[New York] Representatives from the Rainforest Alliance, a non-profit international conservation organization, are taking part in an innovative new group called the Sustainable Furniture Council, which brings together members of the home furnishings industry and organizations committed to responsible business practices and promoting furniture produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way. The Rainforest Alliance brings to the council two decades of global experience in standards development and compliance. The organization is the world’s leading certifier of forestlands under the rigorous environmental and social standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

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The two outfits plan to merge to form the No. 1 newsprint maker in an effort shave costs
Making paper for the news media has been tough lately. The rise of the Internet has dented demand for newsprint. Rivals in countries like China have rushed into the market with more supply of cheaply-made pulp. But the North American newsprint makers Abitibi-Consolidated (ABY) and Bowater (BOW) are fighting back. They announced an all-stock merger on Jan. 29 in an effort to form a new powerhouse in the industry and save themselves $250 million per year. They’ll own or operate 32 pulp and paper facilities and 35 wood product facilities located mainly in Eastern Canada and the Southeastern U.S. AbitibiBowater will also recycle newspapers and magazines, as it builds on both companies’ efforts to come up environmentally-friendly production methods.

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This course brings anthropology and forestry together to look at the fascinating and complex world of nontimber forest product (e.g., mushrooms, floral greens, medicinal plants, seeds) harvesting and the implications for sustainable forest management. This course will be offered online through Oregon State University (OSU) Extended Campus (Ecampus).

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www.southernsustainableforests.org

Last week, Dogwood Alliance kicked off its packaging campaign, which will target companies that use paper-packaging products sourced from endangered Southern forests. These forests, some of the most biodiverse in the world, are being harvested to make easily discarded packaging for many common products. Think about it: does the box that your Dove soap comes in really need to be made of virgin material?
Dogwood is going to put an end to these egregious paper practices and here’s how: We’ve re-vamped our website, so its sleeker, sexier and more user-friendly than ever. We are getting packaging pledges signed left and right to show companies that the people demand change. And best of all, we’re giving you a chance and a way to tell these companies how you feel about living in an over-packaged society. Click here to sign the packaging pledge and share your input on the problem. Visit our blog to read more about our exciting new endeavor!

[Georgia] As a manufacturing company, Neenah Paper has long been an industry leader in the development of sustainable products and processes, from recycled content papers to chlorine free technologies. Neenah’s comprehensive new environmental platform includes expanded offerings certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) certified papers. Neenah was one of the first premium paper companies to offer FSC-certified papers, and it continues to support sustainable forestry practices of the FSC. Neenah is also the first mill in the world to watermark the FSC symbol and Chain of Custody into its papers.

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[England] British woodlands have been allowed to decay to such an extent that entire species of plants and animals are vanishing, a parliamentary report says. Jonathan Wentworth, an environment adviser and co-author of the report, said: “Half of forests in England are effectively derelict and unmanaged. They are losing the very wildlife that people use to define British woodland.” Ancient woods now covers less than two per cent of the country. The report states that, although much woodland is protected by laws, its ability to support wildlife has declined.

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Appalachian Voices’ staff attorney has finally returned from his holiday hiatus and a whirlwind “hill drop” in Richmond, VA. With his return came this update on Zeb Mountain.

In December, Appalachian Voices was informed by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that its petition for rehearing of the Zeb Mountain appeal had been denied. At issue was whether the original three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit erred in refusing to stop this mountaintop removal operation until the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) considered a reasonable range of alternatives under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This decision leaves the original opinion undisturbed.

While that opinion has been viewed by many as a terrible blow because it allows the mining to continue, others see a silver lining insofar as the Sixth Circuit has forever changed how OSM will review future mining permits in Tennessee.

Until Appalachian Voices filed this lawsuit (along with SABP, SOCM and TN Sierra Club), OSM took the position that the Surface Mining Act limits its choice of NEPA alternatives to approving, denying or taking no action on permit applications. The Sixth Circuit panel soundly rejected this argument by calling it a “false trichotomy.” After thoroughly destroying OSM’s argument on this point, the court, echoing Appalachian Voices’ position, went on to identify two reasonable alternatives for OSM to consider in the future: “one alternative that could have been discussed was a modification to the proposal—whether to the size of the area being mined, to the types of mining being contemplated or to the mitigation measures . . . [another is] granting the application with conditions.”

The panel’s decision may also play a big part in shaping the outcome of the second Zeb Mountain lawsuit which is scheduled to be argued June 20, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. in the U.S. District Court in Knoxville. Stay tuned.

[North Carolina] Ensuring that organic design isn’t all we have left to remember Mother Earth by, some manufacturers at the recent International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C., have committed to saving the planet one table at a time. Gerry Cooklin, founder and CEO of South Cone Furniture Co., is one who is taking the initiative. His love of the outdoors turned him from naturalist to activist. “Over 50 percent of all the wood we buy for our factories in Peru and Argentina is FSC-certified, but only about 20 percent of our pieces of furniture meet the minimum content requirement,” said a company spokesperson. That second statistic reflects the limited number of sources of FSC-certified wood, he said. As the demand for FSC-certified wood grows, so will the FSC, which is one of Cooklin’s goals.

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www.southernsustainableforests.org<

Ohio tree farmers’ cooperative seeks better markets, prices for ‘King of Pines’
[Ohio] “We’re a group of landowners who thought that by banding together we could more effectively market pine,” explains Woyar, a forester and secretary for the cooperative. Pine trees are actively marketed, Woyar explains, but it is a relatively low-value market in which most of the trees are used for wood pulp. Many of these pines, however, yield good lumber and with a better marketing effort can net higher value when sold as material for furniture, wainscot siding, log homes and timber frames. That desire is what led to the formation of OPPC. [Page 14 of the PDF Newsletter]

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[Washington, DC] In a decision broadly affecting field trials of genetically engineered crops a federal district judge ruled yesterday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must halt approval of all new field trials until more rigorous environmental reviews are conducted. Citing potential threats to the environment, Judge Harold Kennedy found in favor of the Center for Food Safety that USDA’s past approvals of field trials of herbicide tolerant, genetically engineered bentgrass were illegal.

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www.southernsustainableforests.org

[Washington, DC] In a decision broadly affecting field trials of genetically engineered crops a federal district judge ruled yesterday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must halt approval of all new field trials until more rigorous environmental reviews are conducted. Citing potential threats to the environment, Judge Harold Kennedy found in favor of the Center for Food Safety that USDA’s past approvals of field trials of herbicide tolerant, genetically engineered bentgrass were illegal.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org

This group of guitar makers has come together in an effort to preserve the threatened Alaskan forests that provide the timber for a crucial part of their instruments. At the current rates of cutting, they say, the Sitka spruce, in particular the older trees which are vital to the sound and performance of their guitars, could be gone in a decade. “It’s time for us to self-govern and take responsibility to get in there and say these practices have to change,” said Bob Taylor, the president of Taylor Guitars… Taylor, along with Fender, Martin and Gibson, are calling on the suppliers of Sitka spruce, an extraordinarily strong, vibrant timber that is used for the sound boards of acoustic guitars, to apply for certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
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