of what degraded pasture land looks like before we start our reforestation effort:
The rocks and deadfall will be removed to clear the way for tens of thousands of new trees. Existing live trees will be preserved and deadwood will be ground into mulch to enhance soil fertility.
The seed collection teams are ramping up the tedious task of handpicking seeds from selected mother trees. These seeds are separated from the pods by hand and stored in a climate controlled room to stabilize moisture content to achieve the maximum possible germination rates.
With planting and fertilization of the 2010 tree crop we are thrilled at the results.
All of us were amazed to see that many of these newly planted trees are showing adult phylloid development. This usually happens at about 1 year of age.
The general vigor of the seedlings is a reward and a testament to the extraordinary attention to detail by all of the HLH personnel.
A special thanks to everyone involved and to all of our tree sponsors for the trust and opportunity they have provided. The future of Hawaii's forests is much brighter as a result of your vision.
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Living the Green Life
Honolulu Magazine
August 2011 |
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What you know
Going green is easy, but that doesn't mean it's simple. The proliferation of new and different ways to reduce your personal impact on the environment is staggering, with new ideas percolating all around us.
One fresh example of environmental innovation is Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods, a company that aims to occupy the sweet spot where "doing good" meets "doing well." HLH plants tropical hardwoods on a tract of land on the Hamakua coast. Some are planted for eventual harvesting, others-"Legacy Trees"-are planted to reforest the land, sequester carbon, advance science, and inspire environmental awareness around the globe. A sophisticated radio tagging system will soon allow individuals who purchase legacy trees to keep track of their personal tree, view it on Google Earth, even store information about a person or an event that the tree is meant to memorialize-a sort of living, breathing monument.
And the system allows researchers to gather data about the tree's life. "We can tell you the sponsor of every tree we've planted. We can tell you the weather on the day it was planted. We're saving ranchland, we're reforesting, which creates jobs, and then there's education..." CEO Jeff Dunster has a lot to say about the potential of HLH to change not just Hawaii, but the planet. "You could do this anywhere in the world." For now, it's happening right here in Hawaii. Why merely hug a tree when you can adopt one? (www.legacytrees.org).
http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/Living-the-Green-Life/ |
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US Timber Exports to China Lessened Economic Blow for Some
Fox News.com
July, 2011 |
The timber industry has been a surprising bright spot in the U.S. economy.
Even as the housing market continues to sputter and home building remains stuck at levels one-third of the boom times of 2006, exports to China have softened the blow.
In 2010, timber exports to China more than doubled compared with 2009. The country spent $270 million on U.S. trees, surpassing Japan and Canada as the largest foreign timber market. The winners are the big, private timber companies.
Most of the wood is being cut from private timberland in the Pacific Northwest, where the timber industry has been struggling for years under environmental restrictions spawned by battles over the spotted owl and other endangered species.
Logs are loaded onto ships at the Port of Olympia creating dozens of jobs. Officials say timber exports to China through the Port of Tacoma are up 500 percent in the past decade.
The export explosion also has helped taxpayers in Washington state. The Department of Natural Resources manages some forest land for timber. Even though state and federal law prohibits logs coming off of public land from being exported, timber is a global commodity so the price for public timber also is going up.
"We're seeing an increase of probably $60 million," says Bryan Flint of Washington's DNR. "That will go to school construction and to pay for colleges and go to counties."
But not everyone is celebrating. With China opening its wallet, the price of timber not only stabilized, but actually went up. That means the price local mills pay for logs has skyrocketed. And yet, they're not getting any more for their cut lumber because the housing starts remain anemic. It adds up to some mills cutting shifts and others shutting down.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/06/timber-market-is-economic-salvation/#ixzz1TpPRjUlP
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Did you know?
A governmental study calculated that the gasoline equivalent of the lifetime energy savings offered by using a single 24 watt compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) in lieu of a 100 watt incandescent bulb would be sufficient to drive a Toyota Prius from San Francisco to New York. Replacing that 100 Watt bulb with a CFL will prevent the release of 800 pounds of carbon dioxide over the CFL's operating life.
According to the American Solar Energy Society, the amount of sunlight that falls on the Earth's surface in one minute is sufficient to meet world energy demand for an entire year.
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In 2008, the United States consumed 99 Quadrillion Btus (British thermal units) of energy, mostly in the form of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil. One Btu is equivalent to the energy released by burning one match. So, the United State's annual energy consumption adds up to a mind boggling 99,000,000,000,000,000 matches. That's 271 trillion each day, or roughly 1 million matches per person per day. |
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Sponsor the planting of a Koa Legacy Tree and make a difference. Visit www.LegacyTrees.org to learn how.
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