Lakeway city council voted Jan. 19 to annex and zone land off Tomichi Trail for use as a future park. (Greg Perliski/Community Impact Newspaper)

Lakeway City Council unanimously approved Jan. 19 the annexation and zoning of 11.03 acres in the Lakeway Highlands subdivision, clearing the way for the property to be developed at some point as a city park.

Council members approved the measures after hearing from some residents living in the neighboring Crosswind community in Spicewood.

Residents asked Lakeway City Council to delay action on the parcel of land, which lies east of Crosswind Drive and west of the Tomichi Trail in an area adjacent to the Rough Hollow Elementary School. Crosswind residents said time is needed to study the parks potential impact on water quality in nearby Little Rough Hollow Cove. Residents also asked the land be zoned as a greenbelt rather than parkland.

Before voting, council members said a park with amenities such as sports fields is needed, and city staff could ensure park plans consider environmental impacts.

There have been people buying homes there since 2006 that expected that park to be built, Lakeway Council Member Louis Mastrangelo said. I also have faith in our building and development team that they will make sure that these [park plans] meet the water quality requirements and that this park will be built to the standards we expect.

Exact details of the parks features and topography have yet to be decided but are included as part of Lakeways larger master park plan. A draft of the park plan is under evaluation by city staff and council members.

Council reviewed a draft of its master park plan at the meeting. The draft includes a proposal for park amenities at the Lakeway Highlands site that council annexed. The draft plan names the area annexed as Butler Park, and among the proposed amenities are sports fields, basketball courts, natural areas and playground equipment catered to people with disabilities.

Crosswind is a community of about 85 homeowners whose lots are situated in an unincorporated area of Spicewood. The community has a lakefront park along Little Rough Hollow Cove.

Crosswind resident Christy Muse told council members during the public hearing portion of the council meeting that keeping the land in a more natural state would be better for the water quality in Lake Travis.

"We ask that you consider zoning this tract as greenbelt," Muse said. "It will be much better for the water quality in the lake; more sports fields are not necessary; and it will be a much gentler and neighborhood friendly transition between Crosswind and Lakeway."

In other business, council members heard a report on the deer population within Lakeway from Kolbe Ranches & Wildlife. The report stated a survey of deer undertaken last November and December showed the population has changed very little in the past four years and is more likely to decline in number than grow.

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Lakeway council votes to annex and zone land for park to be near Crosswind community - Community Impact Newspaper

PENANG has recorded the highest number of open burning cases in five years despite being under a movement control order since March last year.

Penang Environment Department (DOE) director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said the state recorded 670 cases of open burning last year, compared with only 478 cases in 2019.

Sharifah said the northeast district registered the most cases with 241 reported incidents.

This is followed by the southwest district with 165 cases, central Seberang Prai with 151 cases and north Seberang Prai with 72 cases.

South Seberang Prai had 41 cases.

Most of the complaints received by DOE were about open burning of rubbish in residential areas, empty plots and bushes.

Complaints about open burning are consistently increasing every year.

This rise may be influenced by increased public awareness of environmental care, she said in a statement.

Sharifah said the sudden increase in open burning started three years ago with 284 cases recorded in 2018.

We discovered open burning of solid waste in industrial areas and construction sites plus open burning of plantation and garden waste in residential areas.

Other cases involved land clearing.

Open burning is especially hazardous during prolonged dry seasons because it contributes to haze which affects public health and reduces visibility.

The state DOE will increase patrols in areas that registered frequent complaints.

We will also use drones to monitor areas that are difficult to access, she said.

Sharifah said they had issued a total of 34 compounds that can go up to a maximum of RM2,000 besides delivering 163 warning letters.

Open burning is an offence under Section 29A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 which carries a jail term of up to five years or a maximum fine of RM500,000 or both.

We urge all relevant parties to cease open burning and opt for environmental-friendly methods to manage domestic and garden waste, she said.

Those who come across open burning are urged to report to DOE through its toll-free number at 1-800-88-2727 or via email to aduanpp@doe.gov.my.

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Open burning hazard on the rise - The Star Online

The trainwreck of 2020 was not limited to a global community hit by the worst pandemic in a century. The Australian environment fared no better.

