OTHER HEADLINES ON http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm * Finding the green in building renovation * Sex-changing chemicals found in U.S. Potomac River * Another NW growth trend: Conservation easements * Georgia cashes in on timber * Do carbon offsets live up to their promise?

------------------------------------------------------------------------ - EVENTS:

9th Annual Midwest Value-Added Agriculture Conference January 26-27, 2007, Red Wing, MN

Harvesting Clean Energy Conference VII January 28, 2007, Boise, ID

Minnesota SAF Annual Winter Meeting January 31, 2007, Ely, MN

TreeCare Advisor Course February 10-March 24, 2007, St. Paul, MN or St. Peter, MN

Chainsaw Basics: "Game of Logging" Level I February 24, 2007 OR March 17, 2007, Baraboo, WI

Great Lakes Vegetation Workshops Various dates: February-April 2007, Multiple Locations, MI and WI

Small Log Conference March 28-30, 2007, Coeur d'Alene, ID

For more event listings visit: http://www.forestrycenter.org/events.cfm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - INFORMATION:

Web Site: whyFSC.com

Position Announcement: TREES Program Managing Director, Richmond, VT

------------------------------------------------------------------------ - PUBLICATIONS:

Book: The Forest Landscape Restoration Handbook

DVD: Demystifying Woods and Wildlife Management

Balancing Ecology and Economics: A Start-up Guide for Forest Owner Cooperation

For more publications visit: http://www.forestrycenter.org/library.cfm

------------------------------------------------------------------------ - HEADLINES:

Potlatch to sell up to 120,000 acres (MN)

Potlatch Corp. this year will begin selling up to 120,000 acres of forest land in Minnesota to capture the property's skyrocketing value for recreation and development. Company officials confirmed this week that the northern Minnesota land is part of the company's plan to sell about 20 percent of its 1.5 million acres in the U.S.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=32999§ion=New s OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97071

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Saving Minnesota species

Nearly 600 species of plants, birds, fish, insects and creatures are struggling to survive in Minnesota, while about two dozen others including the gray wolf, bald eagle and peregrine falcon have made dramatic comebacks. The number of endangered, threatened and special concern species increased by 33 percent compared with the last time the state list was published in 1996 by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

http://www.startribune.com/531/story/938303.html OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97069

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Getting to root of pine tree's hardiness (CA)

When it comes to genetic resources, conifers are among the Boy Scouts of the biosphere: They're prepared. With four times as much genetic matter as humans and big variations even within the same species, pines and other cone-bearing trees are well equipped to face the challenges of long life spans in the same spot.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/108109.html OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97062

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Refinery seeks home (ME)

A nonprofit Rumford company is looking at several sites in Maine for a refinery that would turn forest products into clean-burning oil to be used as fuel in electrical plants. The refinery would be the state's first and the world's largest.

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/193951-3/RiverValley/Refinery_seeks_home / OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97046

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Conservation group, unions joining forces

In a first-of-its-kind alliance that could fundamentally reshape the environmental movement, 20 labor unions with nearly 5 million members are joining forces with a Republican-leaning umbrella group of conservationists -- the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership -- to put pressure on Congress and the Bush administration. The Union Sportsman's Alliance, to be rolled out in Washington on Tuesday after nearly three years of quiet negotiations, is to be a dues-based organization ($25 a year). Its primary goal is to increase federal funding for protecting wildlife habitat while guaranteeing access for hunters and anglers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR200701 1501022.html?sub=AR OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97052

-----------------------------

Forest service ponders how to manage wilderness hot spots (CO)

The surging popularity of some of the most stunning wilderness lands surrounding Aspen will require tougher management steps. Three spectacular sites in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area stick out as hot spots that might need extra attention. "They're being loved to death," said Sloan Shoemaker, executive director of Wilderness Workshop, the Roaring Fork Valley's oldest conservation group, which monitors wilderness lands and issues that affect them.

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20070106/VALLEYNEWS/101060043 OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97058

-----------------------------

EU, Indonesia target illegal logging pact

The European Union and Indonesia, home to most of the world's orangutans, have agreed to negotiate a pact aimed at helping stop illegal logging which is threatening their habitat, the EU said on Tuesday. The voluntary accord, once complete, will provide assurance that Indonesian forest products imported to the EU are verified as legal.

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39744/story.htm OR

http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=96991

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Brazil gambles on monitoring of Amazon loggers

A Brazilian government plan set to go into effect this year will bring large-scale logging deep into the heart of the Amazon rain forest for the first time, in a calculated gamble that new monitoring efforts can offset any danger of increased devastation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/world/americas/14amazon.html?_r=1&oref =slogin OR http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=97061

------------------------------------------------------------------------ - EVENTS

9th Annual Midwest Value-Added Agriculture Conference January 26-27, 2007, Red Wing, MN

Dr. Edward Mahoney and Carla Eliana Barbieri from Michigan State University will provide the Keynote Address on "Agriculture Diversification: Myths and Models". Conference goers can choose from 36 different breakout sessions throughout the 2-day event.

Contact Hiawatha RC&D at 507-281-1959 ext. 4 or diana.strain@rcdnet.net or see http://www.rivercountryrcd.org/valad.htm

-----------------------------

Harvesting Clean Energy Conference VII January 28-30, 2007, Boise, ID

The Harvesting Clean Energy Conference is the Northwest's premiere gathering for agriculture and energy interests working to advance new opportunities for agriculture producers and rural communities in clean energy production. Clean energy offers real solutions financial and practical for our farmers, ranchers, rural utilities and towns, tribes, and regional economy.

