Emerald Ash Borer threatens national pastime

Ledger Independent

Maysville, Kentucky

By WENDY MITCHELL, Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:00 pm

Officials across the region are taking a swing at stemming the spread of Emerald Ash Borer insects.

The ash trees destroyed by EAB infestations are the same tree species used to make Louisville Slugger baseball bats.

According to www.slugger.com, the bat maker 's Web site, "At this point there has been no impact on the bat industry or (Major League Baseball). The insect has not reached the area along the Pennsylvania/New York border where Louisville Slugger harvests trees to make baseball bats. However, there is reason for serious concern. The EAB was discovered in western Pennsylvania in the summer of 2007. At the current rate of progression, the insect very well could impact the forests where timber for bats comes from within a few years, if not sooner."

Creeping into Ohio in 2002, Emerald Ash Borers have placed dozens of counties in Ohio and Kentucky under quarantine conditions.

Ohio officials recently added Adams, Brown and Highland counties to a list of Ohio counties which, though not containing the damaging insects, are close enough to affected locations to warrant caution when working with timber and firewood transportation.

A federal law makes it illegal to take ash trees, parts of ash trees and all hardwood firewood from any quarantined county, out of Ohio, officials said.

Similar rules are in place in Kentucky, Kentucky Department of Agriculture officials said.

According to a notice from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, "... the quarantine makes it illegal to transport ash trees, parts of ash trees and all hardwood firewood from any quarantined county into or through a non- quarantined county without a compliance agreement from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Violation of this quarantine could result in fines up to $4,000."

Ash trees infested with EAB typically die within five years.

Believed to have come to the U.S. on wood packing materials from Asian countries, EAB have been identified as infecting ash trees in a dozen U.S. states and part of Canada, officials said.

EAB belong to a group of metallic wood-boring beetles. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length, one-eighth inch wide, and fly from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees and leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide when they emerge as adults, officials said.

Discovered in Kentucky in 2006, EAB identification in several counties and quarantine regulations in nearby counties prompted 31 Kentucky state parks to issue a ban on firewood purchased or brought in from outside the county where each park is located, officials said.

Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Grant, Gallatin, Owen, Pendleton, Harrison, Bourbon, Carroll, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott, Shelby, Trimble, Woodford, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Jessamine and Shelby counties, have been identified as locations with EAB, officials said.

In 2009, the only exception in both states was bundled firewood which had been stamped by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as clean wood.

For the 2010 camping season, the Kentucky Department of Parks will implement an all inclusive ban on the import of fire wood into the state parks unless it is bundled, stamped USDA certified clean wood, park officials said.

If the ash trees for baseball bats are decimated, officials are already looking into alternative woods for their products.

"Louisville Slugger's timber division is working closely with the USDA and the state department of agriculture in Pennsylvania and other states to monitor the situation as these government agencies try to stop the emerald ash borers spread," officials said.

Louisville Slugger officials had one suggestion for saving the ash trees, "Don't transport firewood."

For information on the Emerald Ash Borer go to www.agri.ohio.gov or call 1-888-OHIO-EAB.

In Kentucky, if you suspect you may have EAB in your ash trees, call 1-859-257-5838.

  

The Vexing Bugs in the Global Trading System

by Kris Maher
Friday, January 15, 2010

provided by



Perched on a platform 50 feet above the ground in a big hemlock named Fern, Geoff Elliott points to an unwelcome Asian import: a little bug known as the hemlock woolly adelgid.
Small fuzzy white nymphs cling to the undersides of hemlock branches throughout the grove of trees. Both nymphs and adult adelgids can work quickly to destroy hemlocks 150 feet tall.

"This tree is believed to be somewhere between 200 and 300 years in age and can be taken out by the adelgid in as little as two to four years," says Mr. Elliott, a tour guide for Adventure West Virginia Resort LLC, which operates zip-line tours through the treetops. The company is trying to educate visitors about the dangers of the invasive insect as it diminishes the landscape the business relies on.

"Without any action we could lose the species," said Mark Whitmore, a forest entomologist at Cornell University. He described the hemlock as a "keystone species," because it provides shade that cools streams so fish can survive as well shelter for birds and animals. Losing it would be like "having all your front teeth fall out," he said.