The year started amid the continents most widespread bushfires on record. As the Guardian revealed, an estimated 3bn animals were killed or affected. Subsequent major government reports outlined the extent to which the countrys unique environment was in decline long before the fires hit.

The damage from the fires could not be divorced from the climate crisis, which also triggered a third mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef in five years. But political debate on these pressing environmental issues specifically, the need to transform conservation laws or introduce a climate plan to live up to the Paris climate agreement remained stuck as the Morrison government resisted meaningful action on both fronts.

Will 2021 bring a change? Adam Morton and Lisa Cox look at some of the major climate and environmental questions the country will face this year.

Scott Morrison ended 2020 notably isolated on climate change, having been embarrassed when the British and French governments rejected his push to be given a speaking slot at a global leaders climate ambition summit.

The prime minister appeared surprised by the snub, which left him in climate pariah territory with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Russia. If he was surprised, he shouldnt have been: the invitation to the summit made clear only leaders offering substantial new commitments would be given a slot, and Morrison had merely flagged that Australia may not follow through on a widely condemned plan to use a carbon accounting sleight of hand to meet national emissions targets.

A major political and diplomatic question will be how the government responds to what is certain to be escalating pressure. The US will be key. The Biden administration has no shortage of problems needing its attention, but has made clear climate is near the top of its priorities. The new president has pledged to use every tool of American foreign policy to push the rest of the world to do more. His climate envoy, John Kerry, set out the scale of the challenge for business leaders at a G20 forum, including that coal needed to be phased out five times faster than it is now.

More than 120 countries, including the major powers of America, Asia and Europe, have mid-century net zero emissions or carbon neutrality goals, but Morrison despite calls and rising action from business leaders, investors and state governments continues to resist, and deny that Australia is out of step.

The expectation is this can only last so long, but the message from the incoming US leadership and the climate ambition summit is that moving on the 2050 target alone will not be enough.

The focus ahead of the November climate conference in Glasgow will increasingly be on what Australia with no meaningful policies to reduce emissions from transport or major industry and which is still promising a gas-led recovery and approving new coal projects will do before 2030 to live up to the commitment it made in Paris five years ago.

Relying on the states to increase support for renewable energy, as many did last year, will not be enough.

In the wake of the fires, last years official assessment of the state of Australias natural environment by Graeme Samuel, the former competition watchdog chief, could hardly have been more dire.

An interim report in July found Australias environment was in an unsustainable state of decline, and that the national conservation laws the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were ineffective and needed substantial change.

Meanwhile, the auditor generals office found the government and federal environment department were failing in their duty to protect nature.

Conservation groups were not surprised on either front. Australia has the worlds highest rate of mammal extinction due to what is widely agreed to be the failure of successive governments to protect the wildlife for which the country is renowned. Funding for environment programs was cut by more than a third after the Coalition was elected in 2013. Some was restored last year, much of it directed to congestion busting increasing the pace at which industry and business development proposals were assessed.

The governments response was to try and fail to ram through legislation to transfer responsibility for approving major developments that affect the environment to the states and territories, barely giving lip service to the need to strengthen environmental protection.

It is still yet to release Samuels final report, which it has been sitting on since October. That will have to change when parliament returns next month if the government lives up to its legislative requirements. It is also expected to release the national environmental standards that Samuel said were needed to accompany the devolution in assessment powers to the states.

Several questions will follow. Will the standards be designed to not just maintain but improve the state of the Australian environment? Will they be specific enough that they can be meaningfully and legally tested?

And, given the government has rejected the push for an independent environment regulator, can the public be confident the new standards will be enforced?

Attention will also turn to whether the Senate crossbenchers will continue to oppose the governments legislation if there are not steps to improve the monitoring and health of the countrys growing list of threatened species at least 170 of which still have no plan for their recovery.

Australias most globally recognisable natural landmark suffered through its third major coral bleaching event since 2016 last year. Most of the damage was near the southern end around Mackay an area that was mostly left untouched in 2016 and 2017. It means reefs along the full length of the 2,300km wonder have been severely affected over the past five years.

There are still healthy and vibrant areas and some damaged coral will recover, but a significant amount of shallow water coral died.

