Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Watchdog group recommends Rogue forest thinning
October 07, 2010 By Paul Fattig
Mail Tribune
Uncle Sam needs to give priority to thinning more than a quarter million acres of federal forestland in the Rogue Basin.
That recommendation comes not from the timber industry but from "Restoring the Rogue," a 50-page report compiled by the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in addressing the 3.3 million acres of federal forestlands in the Rogue Basin, which includes the Rogue, Applegate and Illinois river drainages. The environmental watchdog group based in Ashland released the report Wednesday.
"We want this to be a starting point for widespread restoration in the Rogue Basin, which can produce jobs, clean water and healthy forests," said Joseph Vaile, the group's campaign director and primary author of the report.
The report calls for thinning managed tree stands between 40 and 80 years of age on roughly 166,000 acres of federal forestland in the basin. In addition, it recommends the federal government prioritize thinning on some 124,000 acres of high fire-hazard forests on its land in wildland urban interface in Jackson and Josephine counties.
However, it should protect forests that are 150 years or older on 719,235 acres in the basin, the report says.
Copies of the report will be given to decision-makers at the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Medford District of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as well as others concerned about the long-term management of federal forestlands in the basin, Vaile said.
"They might come up with different ideas," he acknowledged.
Noting that KS Wild works closely with the Southern Oregon Small Diameter Collaborative and the Josephine County Stewardship Group, he hopes the report can be used as a basis for discussions among federal land managers and others involved in federal land issues.
It could also serve as a launching pad for a more comprehensive restoration report on the basin, he noted.
The thinning near communities would increase safety in the event of a wildfire as well as improve forest health, he said. Thinning in the "back country" would benefit forests overgrown because of poor logging practices or fire exclusion over the past century, he added.
A biologist by training, Vaile said he spent the better part of a year putting the report together. He consulted experts in various fields, used the geographic information system and spent a lot of time on the ground, he said.
"We tried to look at where we could get the biggest bang for our buck to restore forests and watersheds in the basin," he said. "Some of the thinnings would pay for themselves, especially if the timber market gets better.
"But the federal government does get money each year to do this kind of work," he added. "We need a strategy for restoring salmon, forest health and clean water."
The report, which contains 21 maps that describe restoration priorities, focuses on public lands in the basin which account for 62 percent of the basin's land base, Vaile said.
To view a copy of the report, check out www.kswild.org/restoretherogue.
Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.co
Mail Tribune
Uncle Sam needs to give priority to thinning more than a quarter million acres of federal forestland in the Rogue Basin.
That recommendation comes not from the timber industry but from "Restoring the Rogue," a 50-page report compiled by the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in addressing the 3.3 million acres of federal forestlands in the Rogue Basin, which includes the Rogue, Applegate and Illinois river drainages. The environmental watchdog group based in Ashland released the report Wednesday.
"We want this to be a starting point for widespread restoration in the Rogue Basin, which can produce jobs, clean water and healthy forests," said Joseph Vaile, the group's campaign director and primary author of the report.
The report calls for thinning managed tree stands between 40 and 80 years of age on roughly 166,000 acres of federal forestland in the basin. In addition, it recommends the federal government prioritize thinning on some 124,000 acres of high fire-hazard forests on its land in wildland urban interface in Jackson and Josephine counties.
However, it should protect forests that are 150 years or older on 719,235 acres in the basin, the report says.
Copies of the report will be given to decision-makers at the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Medford District of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as well as others concerned about the long-term management of federal forestlands in the basin, Vaile said.
"They might come up with different ideas," he acknowledged.Noting that KS Wild works closely with the Southern Oregon Small Diameter Collaborative and the Josephine County Stewardship Group, he hopes the report can be used as a basis for discussions among federal land managers and others involved in federal land issues.
It could also serve as a launching pad for a more comprehensive restoration report on the basin, he noted.
The thinning near communities would increase safety in the event of a wildfire as well as improve forest health, he said. Thinning in the "back country" would benefit forests overgrown because of poor logging practices or fire exclusion over the past century, he added.
A biologist by training, Vaile said he spent the better part of a year putting the report together. He consulted experts in various fields, used the geographic information system and spent a lot of time on the ground, he said.
"We tried to look at where we could get the biggest bang for our buck to restore forests and watersheds in the basin," he said. "Some of the thinnings would pay for themselves, especially if the timber market gets better.
"But the federal government does get money each year to do this kind of work," he added. "We need a strategy for restoring salmon, forest health and clean water."
The report, which contains 21 maps that describe restoration priorities, focuses on public lands in the basin which account for 62 percent of the basin's land base, Vaile said.
To view a copy of the report, check out www.kswild.org/restoretherogue.
Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.co
Friday, October 8, 2010
Researchers: bioenergy market depends on state, federal policy
By Carlton Purvis
Until federal or state policy mandates that portions of energy be obtained from renewable resources, the market for bioenergy is likely to stay nonexistent, re-searchers at the S.C. BioEnergy Summit at the Clemson University Pee Dee Research and Education Center said Thursday.Until federal or state policy mandates that portions of energy be obtained from renewable resources, the market for bioenergy is likely to stay nonexistent, re-searchers at the S.C. BioEnergy Summit at the Clemson University Pee Dee Research and Education Center said Thursday.
The summit brought together researchers from across the region along with representa-tives from energy companies and U.S. agencies to share the latest news and trends in bioenergy.
Many energy companies already are using renewable resources for portions of their en-ergy production, but large-scale use of bioenergy from crops like switchgrass and corn may not happen without a push from lawmakers.
“One of the things we desperately need in our state is clear governmental policies that encourage the use of renewable fuels,” CEO of Agri-Tech Producers LLC Joe James said. “In North Carolina they have a statute that requires the utilities to have a certain percent of energy come from renewable fuels. That has stimulated utilities to do things in North Carolina that South Carolina is currently not doing.“
Agri-Tech is the South Carolina-based company that developed a torrefaction system that converts wood and plant material to a dry, energy-dense fuel similar to coal, but cleaner burning. It is working toward financing the construction of its first plant, which could specialize in switchgrass torrefaction. Switchgrass is native to South Carolina and grows in areas that are often too harsh for planting other kinds of crops.
Many call it the “chicken and the egg” problem. Farmers are interested in growing crops for renewable energy, but they want to make sure there’s a market for it first. The utility companies want to wait to make sure there is enough being produced to provide a reliable source of energy and have concerns about the increased cost of burning fuels like torre-fied switchgrass.
Companies like Agri-Tech are looking for funding to help produce the systems that will help out both sides. A commercial torrefaction system would help farmers convert the material onsite. The material could be transported to the utility companies the same way they receive coal.
“Coal has been the mainstay of our energy here in South Carolina for producing electric-ity and for heating purposes. Biomass is going to have to be very similar to coal in price in order for the utility companies to switch over and use switch grass or wood,” said Dr. Jim Frederick, director of the switchgrass project at the research center. “That’s going to take the federal government to provide legislation saying they have to use biomass be-cause its renewable and can bring down carbon emissions, or its going to take some kind of financial incentive from the federal government so the utilities would voluntarily switch over to using biomass instead of coal.“
In his weekly address Saturday, President Barack Obama said the clean energy industry has the potential to create jobs and a stronger economy.
“We think we could create hundreds, maybe even thousands, of jobs in South Carolina focused on developing renewable fuels and other things that we bring from outside the state,” James said.
“In South Carolina we could have literally a half-dozen of these plants all across the state — the Pee Dee certainly being one of those areas,” he said.
Agri-Tech plans to look at old lumber yards and processing plants that have been closed down and areas with access to rail spurs because customers are likely to be utility com-panies that are used to having coal delivered to them by train.
Frederick said a mandate would certainly help move things along. He hopes to have a torrefaction system at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center by sometime next year.
SCNOW © Copyright 2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Look Ma! No Foresters!
The 10 American Industries That May Never Recover
by Douglas A. McIntyreWednesday, September 15, 2010
http://247wallst.com/
It has become clear that jobs in some industries may never come back, or if they do it will take years or decades for a recovery.
24/7 Wall St. examined the Bureau of Labor Statistics' "Employment Situation Summary," and a number of sources that show layoffs by company and sector. The weakness in these sectors will make it harder for the private industry, even aided by the government, to bring down total unemployment from 9.6% and replace the 8.3 million jobs lost during the recession. The losses in these industries have to be offset by growth in others before there can be any net increase in American employment.
Some of the industries are obvious. Detroit will never employ the number of people it did five years ago. Domestic car sales hit 16 million in 2005 and 2006. That number will be closer to 11.5 million in 2010. More cars and light vehicles are made overseas now, in places like Mexico, to keep labor costs down.
Home construction is another industry that will almost certainly not recover. Home inventories are still extremely high, and home prices have fallen to the levels where they were in 2004. Prices in some markets, which include Las Vegas, Florida and parts of California, have dropped 60% to 70%. New construction in those markets will not begin again in the foreseeable future.
Here is the list of the 10 job categories that will not recover, based on 24/7 Wall St. research:
1. State and Local Government Jobs. The level of unemployment in this sector continues to rise. Budget imbalances in a number of states have already caused mass layoffs as tax receipts have dropped sharply. A recent report by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers found that 22 states furloughed employees and 25 laid off workers during fiscal year 2009-10. As an example, California slashed its workforce by tens of thousands -- some were laid off permanently and some are out of work and may be recalled. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who is running for governor of California, said she will cut the state workforce by another 40,000 and sharply cut pensions for new workers. Forty-six states face budget shortfalls that will total $112 billion for the fiscal year ending next June, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Municipalities face similar difficulties as property taxes plummet.
