Arlington, U.S.A. — Thousands of Americans celebrate Independence Day by heading to national and state parks, campgrounds, and forests to enjoy the outdoors. Many will bring along their own firewood for convenience, not realizing that bringing firewood from home poses a serious risk to the nation’s forests by potentially spreading tree-killing pests. Many states, and several federal agencies, consider this risk severe enough to implement regulations restricting the movement of firewood, and in some places violations can come with a hefty fine.

“The Fourth of July holiday is a time when we all remember what an amazing country we live in, and healthy trees and forests are integral to the beauty of our lands and waters,” said Leigh Greenwood, Don’t Move Firewood campaign manager, The Nature Conservancy. “Tens of thousands of trees are destroyed every year by invasive tree-killing insects, and one of the most important steps everyone can take to protect our natural heritage is to stop moving forest pests to new areas on firewood. It’s really that simple.”

In many states, regulations limit how far firewood can be legally transported, and some states prohibit the entrance of out-of-state firewood altogether. These regulations most frequently include prohibitions against moving firewood over 50 miles or over state lines, although some states have stricter limits in place. For example, some states prohibit movement of firewood to state parks or other state-managed lands from more than 25 miles away. Additionally, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has federal quarantines in many states on wood products (including firewood, wooden pallets, and other materials) that could harbor pests like the Asian long-horned beetle, emerald ash borer, and other damaging pests and pathogens.

“We encourage everyone to help protect our country’s natural resources from invasive species,” said APHIS spokesperson Joelle Hayden. “Taking basic steps – like not moving firewood and following federal and state quarantines – will help keep these dangerous pests from spreading unintentionally.”

More than 450 non-native forest insects and diseases are now established in the United States. While most can’t move far on their own, many pests can hitchhike undetected on firewood, starting new infestations in locations hundreds of miles away. These infestations can destroy forests, lower property values, and cost huge sums of money to control. Over the last hundred years, introduced species of invasive insects and diseases have killed tens of millions of trees in forests, cities, and towns across the country. In addition to the Asian long horned beetle and emerald ash borer, these tree-killing pests include Dutch elm disease, Sirex woodwasp, thousand cankers disease, hemlock woolly adelgid, sudden oak death, laurel wilt, and many others.

Following are tips from the Don’t Move Firewood campaign:

• Take care to respect all state and local regulations on the movement of firewood and other unprocessed wood – some areas are subject to serious fines for violations.
• For a list of federal and state quarantine areas, visit: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/quarantine-counties.html.
• Obtain firewood near the location where you will burn it – that means the wood was cut in a nearby forest, in the same county, or a maximum of 25-50 miles from where you’ll have your fire depending on state regulations.
• Commercially kiln-dried wood is a good option if you must transport firewood.
• If you notice an insect or tree disease you don’t recognize, take a photo or obtain a specimen of it, and compare it to Web site photos of the suspected pest. A good resource to help in identification is: http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/gallery-of-pests.
• Tell your friends and others about the risks of moving firewood – no one wants to be responsible for starting a new pest infestation.

The article Protect America’s Forests: Don’t Move Firewood appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Climate change is likely to harm California’s economy by reducing the types of natural, non-irrigated vegetation available for livestock forage and the ability of forest ecosystems to store carbon dioxide, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the scientific journal Climatic Change.

The ability of ecosystems to store carbon dioxide is a key part of implementing the state’s climate law, the Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as Assembly Bill 32 or AB 32.

“Much of the talk about climate change in California has been about the impacts of sea level rise and droughts,” said study coauthor Linwood Pendleton, director of ocean and coastal policy at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, acting chief economist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and study author. “Our work shows that even the gritty worlds of cattle ranching and forestry may take it on the chin as California skies become increasingly carbon-rich.”

The study was conducted by researchers from Duke University, Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Biology Institute, USDA Forest Service, Stanford University and the University of California at Santa Barbara. It examines how climate change will impact the fundamental character of California’s ecosystems and the valuable services that they provide to the economy.

To analyze the impact to carbon sequestration and natural, non-irrigated livestock forage—two important ecosystem services that contribute to the state’s economy—the researchers used climatic change scenario models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and three atmospheric-oceanic models.

The researchers identified that climate change would cause a consistent decline in conifer woodlands and forests through the end of the century that could decrease the amount of carbon storage in forestlands and harm the forestry industry.

They also determined that climate change is likely to alter the amount and timing of rain, hail and snow in California, resulting in a 15 to 70 percent increase in shrub lands and a consistent decline in natural, non-irrigated forage production for livestock.

“A less stable climate will reduce the ability of natural landscapes to support cattle grazing, so ranchers may have to grow or buy extra hay instead of getting it for free from nature, as they do now,” said lead report author Rebecca Shaw, Ph.D., associate vice president of EDF’s Land, Water and Wildlife program and a working group member of the IPCC.

“We calculated that replacing lost forage caused by climate change with extra hay will hike costs for the California ranching industry by up to $235 million per year by 2070,” said Shaw. “That’s why it’s important for policymakers to better understand the value of services that nature provides to California’s economy, so that they can work to protect our natural resources and the economy in the face of climate change.”

“Fortunately, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act provides new economic opportunities for landowners—both inside and outside California—to be part of the climate solution,” said economist Belinda Morris, a report coauthor and regional director of EDF’s Center for Conservation Incentives.

“Landowners can earn credits for capturing carbon on their land that they can sell to offset industrial carbon emissions. These credits will bring in a whole new revenue stream that can benefit the ranching industry, helping ranchers to keep ranching.” Carbon credits are an integral part of the carbon cap-and-trade program that is scheduled to begin this year under the Global Warming Solutions Act. It allows for 8 percent of the law’s carbon emission reduction goals to be achieved by offsetting emissions with carbon credits.

“EDF is working with landowners, academic institutions and others to develop cost-effective methods for capturing carbon on rangelands that could generate new revenue streams for ranchers as part of a carbon credits market, while also improving soil fertility,” Morris said.

The article Climate Change Threatens California Economy appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.