As recently as a few weeks ago, there were concerns this summer might be a fourth year of severe bleaching out of six. But Prof Terry Hughes, from James Cook University, says the risk has reduced since Christmas thanks to cooler, cloudier and wetter weather, in part due to the cooling La Nina over the Pacific.

An assessment by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests the risk of bleaching is greatest north of Cairns, and a warmer than expected February could still change projections, but Hughes says the chance of a non-bleaching year is pretty good.

It is a less positive story in the west. The CSIRO has forecast a marine heatwave for the Western Australian coastline early this year, with temperatures expected to hit the highest level in a decade.

The Ningaloo Coast and Shark Bay, both world heritage listed areas, are threatened by warming ocean temperatures that could affect ecosystems and fisheries that have not recovered since a marine heatwave in 2011.

The capriciousness of New South Wales politics was on full display last year when the deputy premier, John Barilaro, threatened, but failed to resign ostensibly over a policy designed to protect koalas, just months after the iconic species was devastated by the summer bushfires.

A compromise deal between the governing Liberal and National parties over the koala state environmental planning policy failed. Instead, NSW reverted to an old koala policy, from 1995, with a promise to develop a new one this year.

It meant that, despite a state inquiry finding the species was on track for extinction in NSW by 2050, nothing new has been done to improve its protection.

Whether that can be addressed will be a test for both state and federal governments. It is linked to the broader issue of ongoing habitat destruction, one of the main threats to not just the koala, but Australian wildlife generally.

Sussan Ley, the federal environment minister, has set an October deadline for the threatened species scientific committee to assess whether east coast koala populations have been affected enough to warrant a national endangered listing a step that should trigger greater protection.

Meanwhile, the government continues to sanction clearing of the forests that koalas rely on. Late last year Ley approved a quarry proposal that would clear 50 hectares of koala habitat near Port Stephens in NSW.

It is a similar story at state level. The NSW environment minister, Matt Kean, has set a target to double the states koala population by 2050, but forestry operations and mining proposals in koala and other threatened species habitat continue, and the state government has continued to weaken land-clearing laws.

Analysts say the shift to EVs is inevitable, with new models forecast to match fossil fuel vehicles on price by as early as 2025, but Australia trails other countries in their uptake, with fewer affordable models available.

A long-delayed Morrison government electric vehicle policy now rebadged as a broader future fuels strategy was due late last year, but has yet to be released. A leaked draft suggests it will not include direct incentives for consumers to switch to battery-powered cars.

Other countries have seen a climate and economic advantage in moving now. Britain and Japan major countries that, like Australia, use right-hand-side drive cars announced late last year they would ban the sale of new petrol cars by 2030 and 2035 respectively and introduce incentives to drive the change.

Australia appears headed in the other direction with no significant incentives, and with some states planning to introduce road-user charges on EVs and hybrids. Victoria and South Australia are heading down this path, and NSW is considering it.

Academic analysis has suggested this would further deter uptake of the technology unless offset by other support. Meanwhile, national transport emissions continue to rise.

Court decisions loom large over native forest logging in two Australian states this year, and an industry that spent much of last year under siege.

A judgment is due next month in a case brought by the Bob Brown Foundation against Tasmanias state-owned forestry agency, arguing its native forest logging is inconsistent with federal laws. Conservationists argue the forest agreement in the state is not valid as it lacks a legally enforceable requirement that the state protect threatened species.

It follows a similar case in Victoria last year, when a federal court judgment banned logging in 67 coupes in Victorias central highlands on the basis that the states agency, VicForests, had breached a regional forestry agreement between the state government and Canberra.

In basic terms, the ruling challenged a controversial effective exemption from environmental laws granted to logging under the agreement. The agency is appealing.

Major retailers are increasingly refusing to sell paper logged by agencies without forest stewardship council, or FSC, certification - and both the Tasmanian and the Victorian agencies have failed to get it.

It means the court decisions could have significant ramifications for plans to continue native forest logging at current levels until 2030, in Victorias case, or indefinitely in Tasmania. And they could have major ramifications for threatened species protection.

Read this article:
Net zero, saving koalas and forest wars: the crucial environment battles looming in Australia - The Guardian

Bung, seen with Edward (left) after the press conference, said the construction of the dam is crucial, otherwise, the future generation of Sabah will suffer.

