USA

Seven western states and four Canadian provinces have joined forces in a plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

In June loggers from across the Northeast were recognized at the Blaine House, the residence for the standing governor, for their outstanding business and sustainable harvesting practices.

“The Northeast Master Loggers Certification Board certified eleven new Master Logger companies,” said Beth Postlewaite, executive director of the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNF), as she gave out the awards. “Of the eleven companies certified, six were from Maine. This is a model for the nation.”

Forest certification standards from 12 nations have called on the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to end its discrimination against wood and accept all credible sustainable forest certification standards.

The certification programs pointed out that wood is one of the best environmental choices for construction as long as it is from a responsible source, and that fiber certified to the 26 national forest certification programs recognized by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) meets this demand.

The Tropical Forest Conservation Act is an incentive program that provides less developed countries with debt relief when they protect their forests. According to USAID, this act includes funding from both the United States federal government and private organizations. The Tropical Forest Conservation Act funds protect forests throughout all regions of the world, including Bangladesh, Belize, Jamaica, and Botswana, as well as others.

Environmentalists are challenging the plans of a S.C.-based biotechnology firm to grow genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the South, saying the fast-growing Australian species could spread uncontrollably.

ArborGen LLC won federal permits in May to plant 330 acres of a eucalyptus hybrid in South Carolina and six other states. The test sites include Marlboro County, S.C., about 75 miles southeast of Charlotte.