As global trade has mounted, more goods are coming in from overseas, sometimes bringing with them the accidental cargo of destructive bugs and plants. An estimated 500 million plants are imported to the U.S. each year, and shipments through one plant inspection station doubled to 52,540 between 2004 and 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Today, about 30 new invasive insects are discovered annually in the U.S., up sharply over the last decade, the USDA says.

The yearly economic impact of invasive species in the U.S. is estimated at $133.6 billion, according to a study in Agricultural and Resource Economics Review in 2006. That includes the cost of control and prevention such as pesticides, inspection programs at ports and damage to crops.

An estimated 50,000 plant, animal and insect species have been introduced into the U.S. throughout history. Many plants are initially introduced as food or ornamentals, while animals are occasionally introduced to control other pests. The English sparrow was brought over to control the canker worm on crops in 1853. But by 1900, it was considered a pest because it introduced diseases.

Among the most damaging are weeds that affect crops or destroy animal habitats. The Asian purple loosestrife, for example, was introduced as an ornamental plant in the early 19th century and now invades some 284,000 acres per year in the U.S., crowding out native plant species that help support duck, geese and muskrat.

More recently, invasive species can be directly traced to increased trade. The Asian longhorned beetle hitched a ride on shipping pallets to Brooklyn, N.Y. from China, while others like the zebra mussel have arrived in the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ships from Europe, having spread there from Russia.

Once invasive species take hold in regions where they have no natural predators, it is often impossible to eradicate them. The emerald ash borer, a shiny green beetle from Asia believed to have arrived on packing material, is attacking ash trees. In the northeast, the Asian longhorned beetle has killed thousands of maple trees and other species.

The U.S. also has exported some unwelcome organisms. The gray squirrel, native to the eastern U.S., is causing havoc in Britain and Italy, where it is larger and more aggressive than the red squirrels it is displacing. It is believed that the gray squirrel was accidentally released by the London Zoo near the turn of the 20th century. The Colorado potato beetle, which attacks crops, turned up in Bordeaux, France, during World War I and has spread throughout Europe.

There are U.S. laws to prevent the import of invasive species, but they haven't been significantly revised since 1918. Last year, the USDA proposed new regulations that would ban imports of certain plants pending analysis ensuring they wouldn't host pests. It cited a 20-fold increase in seed imports in the last decade.

"Inspection is approaching, or may have reached, the limits of its operational efficacy," a USDA statement said.

The adelgid is thought to have first arrived in Richmond, Va., in the 1950s on nursery plants from Japan. It has since reproduced to a population that has devastated hemlock stands in the eastern U.S. They have destroyed an estimated 95% of the hemlocks in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park.

A single insect produces 100 eggs twice a year. That means a single insect and its offspring can spawn a total of 10,000 insects within a year.

Experts say they can only prevent the death of select trees. Each of the hundreds of thousands of infested trees must be treated individually, with an insecticide that can be injected into the soil, into the tree or sprayed on the trunk. Several groups also are experimenting with releasing predator beetles.

"It's labor intensive, but we are keeping them alive in those particular areas," said John Perez, a biologist at the 70,000-acre national park called New River Gorge National River, near Fayetteville, West Va. In the park, 5% of trees are hemlocks.

A less direct approach is trying to educate the public who unwittingly transport invasive insects in firewood or nursery trees and can take steps to protect hemlocks on their property.

Will Blozan, an arborist in Asheville, N.C., surveyed and measured thousands of hemlocks between 2005 and 2007 throughout Southern Appalachia to document the species before it was killed off in vast areas. Some trees are 500 years old, and he identified the 15 tallest and 15 biggest in volume, all of which had become infested. In spite of their mass, only one survived, and that had been treated with an insecticide.

"I've gone from very, very rarely seeing adelgid in 2002 to utter destruction," said Mr. Blozan, a former National Parks Service employee.

Hemlocks aren't a major timber product outside of rustic fencing. But they are considered vital to tourism. And dead trees, which are hazardous, are costly to remove. Some scientists fear the loss of hemlocks could allow invasive species like the tree of heaven, native to China, to thrive. It could crowd out other species that are more vital to the state's economy.

