SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY PRACTITIONERS

Robert Brothers, who according to In Context, an online quarterly on humane sustainable culture, has been exploring sustainable forestry and bioregionalism for a number of years, first in Idaho and now in southern Oregon provides references to groups practicing sustainable foresty in his article on Respectful Forestry. These groups include:

Big Creek Lumber Company of Santa Cruz,
Tosten Ranch west of Garberville, California,
Richard Smith of Portland,
the Couvet Forest in Switzerland
the Jackson-Josephine Forest Farm Association, Oregon

One other group that should be mentined is Collins Wood a company producing FSC-certified timber.

Robert Brothers
Legacy--The Landscape Connection
P.O. Box 59
Arcata , CA 95518 Phone: 707-826-9408
Fax: 707-826-9408
E-mail: bobcat@mind.net

Lloyd's of London - Global Warmings Risks, Including Forest Fires

Lloyd's of London has issued a report on the effects of warming on the insurance underwriting business. A few items of note, related to fire risks in urban/forest interface are provided below. For a full report, go to: Lloyd's 360 Risk Project

With increasing development taking place at the forest/urban fringe, greater economic loss will result from forest
fires in the future.

Higher land and air temperatures raise a number of concerns for insurers. Property insurers will want to monitor aggregations of risk in the expanded areas likely to be affected by forest fires, and prepare for the likelihood of increased subsidence events as a result of hotter drier summers in some areas.

It is generally agreed that the 1990s was the warmest decade, and 2005 the warmest year, in a millennium. The projected rate of increase in global temperatures for the 21st century is likely to be the fastest of any century in the past 10,000 years. Recent evidence suggests that the impact will be worse than carbon sinks are not performing as well as they have in the past.

Forest fires are expected to increase in frequency and severity under most predicted scenarios. In some areas, it is estimated that fire frequency and areas affected could double by 2069.