KOTA KINABALU: The controversial Papar dam must be constructed if there is to be a solution to the water shortage problem at the States west coast.

Works Minister, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said the dam will be moved further upstream and at the Kaiduan area since the water condition at Mandalipau situated near the mouth of the Papar river has been polluted by forest/land clearing activities for farming in Kaiduan.

He said massive land clearing has been taking place and that serious water pollution has ensued leaving the Water Department with no choice but to shut down its water treatment plant in Kogopon for four consecutive times since December until now.

The people (of Kaiduan) have promised to look after the river. They have failed to do this with the land clearing, said Bung during a media conference held at his office today. Also present was Sabah Water Department director, Edward Lingkapu.

He added that the construction of the dam is crucial, otherwise, the future generation of Sabah will suffer.

Bung also explained that aside from the pollution issue, the other reason why it is better for the State government to construct the dam upstream at the Kaiduan area is because it can last between 85 and 100 years, whereas a dam downstream at Mandalipau will only last 60 years.

The cost (of building the dam) is the same, he said, hinting why a dam at Kaiduan is the better choice.

Bung added that the area selected has already been surveyed and that it has been done for quite some time.

We only need to review it, he said.

He also said that the next step would be to bring it to the cabinet for its decision and after that, a public engagement will be held to be fair to the people.

But there is no way out. We have to move on, he pointed out.

Bung mentioned that the plan was part of the third phase of a 30-year plan for the supply of water for Kota Kinabalu which will include the dam, piping works and water plants.

This is part of the last plan. So, 100 years from now we could depend on the dam, he said.

The project will roughly cost around RM3 billion.

It was also revealed that the water supply could reach up to Kuala Penyu and to Menumbok.

With regards to the number of houses and families that would be affected by the construction of the dam at Kaiduan, Bung said there are around 27 to 30 families.

We will meet with them, and we will relocate them, provide them with electricity and other needs, raise their way of living from traditional to a better way. We are not kicking them out with nothing, he reminded.

He added that the affected villagers will be given places to stay and land to replace the ones they have lost.

The government has a lot of land reserves, he said.

He urged for the matter not to be politicised because this is a problem affecting the state.

If it wasnt politicised, we would have moved on. So many people are lamenting about not having water. Everyday they contact me about not having water.

Bung said the water shortage in Kota Kinabalu alone is 30 percent, while for the State of Sabah, the percentage is 45 percent.

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Dam project at Kaiduan to proceed - Bung - The Borneo Post

By Ou Su-mei and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The government should help people manage risks posed by wild animals, bear expert Hwang Mei-hsiu () said yesterday, after a Formosan black bear was caught in a trap twice in less than two months, possibly the fourth time it has been trapped.

In October last year, the bear, later codenamed No. 711, was rescued from a trap by the Dongshih Forest District Office. It was treated, fitted with a tracker and released to the wild on Taichungs Dongmao Mountain () on Dec. 3.

However, the office on Saturday found via the tracker that the bear had not moved since the night before and sent a team to investigate.

Photo courtesy of Dongshih Forest District Office

The team found the bear caught in a trap in a bamboo grove and sent it back to the Endemic Species Research Institute Low Altitude Experimental Station in Taichung for treatment and relocation.

Based on the animals scars, it was likely the fourth time it has been caught in a trap meant to ensnare macaques or wild boars, Hwang said on Facebook.

Some people believe that bears should not enter the low-elevation mountains in Taichung, as it is densely populated, but it is actually farmland interspersed with forest that is 1km above sea level, she said, adding that based on No. 711s activity, the bear spends most of its time in uninhabited areas.

Formosan black bears require a broad territory without much human interference, she said.

Since bears are highly intelligent opportunists, the best way to prevent them from becoming a nuisance is to stop giving them positive reinforcement in the form of food, she said.

Hwang recommended that the office use satellite positioning during the day to devise a strategy and deploy a team, clear human food from the area, and after nightfall hold the line and step up intermittent harassment.

Authorities must look out for potential hazards to wildlife, as well as assist the public in dealing with potential damage wrought by wild animals to make sure that traps targeting other animals, such as macaques or wild boars, do not accidentally ensnare black bears, she added.

Based on her correspondence with older residents of Taoyuans Taoshan Village (), where bear No. 711 had been stealing food, Hwang said that people are relatively tolerant of black bears.