Forest products is second only to the coal industry in West Virginia, contributing about $4 billion to the state's economy through taxes, revenue and roughly 30,000 jobs.

"The woolly adelgid is a flagship for a bigger problem," said Rodney Bartgis, director of the Nature Conservancy in West Virginia.

Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com
  

Speaking off the top of your head?

News & Observer
Published Sun, Jan 17, 2010 02:00 AM
Modified Fri, Jan 15, 2010 07:03 PM

At the end of the day, it's important to achieve a win-win solution. Be sure to think outside the box to demonstrate thought leadership. And harness key learnings to change the game on that mission-critical project.

Confused? You have company.

Many workers say they're fed up with business jargon and corporate buzzwords.

Every industry has its own lingo. In technology, employees use "bandwidth" in conversations that have nothing to do with the Internet, saying things like, "I don't have the bandwidth to deal with this situation."

In finance, workers toss about terms such as "best-in-breed" when referring to investments.

And young attorneys at large law practices like to say they're "underwater" when they're busy, said Bob Knaier, a senior associate at a San Diego firm.

"It's a nice example of how attorneys want to make things sound much more drastic than they are," Knaier said. "'I'm not just busy, but my life is at stake; I'm drowning in work.'"

Business speak does have some up sides: for example, creating a sense of camaraderie among co-workers. But many people still feel it can go a bit too far.

Business people use jargon, thinking they're showing off their intelligence or trying to win respect from their peers, even if it doesn't work that way, said Michael Sebastian, a Web editor at Ragan Communications, a Chicago publishing and training company.

Others turn to jargon to avoid offending people or appearing politically incorrect, said Chelsea Hardaway, the co-author of "Why Business People Speak Like Idiots."

So they'll use terms such as "right sizing" for layoffs. Or, Hardaway said, "my plate's pretty full," is a way workers avoid saying they'd "rather die than take on your project."

Jargon can come out of pop culture, too. Business people may not want to acknowledge that much of their work consists of mundane phone calls and e-mail messages. So, they'll glamorize their tasks by using terms such as "mission critical" or "centers of excellence," she said, to make every project sound like a "James Bond mission."

Of course, jargon often muddles a point and forces people to explain themselves in simple terms. It can also lead to situations where entire offices fear saying anything real, Hardaway said.

Good jargon, bad jargon

Sometimes, it can help to use the same bloated language as your boss, because it often makes you appear part of the group.

"You want to be able to speak the language that people in the corporation are speaking," said Robert M. McCann, an associate professor at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. "If you cannot speak the lingo, that could hurt you."

But, at the same time, jargon can frustrate, annoy or intimidate colleagues. And it's important to realize that.
Kristina Hajjar, the director of communications for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said the fire service creates acronyms or abbreviations for almost everything. Her boss, the fire chief, is the "FC," for example, and a key handbook is known as the "FOG," for the field operations guide.

She understands the terms now but said she was at a loss when she was hired 12 years ago.

"It was just like entering a different world," she said. "I felt like I was really in a foreign country."

Moreover, that's how outsiders can feel if they're visiting a company or getting a sales pitch and they don't understand everything an employee is saying.

How to speak plainly

So, if you find yourself speaking a lot of corporate gobbledygook and think it's getting to be a problem, here's some advice.

First, ask yourself whether you'd speak the same way at home as you do in the office.

Sebastian, the Ragan Communications editor, jokes that you'd never say: "'Hi honey, you really thought outside the box with that dinner - those deliverables with the fresh vegetables were outstanding.'" So why talk that way in the office?

If you need help to break the habit, ask a friend or colleague to hold you accountable.Every time you say a jargon word, agree to pay a penalty that goes toward a happy hour fund or some other purpose.
At the public relations firm Melwood Global, for instance, employees are fined $5 for using the jargon phrase "at the end of the day."

"We use it way too much," said John Boit, a co-founder of the company. "It's a totally senseless and stupid phrase."

All the jargon money goes to support an orphanage for girls in Kenya.

