Thomas M. Bonnicksen, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Forest Science, Texas A&M University
Research Scholar in Residence, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Visiting Scholar and Board Member, The Forest Foundation

Dr. Thomas Bonnicksen earned a B.S. in forestry (with minors in wildlife and range management), an M.S. in forest ecology, and Ph.D. in forest policy from the University of California-Berkeley. He is Professor Emeritus of forest science and a former Department Head at Texas A&M University and Research Scholar in Residence at California Polytechnic State University. He joined the faculty at Texas A&M University after working as a professor of forestry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work over more than 35 years emphasizes the history and restoration of North America’s forests.

Dr. Bonnicksen also is Visiting Scholar and board member of the Forest Foundation in California and Scientific Advisor to the Temperate Forest Foundation in Oregon. He is cofounder of the International Society for Ecological Restoration and a former member of its board of directors. He also held posts as president, chair, and vice-chair of several other organizations, including the Bay Area Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Southwest Wisconsin Chapter of the Society of American Foresters. Dr. Bonnicksen also is a U.S. Navy veteran and former U. S. National Park Service ranger.

Dr. Bonnicksen received many awards. The Bush Presidential Library Foundation honored him in 2002 with the Bush Excellence in Public Service Award. He is the first recipient. President George H. W. Bush personally presented him the award. Most recently, the California Forestry Association honored him as Citizen Conservationist of the Year in 2004.

Dr. Bonnicksen developed science-based strategies in 1994 and 1995 to deal with the wildfire threat in San Bernardino Mountain forests and San Diego County brushlands of California. These strategies, developed with the help of state and federal agencies, and community leaders, would have dramatically reduced the death and destruction caused by the fires of 2003 and 2007 in Southern California.

Most recently, Dr. Bonnicksen created the Forest Carbon and Emissions Model (FCEM), which is a Rapid Assessment Model (REM) that quickly estimates forest carbon and emissions using a minimum of input data for wildfires, insect infestations, and inventories of existing and sequestered carbon on forestlands and brushlands. FCEM is especially important for dealing with issues associated with global climate change.

Governor Reagan appointed Dr. Bonnicksen to serve four years as a member of the California State Park and Recreation Commission. While serving on the commission, he wrote the legislation for State Senator Anthony C. Beilenson (SB 271 & 272) that guides the classification and management of California’s state park system. Most recently, he developed the concept and drafted legislation to create a system of national historic forests. Congressman Mike Simpson (2nd District of Idaho) introduced the Act (H.R. 2119) and held Congressional hearings in June 2001.

Dr. Bonnicksen testified before U. S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate committees 13 times, as well as seven Congressional and Secretarial briefings. He also served on several Congressional fact-finding missions, including the Yellowstone fires of 1988 and the Southern California wildfires of 2003. In addition, he served on many Congressional and state advisory committees, most recently as a member of the U.S. Senate’s California Forest EIS Review Committee and the U. S. House of Representatives’ Forest Health Science Panel.

Dr. Bonnicksen published over 120 scientific and technical papers, articles, book chapters, and other publications, 8 computer programs, and 4 multimedia CDs. He also published a book with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Copyright 2000, 594 pages), titled America’s Ancient Forests: from the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery. The book documents the 18,000-year history of North America’s native forests. It includes the role of Native Americans in the development of these forests and descriptions by explorers who saw them first.

Dr. Bonnicksen delivered over 100 presentations and keynote addresses worldwide, including the Cosmos Club in Washington DC, the Commonwealth Club and the Bohemian Club in California, the Western Governors Conference, the National Arbor Day Foundation, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Board, and others. He also helped produce and appeared in a one-hour PBS television special titled Forest Wars as well as educational videos.

Harvesting dead trees to prevent them from releasing CO2 from decay, storing the carbon they contain in long-lasting wood products, and using the money from the sale of the wood to replant a young forest that absorbs CO2, is the only way to restore deforested areas and recover this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. The report emphasizes that every effort must be made to reduce the amount of fuel in public and private forests to prevent catastrophic wildfires. Major constraints to managing and thinning private forests are government regulations and the high cost of Timber Harvest Plans (THPs).

For a copy of the full report please visit http://westinstenv.org/ffsci/2009/08/24/impacts-of-california-wildfires-on-climates-and-forests-a-study-of-seven-years-of-wildfires-2001-2007/ Western Institute for Study of the Environment W.I.S.E.

Contact Dr. Thomas M. Bonnicksen at 407-831-3269.

Tracking yearly temperature data is relatively easy and hard to refute. Scientists tracking the earth’s temperatures agree that for the past 11 years our earth has been cooling. What is more difficult is modeling the future of our climate based on information from the past. This requires scientists to use the best available data and then adjust their predictions as data changes.