However, some people are afraid of them and lack sufficient knowledge, so without education about how to manage the threat, residents have failed to notify authorities or take appropriate measures, such as clearing food or pruning vegetation around farmland, to prevent black bear encroachment, she said.

This is likely the first case of human-bear conflict that has gained considerable attention from people, conservation groups and the media, Hwang said. I hope the authorities will communicate with the public in a professional, wise and patient manner to create a beneficial balance between humans and bears, and establish a model for Formosan black bear conservation.

This place is our traditional land, but it is also the black bears traditional land, Hwang quoted a resident as saying. This understanding is the precondition for living and thriving together.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

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Expert urges better protection of bears -

Most of the roughly 15 people living there now have been offered spots in a new tiny house village opening soon in North Portlands St. Johns neighborhood.

PORTLAND, Ore. More than five years after putting down roots on publicly-owned land, essentially daring the city to make them move amid a newly-declared housing crisis, residents of North Portlands self-governed homeless village Hazelnut Grove have learned their days are numbered.

The announcement came Monday via a news release that quoted both Mayor Ted Wheeler and Housing Commissioner Dan Ryan. Neither was available for an interview.

Describing the villages hillside location along North Greeley Avenue near North Interstate Avenue, the release read, Steep slopes create a danger of landslides and other environmental problems. The location is difficult for firefighters to access, jeopardizing residents safety in this wooded setting.

The release added the reason for decommissioning the village now was simple: residents have somewhere to go.

Most of the roughly 15 people living there now have been offered spots in a new tiny house village opening soon in North Portlands St. Johns neighborhood. The rest, the release said, will be offered emergency housing and shelter space, a process being coordinated through the local nonprofit Do Good Multnomah.

Officials plan to start clearing out the village within the next month.

Barbara Weber, whos been living in Hazelnut Grove for about a year, said residents knew this might happen. Still, theyre furious.

I've suffered chronic homelessness. I know what that feels like, Weber said in an interview Tuesday. That's it. And I want to be with this community, and [the city] promised to move this community to land where they could be self-governed together, not ripped apart.

Weber added residents have started working with a local branch of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a movement founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1967. They started a petition to try and convince city officials to change their minds. In a couple weeks, theyve gathered more than 2,000 signatures.

In Mondays news release, the city showed no signs of reversing course.

Its understandable that people have passionate opinions on both sides. Were making decisions that affect peoples sense of safety and their living environment, Commissioner Dan Ryan was quoted saying in the release. I want to thank everybody involved for working together to find a respectful, innovative, and safe solution.

That said, city officials have promised to clear out Hazelnut Grove before. Those plans have never come to fruition.

On Tuesday, Chris Trejbal, the vice chair of the Overlook Neighborhood Association, said hes hopeful this latest plan is for real.

They've identified a new spot in the St. Johns Village that a lot of the residents can move to. They've worked with the other residents to identify places for them to go, he said. So, I think there really is intent on the part of the city to follow through this time.

The association, as well as many residents in that neighborhood, which sits just up the hill from Hazelnut Grove, have called on the city to move the village since its inception.

Earlier this year, they sent a letter to every sitting city commissioner and the Joint Office of Homeless Services, demanding officials keep their years-old promise to disband the village.

The current situation is a humanitarian catastrophe, the letter read. Living outdoors puts peoples health at risk and leaves them vulnerable to victimization. Meanwhile, campsites are causing environmental damage to our communities, rendering public spaces and parks unusable by the public, and are documented launching points for property damage, theft and other reported crimes.

Trejbal didnt know of the citys concrete plan until Monday. He said hes grateful for the movement. He added, amid historic job losses tied to the pandemic, homelessness appears to be rising, and the city has more work to do.

There's a lot of camping that goes on along Going Street out to Swan Island, and then in Madrona Park that is very troublesome, Trejbal said. There have been multiple fires there in the past year. These are areas that we're going to continue to advocate for the city to take action on.

Read more here:
After five years, city of Portland vows to clear homeless village 'Hazelnut Grove' - KGW.com

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Converting large areas of land for farming to boost food supplies increases planet-heating emissions and places a greater burden on poorer nations already bearing the brunt of climate change, researchers warned on Tuesday.