It can also help to create a list of words to ban, or at least reconsider, in your office, Sebastian said. Enlist the help of your colleagues, and reach out to managers in other departments to get their opinion, since every work area has its own form of jargon. But be careful you don't go too far - remember that some people like their jargon.

Sebastian's recommendation: Eliminate "optimize," "synergies," "deliverables" and "actionables."

Other possibilities are "stimulus," "toxic assets" and "too big to fail," recently added to Lake Superior State University's List of Words to Be Banished because they're overused.

Workers who stop using those trite phrases may find there's a big payoff, Hardaway said.

"You start to become respected," she said, "and start to become the only clear voice in this sort of sea of monotony."

Here we go...

Will Vegetarian Humans One Day 'Emit' More Carbon Dioxide & Methane Than Cows?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/will-vegetarian-humans-one-day-emit-more-carbon-dioxide-methane-cows.php

The moral of the story? Grow more trees!
 

Becoming Involved in Your Community

Tree protection and tree harvesting ordinances preserve visual appearance, protect habitat for wildlife and plants, and preserve trees important to a community’s history and heritage. Consulting Foresters need to recognize that community concerns about forestry may determine the practices allowed on their clients' lands in the future. Involvement in the community and awareness of concerns is a first step. Once involved, Consulting Foresters can offer expertise and guidance about the benefits of properly managed forestland to both local officials and fellow citizens.

Become a resource to your community and local government:

• Learn about city and county jurisdictions and regulations that apply to your clients' land. Your city or county manager’s office and the city and county planning, zoning, environmental, engineering, and inspection departments can provide this information.

• Look online at local government websites for zoning ordinances, tree protection regulations, and other land use regulations. Remember that laws and regulations made available through local government web sites are not the legally enforceable versions—they are provided only for general guidance and reference. Local departments, city clerks, or county clerks maintain the official enforceable text.

Note: The failure of a county or municipal official to provide you with the most recent amendments to an ordinance or rule does not relieve you of the obligation of complying nor does it result in the imposition of liability upon that official or that official’s employer.

• Ask questions of local officials and government staff about zoning or tree protection ordinances in your community. Guidance and contact information are often available on city or county’s planning, zoning, or environmental department web page and may also be available through your state's Extension Forestry website.
  

SOURCE: Practicing Forestry Under Local Regulations - WON No. 41 - NC Cooperative Extension Service - 2006 - Prepared by Brandon A. King, Robert E. Bardon, PhD, Mark A. Megalos, PhD
  

Amazing Grace

Published on International Falls Daily Journal (http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com)

By Faye Whitbeck

Created 01/07/2010 - 1:56pm

One doesn’t have to understand all the complexities of the world to feel love for her country.

Or to use her right of freedom of speech and expression.

But in the case of Gracie Wegner, the age at which she is learning to speak out is still somewhat amazing.

She’s 8 years old.

Gracie’s already written her first political letter — to the president of the United States. She wrote it on her own, she says, because she was angry.

The youngster, who plays goalie on a local girls hockey team, has been exposed to American patriotism, in part because of her dad’s service on the national Pulp and Paperworkers’ Resource Council. She also has had an introduction to some of the injustices in life.

Gracie’s dad, Tim Wegner, a Boise employee, makes several trips annually to visit the Washington, D.C. offices of senators and representatives as part of his duties on the PPRC — a grassroots organization made up of hourly employees who work in the forest products industry. The council is focused on fiber supply, forest practices, endangered species and environmental issues that impact the country’s paper industry jobs.

Apparently, Gracie has been listening to conversations held in her home where she, her dad, her mom Heidi and brother Walker, 12, reside. She has been hearing the talk about protecting American jobs as well as about the suffering homeless who line the streets in some parts of the nation’s capital.

During Tim’s most recent visit to D.C. following the inauguration of Barack Obama, the father bought his daughter a snow globe at the hotel where he was staying. Inside the glittery, glass sphere is a rudimentary representation of the U.S. Capitol building, with the globe’s base modeled after the White House.