Contact 360-352-1763 x104 or info@harvestcleanenergy.org or see http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org/conference/

-----------------------------

Minnesota SAF Annual Winter Meeting January 31, 2007, Ely, MN

This annual meeting of the Society of American Foresters will focus on the topic: New Facets in Forest Management. A wide variety of speakers will be featured throughout the day. See the conference brochure for a detailed agenda and list of speakers. Contact Stephanie Oberg at 218-726-6401 or see the brochure at http://sfec.cfans.umn.edu/MinnesotaSocietybrochure_SFEC_WEBSITE.pdf

-----------------------------

TreeCare Advisor Course February 10-March 24, 2007, St. Paul, MN or St. Peter, MN

In 2007 there will be two opportunities for folks to further their knowledge base in regards to urban trees and the unique challenges that those trees face. The TCA Core Course covers topics such as Tree Selection, Soils and Fertility, Insects and Diseases of Woody Plants, Formative Care (Pruning), Planting Trees, Risk Assessment of "Hazard" Trees, Construction Around Trees and Basic Tree Identification Techniques. The course is very informal and very personal to allow the many tree related questions to evolve into good discussions.

Contact Dave Hanson at 612-624-1226 or dlhanson@umn.edu or see http://www.mntca.org/

-----------------------------

Chainsaw Basics: "Game of Logging" Level I February 24, 2007 OR March 17, 2007, Baraboo, WI

The Woodland School is offering two sessions of our popular chainsaw training this spring. Mastering the basics of chainsaw safety is essential for woodland owners who want to be more active on their land. This course will follow the standards of the "Game of Logging," a four-level series of classes designed to increase safety and efficiency. Instruction will be geared toward private landowners with varying levels of experience.

Contact Jeannine Richards at 608-355-0279 or jeannine@aldoleopold.org or see http://www.thewoodlandschool.org/courses.htm

-----------------------------

Great Lakes Vegetation Workshops Various dates: February-April 2007, Multiple Locations, MI and WI

This is a series of workshops aimed to describe and model the successional pathways of ecological communities. The products of this workshop are integral to LANDFIRE, a 5-year, multi-partner wildland fire, ecosystem, and fuel mapping project that will generate consistent, comprehensive, landscape-scale maps and data describing vegetation, fire, and fuel characteristics across the United States.

Contact Randy Swaty at 906-225-0399 ext 16 or rswaty@TNC.ORG Or for specific dates, locations and information see http://www.forestrycenter.org/events.cfm?refID=97034&categoryID

-----------------------------

Small Log Conference March 28-30, 2007, Coeur d'Alene, ID

With a reputation for bringing together national and international players specializing in small-diameter log utilization, the three-day conference offers an in-the-woods tour, as well as a tour of a high-tech sawmill specializing in small-diameter log processing. Program segments include: the global perspective on conservation and forest industries; forest management; transportation and harvesting; processing techniques and product markets; actual case studies.

Contact Jan Raulin at tenaj@telus.net or see http://www.forestnet.com/slc/

------------------------------------------------------------------------ - INFORMATION

Web Site: whyFSC.com

This site is the initiative of a number of different European countries. It presents independent research on why FSC is the only certification system to offer genuine certainty about responsible forest management. The information includes documents by scientists, societal interest groups, legal authorities and governments.

http://www.whyfsc.com/

-----------------------------

Position Announcement: TREES Program Managing Director, Richmond, VT

The Rainforest Alliance is hiring a Managing Director for their TREES program -- Training, Research, Extension, Education and Systems activities related to sustainable forest management.

For a complete job description see http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/about.cfm?id=trees_director

------------------------------------------------------------------------ - PUBLICATIONS

Book: The Forest Landscape Restoration Handbook

This book, authored and collected by leading international authorities in the field of forestry, is the first comprehensive, practical treatment of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). As an approach to conservation, FLR provides a complementary framework to sustainable forest management and the ecosystem approach in landscapes in cases where forest loss has caused a decline in the quality of ecosystem services.

http://shop.earthscan.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/731/groupID/6/c ategoryID/12 -----------------------------

DVD: Demystifying Woods and Wildlife Management

Do you own or lease property but aren't exactly sure what to do with it or how to improve the value for both timber and wildlife? This DVD lets you accompany a landowner and a certified forester as they discuss and demonstrate techniques, concepts, and principles of simple projects that will help you get the most out of your woods and wildlife, such as: understanding basic forestry concepts and terminology; attracting more wildlife to your property, including how to prune wild apple trees; planting trees for timber and wildlife; and increasing the value of the timber on your property.

http://www.woodsandwildlife.net

-----------------------------

Balancing Ecology and Economics: A Start-up Guide for Forest Owner Cooperation

This is the second edition of a guide is intended to show how private landowners, working together, can improve the ecological conditions of their lands while improving their own economic well-being and that of the communities in which their forest land is located. It provides essential information on all aspects of establishing a forest owner cooperative, including: forest management, marketing, business planning, co-op governance, cooperative structures, non-timber forest products, sustainable certification, developing member education programs, and more.

The guide is available online at http://www.forestrycenter.org/library.cfm?RefID=77942 For more information about sustainable forestry cooperatives or to order a hard copy of the manual, visit http://www.forestrycenter.org

-----------------------------

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this newsletter for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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