A study led by Arizona State University (ASU) analysed about 1,500 large land deals totalling 37 million hectares (91 million acres) - across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and eastern Europe - showed that clearing the land for farming may have emitted about 2.3 gigatonnes of carbon emissions.

With regulations to limit land conversion or to protect forests, emissions could have been reduced to 0.8 gigatonnes, according to the study, published this month in the journal Nature Food.

Its unrealistic to say that we cant convert more land, given that the worlds population is growing, especially in developing countries, said Chuan Liao, assistant professor in ASUs School of Sustainability and the studys lead author.

But we still must minimise carbon emissions while pursuing agricultural development, he said.

A sharp increase in food prices in 2007 triggered a global rush for land to increase food security, with wealthier nations and multinational businesses snapping up land in poorer nations.

Worldwide, land is increasingly concentrated in fewer hands, mainly those of large agriculture businesses and investors, with the largest 1% of farms operating more than 70% of the worlds farmland, according to a 2020 study.

While the socio-economic consequences of such deals have been apparent - including threats to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers - regulations to limit environmental damage are rare, as the goal is to boost food output, Liao said.

Enforcing environmental policies does not reduce the amount of land that can be used for agricultural development, he said.

Yet it is difficult, given the host-country governments are so keen to catch up through agricultural development, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

So it is best to balance the two needs by allowing agricultural development on lands with lower carbon values or low forest cover, and by revitalising abandoned farmlands to generate lower carbon emissions, he said.

Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas responsible for rising temperatures. Total 2019 emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) hit a record 59.1 gigatonnes, according to United Nations data.

Agriculture and deforestation account for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions globally - greater than the share of the transport sector.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp focus the impacts of rapid urbanisation and deforestation, which have also contributed to the spread of infectious diseases.

Last week, green group WWF said that the world has lost tropical forest equivalent to the size of California over a 13-year period to 2017, with commercial agriculture the leading cause of deforestation.

To meet growing food demand, it is necessary to raise output on existing croplands, and enforce laws to limit land conversion to protect high-carbon-value forests while permitting agricultural development on low-carbon value land, Liao said.

The pandemic makes both conservation and food security more urgent, he added.

Reporting by Rina Chandran @rinachandran; Editing by Michael Taylor. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org

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Feeding the world while saving the planet a 'difficult' balancing act - Reuters

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for Nature's report on deforestation hotspots, published on Thursday, reveals that almost half of the original forested area in eastern Australia has been lost, with 700 native flora and fauna species, including koalas, threatened as a result. Unsplash

Why Global Citizens Should Care

Australia is the only developed country listed in a new report highlighting the worlds top 24 deforestation zones, due to its significant logging and excessive land clearing for cattle pasture in New South Wales (NSW), Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for Nature's report on deforestation hotspots, published on Thursday, reveals that almost half of the original forested area in eastern Australia has been lost, with 700 native flora and fauna species, including koalas, threatened as a result. The report said Australia's notable deforestation could also be attributed to mining, fires, transport infrastructure and urban expansion.

WWF Conservation Scientist Martin Taylor said Australia's lax environmental regulations allowed for widespread damage.

"Land clearing rates rocketed after the axing of restrictions in Queensland and NSW, placing eastern Australia alongside the most infamous places in the world for forest destruction," Taylor said in a WWF media release. "Despite Queensland restoring some restrictions in 2018, eastern Australia remains a deforestation front. That will not change until we see rates of destruction go down."

Across 2015 and 2016, 395,000 hectares were cleared in Queensland alone, the equivalent of 1,500 football fields a day.

Bulldozing in Queensland killed 45 million animals and created 45 million tonnes of carbon emissions.

Although Australia's 2019 Black Summer bushfires were not included in the report, as it tracked deforestation from 2004 to 2017, experts fear climate change-induced fires and their effect on Australia will become a prominent, recurring theme in future reports.

"Forest destruction was already bad enough for the region to be declared a global deforestation front, then the 2019-20 bushfires burned about 12.6 million hectares in eastern Australia," the report said. "Forest fires are likely to increase due to longer and more extreme dry seasons as a result of climate change."