2. Construction. Nationwide construction unemployment was 17% in August, up from 16.5% in the same month last year. Over the course of the summer, government statistics have shown sharp drops in the construction of new homes and apartments. Building permits are also down. Most large housing markets have more than 12 months of unsold inventory on hand. There is also a "shadow inventory" of unsold homes -- those that have gone into foreclosure but have not been put on the market by banks. Foreclosures and defaults are expected to rise another 3 million to 3.5 million this year.
3. Installation, Maintenance and Repair. A set of industries related to housing and commercial construction and maintenance will also not generate new jobs. This is the employment sector the government calls "installation, maintenance and repair." Jobs in this sector are dependent on real estate. While many of the workers in these industries, such as plumbers and electricians, are relatively well paid and many work on homes and commercial buildings, some are mechanics who work on industrial equipment, aircraft and plants. These industries will be more crowded as people with training in related work leave the armed forces with the drawdown in troops in Iraq, which will put downward pressure on wages.
4. Automotive Manufacturing. General Motors has cut over 100,000 people since the beginning of the recession in December 2007. Ford has cut over 20,000 and Chrysler 15,000. This does not include foreign car companies with workers in the U.S. By some estimates, every car company worker layoff leads to three more layoffs in related industries that supply the car and light truck manufacturing business. That includes hundreds of car dealerships that have been closed in the last two years.
5. Pharmaceuticals. This industry has bled workers for three years, and that trend is likely to continue. The largest companies in the sector, such as Pfizer and Merck, have a number of blockbuster drugs that have lost their patent protection in the last decade. They have other pharmaceuticals that will lose that protection in the next decade. Sales of most of these drugs will move to generic companies that will sell them for far less, and erode critical revenue sources for the huge pharma firms. Most companies in the industry admit that they cannot replace the drugs that go off patent fast enough to keep their revenue high. The other reason employment in the sector will stay down and may drop further is that big drug companies are merging to save costs, and most of those costs are people. Pfizer has cut 30,000 people since the start of the recession. Merck has cut 25,000, and these companies and their peers expect that they will have to bring down costs even more.
6. Big Telecom. AT&T, Sprint-Nextel and Verizon have passed their peak employment levels. Employment in the sector will not recover and could shrink for two reasons: (1) The landline business is falling rapidly as home phone users move to VoIP, and (2) Increased adoption of cell phones. The cellular subscription business has been damaged by price wars meant to gain market share in the wireless industry -- one that has stagnated due to a 90% market penetration in the U.S. Sprint made substantial cuts as it posted three years of losses. The most recent was 2,500 people in November last year. In 2008, AT&T said it would lay off 12,000 people. Verizon recently said it would fire 13,000 employees from its land line business.
7. Newspapers. The layoffs in newspapers began in the 1980s as presses became more automated and tens of thousands of pressmen lost jobs. More recently, the changing habits of news consumption have increased Internet readers and hurt print, which has caused more job losses in press rooms. Reporters and editors have lost work as print subscribers have stopped paying for what they can get online for free. One recent study claims that the newspaper industry employee base fell from 767,000 jobs in 1998 to 619,000 jobs in 2008. The U.S. Department of Labor has forecast another 120,000 newspaper layoffs over the next 10 years.
8. Airlines. The number of pilots, flight attendants and ground crew workers is shrinking as consolidation and the recession have hurt the industry badly. Mergers in the last two years, between Delta and Northwest and United's merger with Continental, have decreased the number of large carriers in the U.S. by half. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that the number of airline employees in the U.S. has fallen by 25% since 2001. And the latest merger firings have not yet been announced. Jobs for pilots and flight engineers fell by 30.4% in the third quarter of 2009 to 96,000 from 138,000 jobs in 2008, according to the BLS.
9. Realtors. The National Association of Realtors reports that there were 1,370,758 realtors in October 2006 -- the peak of the market. By the end of 2007, the figure was below 1.2 million. The number is below 1.1 million today and has continued on a downward trend. Home prices have dropped so far and so few homes are sold, that the ability to make money in the business disappears by the day.
10. Bank Tellers. Long before the recession, personal banking had begun to become automated. Over the last decade, banks have provided increasing access to banking accounts online, through call centers and at ATM kiosks. This technologically driven shift has been and will continue to be the chief cause of bank teller layoffs. According the the FDIC, since 2008, at the beginning of the recession, there have been 283 banks closed. Compared to the period 2000 to 2007, when only 27 banks closed, that's nearly 10 times as many bank closings in less than half the time. And as of Aug. 20, state and federal regulators had closed118 banks this year, making it on pace to exceed the 140 banks closed in 2009. Although nearly all of these banks have been acquired by other financial institutions, bank branch closings still occur -- employees and locations are consolidated. The single largest employee group at bank branches are bank tellers, and they will bear the brunt of the continued cost-cutting.
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