Ledger-Dispatch

By Kelly Scott (kenos@ledger-dispatch.com) =

A dispute is brewing between = environmental groups=20 and a timber industry over the effect intensive logging practices = have on=20 the environment.

Photo by: Kelly=20 Scott
Two competing forest studies have put = Sierra=20 Pacific Industries' forest management practices at the heart of a heated = debate=20 about global warming.

On one side is SPI, the owner of 1.6 = million acres=20 of California forest land, which says a peer-reviewed industry study = reveals=20 intensive management as a tool in offsetting the impact of carbon = dioxide=20 emissions equal to removing more than 877,000 cars from the road each=20 year.

On the other side is the international environmental = organization=20 ForestEthics, which calls the timber giant's "intensive management" a=20 clearcutting philosophy that threatens to exacerbate climate=20 change.

While the ForestEthics report wasn't designed as a = specific=20 counter to the SPI study, Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch Outreach Coordinator = Josh=20 Bridges said it couldn't help but call into question many of SPI's = findings.=20 Ebbetts Pass is a regional subsidiary of ForestEthics.

Bridges = said SPI=20 and his group are already tangling over whose study is more accurate. = Each side=20 has their experts, each side claims they're right, but each side is = saying=20 opposite things.

While neither study disputes that trees absorb = CO2, a=20 leading contributor to climate change - "That's about all we agree on," = said=20 Ebbetts Pass board member Susan Robinson - SPI claims new plantlings = absorb the=20 highest levels, justifying a more intensive logging strategy.

"By = following intensive management practices to harvest and replant most of = our=20 lands over the course of 80 to 100 years, we found we can actually = increase the=20 ability of our forests to store carbon by about 150 percent," said the = company's=20 research and monitoring manager, Cajun James, Ph.D.

That claim = has been=20 sharply criticized by ForestWatch and other groups.

"It's = definitely=20 greenwashing if intended to make SPI's practices appear to be = environmentally=20 sound," said Chris Wright, executive director of the Foothill = Conservancy, a=20 local environmental group not associated with either = study.

Wright added=20 that the study does not perform a full carbon or climate change analysis = that=20 takes the full range of SPI's practices into account. He said the study=20 concentrated solely on carbon in trees and overlooked the amount of fuel = it=20 takes to transport workers, harvest timber and haul the felled trees, = all of=20 which also cause carbon emissions.

SPI spokesman Mark Pawlicki = countered=20 that the four-year study, which was compiled by researchers hired by = SPI, proved=20 California forests were "undermanaged."

"There is an unnaturally = large=20 fuel build-up in the forests," he said. About ForestEthics, he added the = group=20 was "making allegations that are unfounded and completely off=20 base."

Taking data from 2,586 separate and distinct plots in two=20 watersheds, SPI researchers compared the carbon-sequestering capability = of three=20 common forest management techniques used in California, all of which = meet=20 California's Forest Practice rules, according to SPI. It examined four = forest=20 management scenarios, finding that the intensive model of harvesting and = replanting about 1.25 percent of forest lands each year yielded the best = results.

The ForestEthics report compiled data from the = California=20 Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the regulatory agency that = oversees=20 private lands logging methods. While publicly available, ForestEthics = said the=20 data has never been compiled and presented in such a way.

Titled = "Climate=20 of Destruction: Sierra Pacific Industries' Impact on Global Warming," = the report=20 shows that SPI filed plans to conduct clearcutting and plantation = conversion of=20 nearly a quarter million acres from 1997 to 2006.

"SPI's clear = cutting=20 and conversion to plantations has been known for quite some time," = Robinson=20 said. "Their report shows the magnitude of destruction and its impact on = global=20 warming."

With the passage of California's landmark climate = change bill=20 in 2006, Assembly Bill 32, the pressure to offset greenhouse commissions = has=20 increased.

If the rhetoric remains charged between the industry = giant and=20 environmental groups, however, a middle ground may be difficult to=20 reach.

"They are using allegations based on no science when we = have=20 science on our side," Pawlicki said of ForestWatch.

Meanwhile,=20 ForestEthics has called on consumers, contractors and building = professionals to=20 steer clear of SPI products until the company reforms its forest = management=20 policies. ForestEthics released the names of more than 525 businesses = that=20 signed a letter calling on SPI to end its logging practices. One of the = group's=20 goals is to convince SPI to seek certification from the Forest = Stewardship=20 Council.

In June 2007, SPI settled a civil complaint with the = Placer Air=20 Pollution Control District for close to $13 million due to "past = violations" of=20 falsification on emission reports and tampering with monitoring = equipment. Since=20 then, SPI has taken steps to improve their compliance with air pollution = regulations and permits as conditions of the settlement.

"SPI = appears to=20 have changed from the systematic non-compliance we alleged into doing = real=20 environmental good and serving as a potential compliance model," said = California=20 Air Resources Board Chairman Robert Sawyer.

That perception isn't = shared=20 by others.

"Bottom line is that it is a flawed study and a = transparent=20 effort by SPI to justify its economically, socially and environmentally=20 unsustainable clearcutting timber practices," said Wright.

To = read the=20 full SPI study, visit www.spi-ind.com. For the ForestWatch study, visit=20 www.savethesierra.org/climateofdestruction.

Raheem Hosseini=20 contributed to this report.

Kelly = Scott