permaculture

[David Muhl <dmuhl65@yahoo.com>]

Most if not all of these wonderful "terra preta" fields that people envision, 
at least here in the states, will consist of biochar whose pore spaces will 
be chock full of glyphosate. Is it not "Big Ag" that will be the recipient of 
most of this material? How long will it take to return such fields to 
"organic" standards, if and when we attempt to do so? I wonder... 

Biochar aside, I agree with John that the trees need to be left in place, or 
at least a good portion of them.  The very future of these forests may depend 
on it.  We have lost and continue to lose an enormous quantity of trees, and 
how exactly are they ever to be replaced if the nurse logs are removed (wiki 
"nurse log" as needed)?  These logs create surface "dams" (if you will) that 
block leaf litter and whatever topsoil may be on those slopes from cascading 
down the hillside.  Combined with a little shade which the logs provide, 
these moist, debris-filled nooks and crannies create the ideal (and often the 
only) locations where new seedlings can emerge...let alone survive. Once 
these few survivors get a foothold, they continue to rely on the stability, 
soil nutrients, water holding capacity, and myriad other benefits these logs 
provide as they slowly break down over the next 50+ years. 

This is a key part of how these forests regenerate themselves. Take them away 
and what chance do the remaining seeds that are up on these hillsides have, 
with bare rocky slopes whose topsoil has washed down into the ravines and 
beyond...baking in the sun and desiccating winds...unable to hold on to 
whatever rainfall may come? And what of the other life forms that live in the 
forests, or depend on them? Leaving beetle kill in the forest is not simply a 
matter of leaving a valuable resource to waste, as is often how the 
discussion is framed by those who stand to profit from extracting these 
trees. 

Probably the best thing that could be done for the affected forests would be 
to get in there and fell a good portion of these trees (cross slope where 
possible) to help facilitate some of these ecological processes before more 
erosion occurs, and to hopefully lessen the severity of the next fire event 
when it comes to pass, as crown fires cause much more heat damage to forests 
than would a few smoldering logs at ground level. That would admittedly be a 
huge undertaking and a tough sell to the already cash-strapped taxpayers and 
public agencies charged with "managing" our public forests. 

So is "Cool Planet" Energy Systems or some other (as yet unknown) player(s) 
going to wave their magic wand and make everything "right" in the forest 
again?...in this virtually unregulated and "externalizing" economic system we 
now have? Cool Planet may have a "cool" name, but take a look at some of the 
players and investors listed on their website and I doubt you'll believe that 
anyone in their boardroom will push to address these same concerns. Perhaps 
one of their "top-tier" investors like British "screw the Gulf, HIDE THE 
OIL!" Petroleum (BP) will push to leave a few trees standing for woodpecker 
habitat (to steal a page from the Chevron playbook ...e.g. eagles nests on 
the power poles). If they do come for the trees, could we simply get them to 
leave a few behind in exchange for the rest, without damaging the remaining 
forest? Maybe???  

David Muhl
Cascadia Bioregion


--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 11/7/13, John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [permaculture] Beetle Kill and Biochar-- Fwd: USDA Invests in 
Research to Convert Beetle-Killed Trees into Renewable Energy
 To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
 Date: Thursday, November 7, 2013, 10:11 AM
 
 Lawrence you know what I think about
 "biochar". The name is a very good name 
 to sell a product that is quite bad for the planet.
 Want to keep the planet cool? Then go for living trees and
 shrubs and all 
 sorts of plants. You want to do something good for the soil
 then let 
 residues rot in situ. That is food for living organisms.
 Bio-char is a dead 
 substance whatever the name.
 John
 
 ----- Original Message ----- 
 From: "Lawrence London" <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
 To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
 Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 4:07 AM
 Subject: Re: [permaculture] Beetle Kill and Biochar-- Fwd:
 USDA Invests in 
 Research to Convert Beetle-Killed Trees into Renewable
 Energy
 
 
 > On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 8:18 PM, Amy Little <amylittle@hvc.rr.com>
 wrote:
 >
 >> Though not stated clearly... Cool Planet Energy
 Systems is  BIOCHAR
 >> oriented
 >> company.....
 >>
 >> From: "USDA Office of Communications" <usda@public.govdelivery.com>
 >> To: jeffs@ncat.org
 >> Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2013 1:04:01 PM
 >> Subject: USDA Invests in Research to Convert
 Beetle-Killed Trees into
 >> Renewable Energy
 >>
 >>
 >
 > That could be a lot of trees across the country
 utilizing losses from ash
 > dieback, pine beetle and other sources. I remember the
 years when pine
 > beetle devastated
 > quite a large number of southern yellow pines and
 possibly other 
 > varieties.
 > If the harvesting is done on tree farms, state and
 national parks lands,
 > federal land,
 > private sector tracts growing timber for paper or
 lumber products then you
 > might have a lot of material to convert to biochar. The
 main issue is
 > getting the trees harvested and
 > transported to biochar production sites; who is going
 to pay for and do
 > this?
 >
 > Lawrence London
 > lfljvenaura@gmail.com
 > http://www.avantgeared.com
 > avantgeard@gmail.com
 > https://plus.google.com/+Avantgeared
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