Junk science is different: when new data becomes available that doesn’t support the predictions, the data is changed or distorted. In the climate change debate, this is fairly easy to do, as very few people outside an inner circle are privy to the computer modeling of this data.

Unfortunately for this inner circle, namely Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit, along with Tom Wigley of the same agency, they have been caught manipulating data in what is now being called “Climategate.” It appears that plenty of the original climate data that reinforced Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize winning efforts has been rigged. It’s junk, to echo Myron Ebell.

Two challenges on this from TuCARE: to the Union Democrat to aggressively report on this huge development in the climate change debate, and to our critics…next time come to the Summit…you won’t be attacked and may be surprised at what you learn.

Mike Albrecht, President
TuCARE

1.) Plants thrive on CO2. Plants store carbon and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Reducing levels of CO2 is not scientifically or theoretically good for plants. Thus, less plants, less oxygen, less carbon sequestration.

2.) Global warming is not the result of industrialization, nor is it because of farting cows, or black-topped surfaces. Rising temperatures are a result of irrigation on once arid land. Moisture holds heat and therefore recorded temperatures have risen over time as more of the earth’s surface has been turned to agriculture uses. Furthermore, the Big Picture tells us that this warming is not enough to create the future that misguided, fear-mongering Al Gore predicts. Although we may have slightly higher seasonal temperature readings, overall, the earth is in a cooling cycle.

In the future, it might be a good idea for the Democrat to actually quote people who attend events and hear the speakers. Then Democrat readers like Mr. Ferrell would get educated instead of indoctrinated.

Melinda Fleming, Executive Director
TuCARE

Cap and Trade Update: Memorial Day is the target date set by Democrats Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) for passage of a cap-and-trade bill that promises economic hardship for all. The Waxman-Markey “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009″ (HR 2454) would raise taxes on American families by nearly $3,100 a year, lead to huge job losses, and dramatically raise the energy expenditures of American households. Under a cap-and-trade policy, companies would be forced to raise energy prices. This would unleash a series of adverse economic consequences and hardships for Americans, as numerous studies dictate. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis determined that Waxman-Markey would reduce aggregate GDP by $7.4 trillion, kill 844,000 jobs and raise the energy bill paid by a typical family by about $1,500 annually. A study by the National Association of Manufacturers projected that emissions caps, similar to those previously rejected by the U.S. Senate calling for a 63% cut in emissions by 2050, would reduce GDP by up to $269 billion and cost 850,000 jobs. A study conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology determined the restrictions could raise gasoline prices by 29%, electricity prices by 55% and natural gas prices by 15% by 2015. A 2007 report by the Congressional Budget Office examining the costs of cutting carbon emissions just 15% noted that customers “would face persistently higher prices for products such as electricity and gasoline. Those price increases would be regressive in that poorer households would bear a larger burden relative to their income than wealthier households would.” The National Center for Public Policy Research is a free-market communications and research foundation established in 1982 and located on Capitol Hill.

Congress to Seize US Waters: A supposed Wetlands Bill is being worked on in Congress. It is called the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA). The new Senate number is S787. The CWRA is bouncing around the House Committee. The real goal of the CWRA is to give the EPA control over all water and all watersheds. That means national land use controls as well as control over all private water and land. That’s because all land is in a watershed. Congress is considering expanding the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to include all waters of the United States and not limit it to “navigable waters” as is currently the law under two Supreme Court Decisions, the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001. Congress is also considering expanding Clean Water Act jurisdiction to include all “activities affecting these waters.” In other words, the bill is a double whammy: It expands the definition of waters and gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Corps of Engineers (Corps) and other Federal agencies control over activities that affect waters—any land use activities.

Legislative action, perhaps through the 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill, is needed to reduce the density of vegetation on California’s National Forests to a level that can be sustainable thereby providing healthy forests that are resistant to insects, disease and wildfire. Further, legislative action is also needed through the 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill to continue to increase the USFS budget for timber management and hazardous fuels.

