News from the world of Trees

American Forests, Autumn, 1999

* Asia, South America, Africa, and the former Soviet Union lose 2.5 forested acres for every 50 acres preserved in North America and Europe, a recent study shows. Researchers Brent Sohngen, Robert Mendelsohn, and Roger Sedjo studied how worldwide timber sales might affect the conservation of forests across the globe between 1995 and 2135. Set-asides will raise world timber prices by I to 2 percent while increasing timber harvests in the rest of the world by 1 percent, particularly in tropical areas, they found.

* A federal court has denied the request of a "wise-use group" to clearcut half the trees in Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest. The Coalition for Sustainable Resources, a group of ranchers, farmers, and water-users, said the culling would protect endangered species by raising the regional water table. The judge declared the suit a "sham" and said the group's primary motive was to sell water.

* Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and Delaware Governor Thomas Carper signed the Delaware Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. This voluntary federal-state land retirement program will assist farmers in planting streamside vegetation and forest buffers, combating polluted runoff, and improving habitat on cropland and marginal pastureland. USDA will pay up to $8 million of the total cost for the restoration, revegetation, and maintenance of 6,000 acres. with Delaware contributing the balance.