Trees deserve special attention from all segments of our society

From an Article by Cristen Jaynes, EcoWatch News, August 1, 2023

In order to fulfill the ambition of the United States federal government’s REPLANT Act, the U.S. Forest Service has funds available to plant more than a billion trees in the next nine years. The problem is, there aren’t enough trees. Not only that, but U.S. tree nurseries don’t have enough variety of species necessary to meet the goal.

Cities around the world are suffering from urban heat islands made unbearable by record heat waves. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, air temperatures underneath trees can be as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than directly above blacktop.

A new study by scientists at the University of Vermont (UVM) has shown that the limited diversity of tree species available has frustrated how much the forest service can do to respond to the climate crisis by planting trees, a press release from UVM said.

“Trees are this amazing natural solution to a lot of our challenges, including climate change. We urgently need to plant many millions of them,” said professor and director of the UVM Forestry Program Tony D’Amato, who co-led the research, in the press release. “But what this paper points out is that we are woefully underserved by any kind of regional or national scale inventory of seedlings to get the job done.”

The study, “A lack of ecological diversity in forest nurseries limits the achievement of tree-planting objectives in response to global change,” was published in the journal BioScience.

In their research, the team of 13 scientists looked at 605 plant nurseries in 20 northern U.S. states. They found that just 14 of them were operated by the government, and only 56 of them grew and sold seedlings in adequate amounts for reforestation and conservation.

Even more disappointing for the researchers was the “overwhelming scarcity of seedlings” from varied species and “seed collection zones,” which refer to local climates and conditions that trees have adapted to, they wrote in the study, according to UVM.

The research team found that forest nurseries have a tendency to keep a limited inventory of a few tree species, such as those used in commercial timber production, rather than species necessary for ecological restoration, climate adaptation or conservation. They also discovered that, in many areas, no locally adapted trees were available.

“The world is thinking about a warming climate — can we plant towards that warming climate? We know we’re losing ecologically important species across North America and around the world. So, the goal is: can we restore these trees or replace them with similar species? It’s a powerful idea,” said Peter Clark, UVM applied forest ecologist and lead author of the study, in the press release. “But — despite the excitement and novelty of that idea in many policy and philanthropy circles — when push comes to shove, it’s very challenging on the ground to actually find either the species or the seed sources needed… [F]inding the diversity we need to restore ecologically complex forests — not just a few industrial workhorse species commonly used for commercial timber operations, like white pine — is an even bigger bottleneck.”

The researchers said a much larger amount of seedlings and diversity within those is needed at regional nurseries in order to achieve a successful tree planting program directed at addressing climate change.

The financial risk and novelty involved in providing increased variety “likely generates uncertainty among forest nurseries, hampering investment,” the authors of the study wrote. Another issue is that the number of nurseries, especially in the northeastern U.S., has gone down in recent years.

Seedlings from a different region might also have trouble succeeding in a new area, the researchers found. For instance, 80 percent of the seedings in the study found in northern states were produced in north central states. “Such concentration of production will hinder tree planting efforts,” the researchers wrote, “because species and seed sources likely originate from similar geographic or bioclimatic zones.”

This is exacerbated by seedlings being sensitive to stress. A mismatch between when they are available, such as earlier in nurseries farther south, and when they need to be planted, like in northern soils after the last frost, could be an issue.

The researchers suggested improvements in financing and policy, as well as expanded research and better training to help alleviate these issues.

Government agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, as well as state governments, rely on seed zones from the 1970s based on climate conditions that are very different from those predicted for the future. Also, forest research and policy has been centered around timber production species rather than those that are more adapted to changing climates and a more diverse array of tree species. Clear policies regarding tree genetics and tree species’ movement are also lacking in many government policies.

The scientists recommended an expansion of state and federal investment in seed collection and public tree nurseries. “This strategy may stimulate production from private nurseries once a stable demand is apparent,” the authors of the study wrote.

This year, the federal government invested $35 million in expanding the capacity of the federal nursery, but the authors of the study said that, due to “the existing (and growing) reforestation backlog, declines in nursery infrastructure, and complex needs for diverse seeds and seedlings, it is likely that substantially more public investment in the form of grants, loans, and cost-share programs will be needed to reinvigorate, diversify, and expand forest nurseries.”

“People want trillions of trees,” Clark said in the press release, “but often, on the ground, it’s one old farmer walking around to collect acorns. There’s a massive disconnect.”