Additional action needed…
Even if legislative action takes place, we must reverse the efforts of groups that are in opposition to forest thinning. Litigants of national forest projects in California, and particularly in the Sierra Nevada’s, are funded, in part, by “Environment Now” (www.environmentnow.org). The following is excerpted from Environment Now’s home page:

“Environment Now’s Forest Program has three key goals:

1. Eliminate commercial logging on all public lands in California by transitioning the Forest Service to restoration
2. Promote true sustainable forestry practices on private lands
3. Fully protect all old growth

From their website, Environment Now’s “partners”, that they provide funding to, include:

1. Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch—who target Sierra Pacific Industries’ timber harvest plans on their private holdings
2. Sierra Forest Legacy—who target timber harvest from the National Forests in the Sierra Nevada mountains
3. John Muir Project—who statewide appeal and litigate projects on the national forests; they share “Environment Now’s goal to end logging”
4. Sequoia ForestKeeper—who target vegetation projects in and around the Giant Sequoia National Monument

At the same time, the USFS in California faces 7 million of their 9.8 million acres of productive forest lands that are not reserved to be at serious risk to catastrophic wildfire. The USFS has stated that once initial treatments meet fuels objectives, they will have to re-enter the same location about once every 20 years with follow-up treatments to maintain the fuels objective. The Region is currently able to manage about 100,000 acres per year hence will only be able to realize a managed landbase of 2 million of the 9.8 million acres. Essentially this is a management policy to let the remaining 80 percent of the productive forest lands eventually burn-up in large wildfires. This management policy certainly does not provide for healthy forests and will lead to substantial negative impacts on watersheds, wildlife habitat, and water quantity and quality.

The Forest Service’s own vegetation management policy for the Sierra Nevada’s is displayed in its 2004 Sierra Nevada Framework Record of Decision, which states on page 3 that they know this limited level of management confounds the problem of overly dense vegetation on the National Forests and will lead to the forests becoming denser than they currently are. Our polling indicates that nearly 90% of adult Californians want the wildfires dramatically reduced and they recognize you have to manage the vegetation to do that (including cutting trees).

By Steve Brink, Vice President Public Resources, California Forestry Association. He will be a speaker at the Forest Forum

Legislature Debates Delta Fix
The legislature continues to debate a five bill package intended to address Delta water issues. Lack of action by the state and federal government has left most farmers on the West side of the Central Valley without water and has caused irreparable harm to valley businesses and communities. The five bill package proposed by a Conference Committee chaired by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) falls short of providing a comprehensive solution to California’s water crisis. The bills only address water conservation and water use efficiency which will not fix the ongoing water crisis in the Central Valley.

Sunstein Confirmed to Top Regulatory Position
Cass Sunstein is the new Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). He will review and approve or reject all regulations put forth by the administration, thus giving him great power to influence these regulations. Sunstein’s earlier assertion that animals should have the right to bring suits against humans, with humans as their legal representatives has caused great concern. He now says he does not favor and would not support such a right, and that his primary concern would be to ensure that regulations are consistent with the Constitution, the law and the principles reflected in governing Executive Orders.

Cong. Radanovich and Shuler(D-N. Carolina) Launch Congressional Gateway Communities Caucus, a bipartisan effort focusing on Gateway Communities which include all cities, municipalities, counties, parishes, towns, villages, districts, wards, boroughs, and tribal lands that are geographically or economically linked with any federal public land or waterway and would be significantly impacted by decisions made by federal managers for these areas. “Gateway Communities provide access and infrastructure to America’s greatest national treasures: our national parks, monuments, forests and other public lands and waterways,” said Radanovich. These communities play an integral role in accomplishing the mission of federal land managers by providing necessary services, such as transportation infrastructure, search and rescue, emergency and medical support services, drinking water and sanitary systems.

H.R.2899 California Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention and Community Protection Act – Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to expedite eligible projects on National Forest System lands and public lands, respectively, in California which are within or adjacent to at-risk communities or watersheds if the project is consistent with the applicable community wildfire protection plan or county fire plan. It requires projects to be carried out in a cost-effective manner that focuses on surface, ladder, and canopy fuels reduction activities or implements forest restoration activities in response to extreme weather events or natural disasters.

Harris Sherman nominated as Under Secretary for Ag. Sec. Tom Vilsack. Sherman currently is the Executive Director of the Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources. He also serves as the Director of Compact Negotiations for the Interbasin Compact Commission, Chairman of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Co-chair of the Governor’s Forest Health Advisory Council. He has been Chairman of the Water Quality Control Commission, Chair of the Mined Land Reclamation Board, Chair of the Denver Regional Air Quality Council, Commissioner of Mines and the Denver Water Board, and a Trustee of Colorado College. He’s been active in land conservation efforts with the Nature Conservancy, Colorado Open Lands, and the Trust for Public Land.