Related Stories April 2, 2020 Australias Environment Scores 0.8 Out of 10 in 2019: Report

Eastern Australia has been looped in with 10 other "medium" deforestation fronts, including hotspots in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Peru, Laos, Central African Republic and Mozambique. Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Madagascar and Borneo were all marked in the "high" deforestation category.

Overall, 43 million hectares of land roughly the size of Morocco has been destroyed globally since 2004.

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Australia Is the Only Developed Country Featured on WWF's List of Deforestation Hotspots - Global Citizen

IPSWICH Open burning begins Jan. 15, and a burn permit is required to be in compliance with state law, fire Chief Andy Theriault has said.

Residents with matches can apply for permits online. There is a $10 fee to acquire a burn permit.

Residents who have already obtained permits need to visit the Ipswich Fire Departments online activation page to activate their permit on the day they plan to burn.

Residents will then be informed if burning is allowed that day and instructed to leave their address, as listed on the permit.

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The requirement to check in each day is based on changing atmospheric and weather conditions, such as wind or air dryness. The departments on-duty shift commanders will make a determination before 9 a.m. each day whether burning will be allowed in town.

Violations of the permit requirements, open burning law, and/or open burning regulations will be grounds for permit revocation.

According to Massachusetts law, anyone found burning without a permit may be subject to criminal charges, the punishment for which is a fine of up to $500 plus the cost of suppression or by imprisonment for up to one month, or both.

Open burning must be done:

Residents are allowed to burn:

You may not burn:

Theriault said resdients can help prevent wildland fires by burning early in the season. Wet and snowy winter conditions help hinder the rapid spread of fire on or under the ground, he added.

April is usually the worst month for brush fires. When snow recedes, but before new growth emerges, last years dead grass, leaves and wood are dangerous tinder, the fire department announcement said.

The fire department advised:

Anyone with questions regarding opening burning should call the Ipswich Fire Department at 978-356-4321.

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Originally posted here:
Open burning begins today, permit needed - The Local Ne.ws

Pacific Gas and Electric keeps electricity flowing through 81,000 miles of overhead distribution power lines. This happens across the cities and over the mountains of PG&Es service area from the Pacific Ocean to the Sierra Nevada, Eureka to Bakersfield, according to their website.

Common sense says maintaining the lines day after day, year after year, decade after decade is a feat of planning and hard work.

Another important requirement by all the states utility companies is keeping the thick forest and woodland brush under the lines cut back. The brush has been accumulating for 100 years of fire suppression in the ranges and mountains across California.

Common sense says wildfire loves big fuel.

The Karuk Tribe in Siskiyou and Humboldt counties want to help. They wrote a report with a plan to maintain corridors under PG&Es distribution and service lines in the areas of their towns.

Distribution lines are the in-between carriers that relay stepped-down, high voltage electricity from transmission lines to the service lines that connect to the customer structure..

Written with a grant from the PG&E Resilient Communities Foundation, the Karuk plan is simple: lower the risk of dying by uncontrollable fire in and around the remote towns of Orleans and Somes Bar, and do this by clearing power line corridors, and then burning the brush in cooler, wetter months with small, strategic fire.

The report was co-authored by Bill Tripp, who is director of the Tribes Department of Natural Resources, and Kari Marie Norgaard, a professor at the University of Oregon with background in environmental studies, biology and climate change.

Before European descendants arrived along the mid-Klamath River, the Karuk used fire to enhance the environment and to keep fuels in the mountains under control and prevent large conflagrations.

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They did this by lighting small, short term fires in mosaic patches, at successively higher elevations, starting in spring and continuing through summer and fall. Fire renewed and maintained the health of the world, it enriched Karuk foods and provided the best quality materials for clothing, tools and ceremonial items. In an interview, Tripp said villages on both sides of the river near present-day Orleans coordinated their burning.

For example, burning leaves in black oak stands lowered fuel levels and was good for the acorns, which the deer like, Tripp said. They wouldnt wait after a fire, theyd come down and would roll around in the burned duff as soon as it cooled off.

The Karuk used smoke, too.