Pleased with her new ornament, Gracie shook the small globe. A golden swirl of twinkling snow fell over the historic American icons. When her young hands flipped over the figure and revealed the bottom — there it was in three small words. On a red sticky tag, it read: “Made in China.”

Although she is too young to understand the tangled complexities of manufacturing, Gracie still felt the irony of the circumstances. And she also felt the turmoil.

“It came from Washington, D.C. and things from D.C. should be made in America,” she said.

Compelled by indignation, she composed her own message to Pres. Barack Obama in her own little-girl words, and her parents helped her mail it to the White House.

“Maybe if they start making stuff here, maybe homeless people could get a job,” Gracie told The Journal, her simplicity showing both common sense and a child’s naivete.

Asked what she knows about the homeless, she replied, “I know that they don’t have homes to keep warm and that they eat out of garbage cans. I know they don’t have families like we have.”

After receiving the snow globe, Gracie began paying attention to where a lot of things are made. She began to notice rather “unkidly” things such as the stamp on the rear of her brother’s four-wheeler that said “Made in U.S.A.”

Gracie’s adult friend Ila Harder also went to Washington, D.C. and purposely searched for American-made souvenirs, finding only a small ruler that was made in the United States.

Gracie has checked out most of her own toys to find one doll, a “Barbie,” that was made in America. “Barbie” is made by Mattel, the American multinational toy giant. But in 2007, Mattel had its own monumental problems with out-sourcing operations when its subsidiary Fisher Price was forced to recall more than 18 million toys which were made in China — because of dangerously high levels of lead paint.

Mattel CEO Robert Eckert said at the time that overseas manufacturing is inevitable for the future sustainability of most American companies in the dotcom era, noting that 80 percent of American toys are made in other countries.

While some companies may be saved, many jobs have been lost. Tim Wegner told The Journal that 100,000 jobs have been lost in the American paper industry in just this last year. “And eight (paper) mills have closed since Dec. 7,” Wegner said.

Gracie received a response from the White House in August, type-written and folded inside a hand-addressed envelope. It is likely a format letter with Barack Obama’s signature. But that’s not what is most important.

Gracie was reminded of her individual role to play in shaping the future. “I encourage you to work hard and dedicate your energy, talent, and creativity to improving your community and our country,” the Obama note said. “... Young people like you inspire me and give me great hope for the future. ...”

Gracie loves art and design, and has a special affinity for automobiles and trucks, especially the Mustang car. But already, she has shown that young minds can process information — and perhaps make a difference.

Asked if she saw herself as always doing big things, she admitted that most days, she’s “just a kid.”

“But maybe someday I could be president,” she said reticently.

And maybe she could. But whether she travels that road, or the hundreds of others that will be necessary for solving the plethora of agonies that plague America, Gracie is learning that each person has a voice, and anyone can make a difference.


Dear Mr. President,
 
My Dad was in Washington DC. he bought me a snow globe and it said made in China, it should say made in U.S.A. That made me mad. Washington DC should not have stuff that is made in China, ok?
 
Grace

---

http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/about-local-folks/amazing-grace-faye-whitbeck-staff-writer-101

 

Housing, Lumber Trending Up

From the Forest Resources Association:
FRA Bulletin - January 4, 2010
01/04/10
Volume 12, Number 1

On December 23, the Commerce Department released a disappointing report on new home sales, registering an 11% decline in November sales from the robust October figure--oddly contrasting the previous day's news, from the National Association of Realtors, that sales of existing homes had risen by 7.4% over the same period.  One analyst offered the comforting observation that "new home sales figures are typically volatile."  Fix Housing First, the coalition that pressed successfully for renewal of the Homebuyers' Tax Credit, has pointed out that sales of existing homes stimulate building product sales, since new owners typically undertake renovations and additions.

In any case, on December 18, Forest2Market reported an increase in the volume of Southern yellow pine being purchased for construction, with both absolute volumes sold and prices rising through mid-November, which F2M attributes to builders' building inventory prior to the holidays, in anticipation of the extension of the Homebuyers' Tax Credit.  However, F2M also noted that sales of construction lumber declined after mid-November and expected that prices would fall "as the year winds to a close."

For all you scientists out there...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/