We gave several presentations to adult service organizations, participated in Leadership Tuolumne County, conducted horseback fieldtrips into the Emigrant, attended the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition Conference in Reno, Nevada, hosted “Senior Day in the Woods” with Modesto Junior College at Bob Kinsinger’s Kinland Forest (Thanks Again, Bob!), hosted a Community Forest Forum and a Safety Net Faire, conducted a 2-day fieldtrip for the Tuolumne County Forestry Institute for Teachers, attended both the Tuolumne County Farm Bureau and the Calaveras County Farm Bureau annual dinners and auctions, coordinated and hosted a 2-day workshop for American Stewards of Liberty (formerly American Land Foundation and Stewards of Liberty) with regional county representatives, supervisors, and organization leaders, and we also made time to attend Tuolumne County Board of Supervisor meetings, held meetings with our elected officials, and planned for the upcoming school tour season.

On Wednesday, August 26th, the fire danger was so high that several timber operators cutting on the Stanislaus National Forest were required to stop work at 1:00 pm for fear their equipment might spark a fire. On the same day, one ridge over, the Yosemite Park Service purposely set a fire near a small community. The 91 acres that was supposed to burn was spared, at the expense of 7,200 other acres. Sixteen million dollars later, the “prescribed” wildfire was contained. In an admission that defies logic, common sense, science, and a desire to keep his job…when asked if he would do it all over again, Dave Uberuaga, the Acting Superintendent of Yosemite National Park said, “Yes.” This gave real meaning to the “Acting” part of his job title.

On August 6th, the Sierra Forest Legacy took stock of the timber situation in California and decided it was a perfect time to deliver the final blow. It came in the form of a lawsuit to further restrict Forest Service timber sales. The Legacy group argues that it will suffer irreparable harm if the Forest Service goes ahead with its program of forest thinning. This is all on the heels of new research released by Dr. Tom Bonnicksen, Professor Emeritus of Forest Science at Texas A&M University, which documents findings indicating that all of California’s 14 million cars would have to be garaged for over 3 1/2 years to offset the emissions released by California’s wildfires between 2001 and 2007.

And finally, yours truly just finished writing a 128 page Timber Harvest Plan costing thousands of dollars so that Columbia College could harvest one acre of trees averaging 8 inches in diameter to accommodate their new Science and Natural Resources building. CAL FIRE rejected the timber plan twice because it did not adequately address the impact the one acre tree removal job would have on climate change, specifically greenhouse gas effects (I am not making this up). In the end, the whole thing gave me more gas than the one acre of trees could ever have absorbed!

So, what to do…how can we ever recover from the hole in which we find ourselves?

Well, first pull out a penny or a $100 bill, or anything in between, and read across the top, and never forget that message. Secondly, most of us are not “in the hole”, but are instead watching our misguided fellow Americans dig. That’s not so bad, but when they try and pull us down with them…well…we get angry. That’s where we are right now. The grassroots (or “astroturf” as Speaker Pelosi calls us) are getting angry. Fortunately, our chance to take action is only a November away.

In the meantime, TuCARE will fight back for all of us. TuCARE is one of two interveners in the Sierra Forest Legacy lawsuit against the Forest Service. An October 1st hearing is scheduled. We will be there. TuCARE is doing any good reporter’s job by trying to get access to the actual weather data at the fire line when the Yosemite prescribed fire was started. We will not rest until the truth is known.

TuCARE supports both existing and new home improvement stores. We want to help stock their shelves. We will continue to stay in the forefront of the effort to restart our sawmills. TuCARE is uniting with valley farmers to educate the public and politicians with a simple message…healthy forests = clean and abundant water. TuCARE believes that a 128 page timber harvest plan for 1 acre of small trees is 126 pages too long. We are working toward common sense reforms in our current “analysis paralysis” regulatory systems.

In the meantime…don’t give up—keep the faith—pledge allegiance—read the penny.

Several awards were given during the evening’s program. Notably, Conservationist of the Year recipient, Robert Kinsinger, instrumental in helping to prepare natural resource students from Modesto Junior College for future careers with the generous donation of time and property for an outdoor education lab site in Confidence. Glenn Gottschall, retired Forest Service, Registered Professional Forester, and a TuCARE Board of Director, was given Educator of the Year for his work with The Forestry Institute for Teachers, (FIT). County Supervisor, Teri Murrison, received TuCARE’s Excellence in Government award. Teri is dedicated to protecting the natural resource based economy of Tuolumne County.

Special guests for the evening included the first President of TuCARE’s Board of Directors, Shirley Campbell. Shirley congratulated TuCARE on 20 years of dedicated service to natural resource education. Tom Lealos, a founder and former Board President sent a video presentation. Former Executive Director Nancy Rosasco sent a written congratulation for TuCARE and Ginger Armstrong, Nancy’s successor, also unable to attend, sent a video presentation.

Despite difficult economic times, TuCARE’s silent and live auctions were very successful thanks to the generosity of both the donors and the buyers. TuCARE wishes to thank all who helped make this a special evening.