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Misc. Gaian Rants | ||||
Earth Action: In the woods “Five hundred years ago there was a quiet on this land that had never been broken.” This quote from The Future of the Northern Forest always gets to me. I know the hush, the cathedral-like peace and sense of being in a magical place that is only possible in old growth. When we hear “old growth” we conjure images of 1,000 year old redwoods or cedars so huge it takes 20 people to encircle one tree. But old growth is defined as forests that have suffered little or no logging or grazing. Trees may be hundreds of years old or not. They may be massive and tall or not. It all depends on the forest type. Most of New England’s forests are young — less than 100 years — due to massive clearcutting that began in the 1600s. By the mid-1800s virtually all of the original old growth in much of the Northern Forest was logged for fuel, timber, or ship masts, or cleared for agriculture. By 1850 over 70 percent of Vermont’s forests were gone. It was so bad the white-tail deer had disappeared. Maine held onto its forests until the 1970s when logging roads were constructed and new technologies such as mechanical harvesters came on the scene. For the most part, forests today are considered resources and are managed according to the demands of the marketplace. There are however, tiny pockets of old growth even in New England, and grassroots groups working to enlarge designated wilderness areas thereby creating conditions under which “new” old growth might someday flourish . In Maine, on Mount Katahdin, there are 5,000 acres of uncut subalpine forest divided among several locations including North Peaks and Northwest Basin. In New Hampshire, the Bowl in the Sandwich Range Wilderness contains 500 acres of Old Growth. In Rutland County, Vermont 285 acres can be found in the Green Mountain National Forest, and in western Massachusetts, Mount Greylock State Reservation boasts 55 acres of scattered primary old growth. Timber Sales halted in Whites - This past summer the Conservation Action Project (CAP) and the American Lands Alliance (ALA) brought a halt to two logging projects in the White Mountain National Forest. In July, the Iron Mountain timber sale in Glen, NH was withdrawn and in August, the Tripoli East timber sale was put on hold. CAP and ALA were able to prove that the Forest Service “violated federal law by failing to monitor wildlife populations in the WMNF as required . . . jeopardizing the continued viability of wildlife species” in the forest. Logging in the Whites makes no sense as the WMNF logging program loses more than $1 million dollars of taxpayer money each year. Forest Fire Controversy This past summer’s raging forest fires are being used as an excuse to increase logging in National Forests and to open up wilderness and roadless areas. According to industry, roadless areas are a prescription for disaster. Bush’s response, the so-called “Healthy Forest Initiative”, is a misnomer. It calls for more of the same treatment that created the fire dangers in the first place. Part of the plan is legislation that would curtail or eliminate the public’s ability to challenge “fuel reduction” logging projects. Forest fires are frightening and it’s understandable that people would want to prevent them. But Jeffrey St. Clair, forest activist and co-editor of Counterpunch, reminds us that “the forests of North America were born out of fires, not destroyed by them. . . . Fire supression became an obsession only after the big timber giants laid claim to the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest. Companies . . . were loath to see their holdings go up in flames, so they arm-twisted Congress into pouring millions of dollars into fire-fighting programs.” In fact, suppression actually leads to conditions that favor huge burns, plus the vast majority of wildfires start on lands already degraded by indiscriminate logging, near roads, and most are caused by people. Bush’s “cut them before they burn” legislation is give-away to logging giants. What will stop the madness? Non-violent direct action. Tree sits. Bodies on the line. Don’t ignore your elected representatives either. The Brave New World of Frankenfoods Through . . . genetic engineering, new colonies are being carved out. The land, the forests, the rivers, the oceans, and the atmosphere have all been colonized, eroded, and polluted. Capital now has to look for new colonies to invade and exploit. . . . These new colonies are, in my view, the interior spaces of the bodies of women, plants, and animals. - Vandana Shiva in Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, South End Press, 1997 It’s hard to believe but it was only six short years ago, 1996, that significant acreage of genetically engineered (GE) crops were planted. Today over 125 million acres (most in the U.S.) are planted with GE crops, and it’s virtually impossible for U.S. consumers to avoid them. Approximately 70 percent of the food in conventional grocery stores contain some genetically modified (GM) ingredients, especially processed foods with corn, soybeans, canola oil, or cottonseed oil, as well as dairy products made with milk from cows injected with the genetically en-gineered growth hormone, BGH. Biotechnology is a violent process that forces a particular, “desirable” gene of one species into another, unrelated species hoping for a particular result. Biotechnology exists for one reason - profits. GE companies would like us to believe they are practically saints for creating a way to feed the starving millions but in fact most GE crops either withstand being doused with Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) or contain the insecticide Bt. Their purpose is to sell more “ franken-seeds” and agricultural chemicals, not feed people. Other GM foods in the works include sugar beets, squash, wheat, papayas, rice, coffee, fish, apples, peanuts, and chicken. GE companies are also developing foods that contain vitamins, pharmaceutical drugs, and industrial compounds. Then there’s Terminator technology — plants designed to produce sterile seeds, and “traitor” technology — plants that won’t germinate unless they’re sprayed with a special chemical. Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, BASF, Delta Pine & Land Co., the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and Cornell, Iowa State, and Perdue have all received patents for Terminator and traitor technologies. Evidence is mount-ing that animals fed GE grain (as well as cows injected with BGH) have more health and reproductive problems. Human food allergies are a concern as well as increased anti-biotic resistance. And promises to farmers about greater yields and lower costs are proving false. But the biggest threat is to the Earth. GE crops increase the need for chemicals as weeds and pests become resistant and morph into super weeds, super pests. And biodiversity is threatened by genetic pollution. The agencies within the government responsible for our safety and the protection of the environment (FDA, USDA, EPA) see nothing wrong with GE foods. Fish genes in strawberries or pesticide potatoes aren’t a problem. But other countries don’t agree. Even starving people in countries in southern Africa have refused US aid because they don’t want GE food. It’s difficult to avoid GE foods, but it can be done. It will cost more because buying organic of certain products (especially corn, soy, and canola) is the only way to be reasonably sure you’re not getting GE ingredients. To start, check out the True Food List compiled by Greenpeace at www.truefoodnow.org. Do the best you can. Joining a “buyers club” can greatly reduce the cost of organic foods and you don’t always have to buy in bulk. Become aware, educate yourself, your family, your friends. -SML | ||||
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