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NOTE: By planting one tree every second, it will take 31.7 years to plant a billion trees. Plant a tree every minute and the time necessary becomes 1902 years. It is very clear that new trees cannot be relied upon to resolve the climate crisis, but can help. DGN

Main roadway access covered in mud

From an Article by Laurence Hammack, Roanoke Times, May 20, 2018

State regulators have put a stop to construction of part of the Mountain Valley Pipeline swamped by a rainstorm, saying work cannot continue until proper erosion control measures are established.

Crews were using heavy equipment to cut trees and clear land along the natural gas pipeline’s right of way in Franklin County when heavy rains Thursday night and Friday morning swept away much of the soil they had unearthed.

Both lanes of nearby Cahas Mountain Road were covered by up to eight inches of mud. “It’s clearly unacceptable,” Ann Regn, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, said Sunday.

According to both DEQ and Mountain Valley officials, none of the mudflow reached streams, where it could have done the most damage. Nonetheless, the agency is investigating how check dams and other erosion control measures failed to prevent the mess.

Environmental regulators received several calls last week, before the rain started, from members of the public who were concerned that heavy equipment being used to remove trees and clear a 125-foot swath for pipeline construction was exposing the land to potential runoff problems.

Although Mountain Valley crews had erosion control devices in place, “there were some things that completely disappeared” after the rains, including concrete barriers, Regn said.

“Initial reviews indicate the controls were installed properly; however, the circumstances appear unusual and an ultimate cause is under investigation,” Mountain Valley spokeswoman Natalie Cox wrote in an email Friday.

“Upon learning of the issue, MVP crews promptly began remediation activities,” Cox wrote. “The project team remains committed to the safe and responsible construction of this important underground infrastructure project.”

Opponents have predicted that building a 303-mile buried pipeline along steep mountain slopes will dislodge sediment, which can contaminate private wells and public water supplies if it is allowed to enter nearby streams and wetlands.

Already, regulators have pointed to problems with erosion control in Wetzel County, West Virginia, where the pipeline will start a path that will take it through Southwest Virginia before connecting with an existing pipeline in Pittsylvania County.

On April 25, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation against Mountain Valley after an inspection found sediment-laden water that had flowed beyond the perimeters of where a compressor station is under construction.

Out-of-control runoff from a hill on a second site caused part of the slope to give way, according to records filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

And an environmental firm that is monitoring pipeline work for the U.S. Forest Service documented inadequate maintenance on two access roads in the Jefferson National Forest that are being used by Mountain Valley officials. The report noted deep ruts in the road and noncompliance with erosion and sediment control requirements.

Earlier this year, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law that gave DEQ the authority to order work on the pipeline to cease immediately if there has been, or is likely to be, a “substantial adverse impact to water quality.”

The suspension of construction in Franklin County over the weekend did not rise to that level, with Regn saying that state and Mountain Valley officials agreed informally that stabilization of the area must happen before regular work can proceed.

Del. Chris Hurst, D-Blacksburg, said he believes it’s time for VA-DEQ to issue a full stop-work order. “I think it’s well past time,” Hurst said Sunday. “For a lot of people, they think it’s too late already — a day late and a dollar short.”

Hurst made his comments after attending a rally where about 50 people decried the Forest Service’s decision to cut off food and water to a protester who is blocking the pipeline’s route through Giles County.

Known by her Appalachian Trail nickname “Nutty,” the woman has been camped since March 28 in a platform suspended from a 50-foot pole erected in the middle of a construction access road.

“Shame USFS,” read one of the posters held by members of the crowd, which gathered outside of Forest Service headquarters in Roanoke County. “Feed Nutty Now,” another sign stated.

Since the Forest Service cut off supplies being sent up to the woman from a support team camped nearby, she has been living off a reserve of energy bars, applesauce and rainwater collected from a tarp that covers her tiny living space.

Last week, a lawsuit filed by the Rutherford Institute of Charlottesville raised questions about Nutty’s treatment.The lawsuit was brought on behalf of a physician who became concerned about her medical condition and hiked nearly two miles to help her – only to be denied access by Forest Service law enforcement officers who have cordoned off the protest site.

In a recent statement posted to the Facebook page of Appalachians Against Pipelines, Nutty wrote about her opposition to the industrial and commercial forces that seek to destroy nature in the name of progress, and the government entities that support them.

“To hell with all that,” she wrote. “To hell with comfort if it comes at the cost of complicity.”