Salmon need cold water, and the Karuk knew that because there is more moisture content in burnable materials in the high country, they could burn at higher elevations and manage the fire. They did this for various other environmental reasons but a primary purpose was to shade the river with the smoke cloud and lower the water temperature. Doing this protected the salmon and promoted migration up river, according to the Tribes Climate Change Adaptation Plan

A century ago, many Karuk were stopped from using fire. They were also stripped of the ability to manage their lands as they always had, and replaced by new managers the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

These agencies decided that to avoid large fires they would suppress fire. That meant all fire. Laws were enacted forbidding use of fire on the land, and tribal people were sometimes killed for this, as late as the 1930s, according to an article Tripp wrote for the Guardian.

Despite the hard road, the Karuk focused on reclaiming the lives they choose to live and managing the environment with fire as they have done for the thousands of years theyve lived along the Klamath, according to the Adaptation plan.

They also bought small areas of land, mastered the permit processes, satisfied NEPA and CEQA regulations and, in the 1990s, began combining modern science with traditional uses of fire on their properties, according to Tripp.

In 2018, with the managed fire plan, the Karuk were ready to enlarge the scope of their burning to more strategic managing of the fuel load under the power lines, Tripp said.

With the grant, they gathered data along 41 miles of power line in and around Orleans and Somes Bar. They identified 104 sites in need of initial clearing and then follow-up maintenance. Of the 104 sites, 28 were deemed high risk and in immediate need of clearing; and 41 sites were medium risk.

The report/plan consists of planning and administration, the cutting the trees and bushes under the lines and around power poles and transformers, burning brush in cooler months at safe distances from the infrastructure and ongoing maintenance.

One such site visited by a reporter was up from a treed road on the edge of a meadow, just outside Orleans. Clearing and burning had been done in November around a pole and transformer at the base of a brushy hillside. A service line from the pole swung across the narrow road to a house.

Were doing this ourselves because this is our place, Tripp said. Were trying to fashion a system where we can work with PG&E and other partners, especially where it benefits their infrastructure.

Their report describes how fire starts under electrical lines and other infrastructure in remote, mountainous locations.

Distribution and service lines can ignite because of the mechanical failure of transformers and other equipment, when lines or conductors are close enough to cause arcing, when unmaintained vegetation comes in contact with a line, or when a fallen tree or branch downs a power line.

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A tree or a branch that falls on two lines can create an arc between the lines and cause sparks, Tripp explained.

After clearing the land under the lines and around poles, tribal crews collect the brush in small piles. Then, during times of year when moisture content allows for slow-burning, low fire, the material is burned.

Tripp described the difference between the Karuks use of fire and the clearing that power companies perform, one of them being the use of herbicides.

PG&E has implemented treatments around poles weed eating or the application of herbicides. Other places along the highway, they use the CCC (California Conservation Corps) to come in and weed cut around poles.

We dont use herbicides. There are a lot of resources out there on the land that our people use. This infrastructure lies within two miles of our villages. So we dont want herbicides on food and other things that people use. Its poison, our tribal law bans it. Using fire to maintain the landscape is consistent with our culture, Tripp said.

Another PG&E practice the Karuk want to improve on is leaving cut vegetation on the ground because it becomes fuel for a low burning fire directly under the lines.

In response to Karuk concerns, PG&E marketing and communications spokesperson, Lynsey Paulo, wrote in an email that PG&E trims overhanging limbs and branches above power lines and removes hazardous vegetation such as dead, diseased, dying or defective trees that could harm power lines or equipment.

However, neither PG&E nor its contractors has the authority to remove wood because the trees on customers land are their property. As a courtesy, tree crews cut larger limbs into more manageable lengths and leave wood on-site for customer use, Paulo said. Also, customers can request removal of wood debris at no cost.

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The Karuk are working on raising the money to fund an endowment for their plan. This was helped considerably by a follow-up grant from the PG&E Resilient Communities Foundation, which Tripp described as an additional gift to the Tribe for grant writing and fund raising. With the money, the Tribe hired a professional grant writer and a fund raiser.

The goal is to raise $1 million for the endowment. Tripp said this amount would generate enough annual interest to grow the endowment and pay for carrying out the plan. The endowment would also fund the more comprehensive and long-range Climate Change Adaptation Plan. When implemented, this plan seeks to repair and renew the mid-Klamath environment and provide a strategy which the Karuk believe would go farther at lowering the risk, long-term, of catastrophic fire.

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Karuk have a plan to lower risk of fires - Siskiyou Daily News