Forest News – Page 16 – Forest Unlimited

Why won’t California bury its power lines?

Author: Bob Whalen

I started pushing for Southern California’s regional utility to bury its power lines three years ago, after the fourth utility-caused fire in a decade hit Laguna Beach, where I was mayor.

Our fruitless efforts took us from meetings with Southern California Edison to the state Capitol to a regulator’s doorstep. The utility has pushed back at every turn, citing the high cost of burying power lines even as utility-sparked wildfires have taken scores of lives and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Cal Fire found PG&E’s overhead utility equipment responsible for 17 Northern California fires that burned 190,000 acres in 2017, destroying over 3,200 structures and claiming 22 lives.

Now the Camp Fire, likely sparked by utility lines, has decimated the town of Paradise, taking 13,000 buildings and more than 80 lives.

Paradise Wildfire Photo Shows Mature Trees

November 26, 2018

In this photo of the remains of a section of the Paradise wildfire, note the number of mature trees standing around and among the all the burned houses.

View this video to find out how to protect your home from wildfire:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL_syp1ZScM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0vuvq2N69BYuRFruiIUnNnI5RyaVB2_ss34nJ105bXILI42NbyGXBTWfg

Part of the Answer to Climate Change May Be America’s Trees and Dirt, Scientists Say

By Brad Plumer

At the high end of the projections, that would be roughly equivalent to taking every single car and truck in the country off the road.

The paper, published in the journal Science Advances, identified a number of promising strategies, like replanting trees on degraded lands, changing logging practices to better protect existing forests and sequestering more carbon in farmland soils through new agricultural techniques.

“We’re not saying these strategies are a substitute for getting to zero-carbon energy; we still need to do that too,” said Joseph E. Fargione, a

Trees Play a Key Role in a Sustainable Urban Future

By Heather Doucet

Though trees aren’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about city living, urban forests are integral to ensuring and enhancing the quality of life in densely populated areas. Trees and green spaces provide a range of environmental and social benefits that can address some of the most persistent issues facing our cities today, from health and well-being, to social and economic indicators and equity, to resilience and climate change. Indeed, with more than two-thirds of the world’s population projected to be living in urban environments by 2050, the future of urban forestry and the future of the very livability of our cities are inextricably intertwined. What’s more, innovative projects and organizations in cities across the country can show the way to other communities looking to harness the power of trees for a more sustainable future.

What Trees Bring to Cities

While it’s fairly intuitive that trees are a positive, concerns about maintenance costs and other considerations can sometimes counter the notion in people’s mind that “trees are good.” Fortunately, there is plenty of strong evidence to support a significant investment in trees for a variety of reasons.

Improving Health and Well-Being

Urban trees remove over 710,000 tons of air pollution per year in the U.S., which has a major impact on fighting respiratory illnesses like asthma. Trees also filter up to 80% of phosphorus out of stormwater before it pollutes waterways and drinking water. And tree canopy shade, along with evapotranspiration (the return of water vapor from trees and vegetation back to the atmosphere), can lower peak temperatures by 2°-9°F—a key tool in combating the heat island effect present in many cities, which disproportionately impacts lower-income neighborhoods and other vulnerable populations.

Enhancing Neighborhoods

By providing inviting gathering spaces, grass cover and trees can strengthen ties between neighbors, encourage healthy children’s play, and discourage crime. In New Haven, CT, for example, a ten percent increase in tree canopy was associated with a 15 percent decrease in violent crime. Mature trees also add an average of 10 percent to a property’s value, according to a Forest Service survey.

Boosting the Economy

Sustaining a healthy urban forest—tree planting and care, managing community gardens and parks—provides direct skilled career opportunities, and is a growing field, with members of organizations like the Sustainable Urban Forest Coalition implementing workforce development and educational programs to encourage careers in urban forestry. Green industries contribute 1.6 million jobs, $82 billion in payroll, and $196 billion in sales to the U.S. economy. Trees also provide other economic benefits—for instance, workers in office buildings with views of trees report increased productivity and overall job satisfaction, while shoppers in business districts with robust tree canopy will spend 9 percent to 12 percent more for products.

Forest Defense Is Climate Defense

On October 10, 2018 Oregon Wild released a new report, “Forest Defense Is Climate Defense”, about the fascinating relationship between our forests and the climate. The report compiles the latest research on forest-carbon and explains how the single most impactful action Oregon can take to combat climate change is to change our forest policies. To read the report

Forest News
Hard news articles as opposed to editorial opinion.