Next to nothing in terms of sustainable harvesting of plentiful biomass! We live in interesting times, to appropriate the old Chinese proverb. We Montanans want a clean environment, cheap, plentiful energy, and smoke-free summers too. We want a lot. But in order to be successful—even a little bit—we must act swiftly to achieve a balance of environmental common sense and economic benefits that currently does not exist in our national forest management policy, as reflected by the declining wood products economy and faltering health of our national forests, and overgrown wildland-urban interfaces.

We are actively building a citizen-led organization and advancing our declared positions with respect to our national forests and large scale thinning projects wherever they are needed, on both public and private lands. Our activities have so far included a first public rally, a biomass symposium, testifying before members of the U.S. House of Representatives, an upcoming public rally in Kalispell on May 18, and ongoing fundraising efforts which will include at least two fundraising events to be held in the Bitterroot valley this summer 2008.

We are in need of all types of assistance, whether it's helping raise awareness of our mission with your friends and neighbors, raising funds at a benefit or door-to-door, or posting relevant news and information to our web site. Just send an email to Tom Robak to get started.

And, while we're on the subject how you can be of help, you can also simply shop online at our Amazon Affiliate store.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Washington conducted the study that showed that large amounts of mercury are emitted from forest fires. This new knowledge could result in increased regulation and cost impacts for anybody dealing with forest products.

Mercury in the atmosphere is a concern because it is toxic and eventually is deposited on land and water bodies, where it enters the food chain. Scientists estimate that about half of the mercury in the atmosphere comes from natural causes (erosion or other soil processes, volcanic eruptions, etc.) and half from human activity. As an example, NCAR estimates that about 25 percent of the mercury emitted in the United States each year comes from coal-fired power plants.

Since a large part of the earth is forested, a significant amount of mercury from the atmosphere is deposited onto forests. In a sense, this forestry-deposited carbon is sequestered until something happens-such as a storm-to release it again. The main mechanism causing this release is forest fires.

Laboratory tests conducted by the U.S. Forest Service burned samples of leaves and forestry litter. These tests found that nearly all the mercury contained in these materials was emitted as either gaseous or elemental mercury. Actual measurements from wildfires found higher emission levels than from the laboratory tests. One theory as to why the higher emissions occur is that soils heated by the fires are also emitting mercury.

NCAR scientists have calculated that more than 800 tons of mercury may be re-entering the atmosphere as a result of forest fires. Since this level is 19 times the mercury emitted annually from US power plants, it is extremely significant in the overall world mercury budget.

Source: http://www.bioenergyupdate.com