Clearcutting the Climate - www.forestclimate.org

Burning fossil fuels - petroleum, coal and natural gas - is not the only cause of global warming. Clearcutting forests also disrupts the climate. Join expert scientists and environmental leaders for a groundbreaking one day conference to bring together citizens concerned about climate change and about forest protection.

Presentations from this conference will be posted at www.forestclimate.org for local, bioregional and global distribution. Background information on these connections will continue to be added to increase public awareness of the need to protect native forests and stop clearcutting to protect the climate.

Keynote Speakers
morning session 10 am - 11:40 am

Mark Harmon
Professor and Richardson Chair of Forest Science
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere
As part of several greenhouse gases, carbon plays a critical role in regulating the surface temperature on earth. With the release of carbon dioxide through human activities, increasing concentrations are sufficient to warm the earth's surface temperature above that expected in natural cycles. Current concentrations and recent rates of increase exceed that observed in the last 420,000 years. Changes in energy source and uses as well as management of natural systems will be required to stablize and reduce carbon dioxide concentrations in the next 100 years.

Olga Krankina
Assistant Professor, Sr. Research, Forest Management, Forest Ecology
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

Forest management and mitigation of climate change:
in search of synergies
Can forests play a role in reducing the carbon footprint of Oregon's economy? Which forest and land management decisions promote carbon sequestration on land? We will examine different strategies for increasing carbon stores on land in comparison with other approaches to address climate change.

Lunch break 11:40 am - 12:30 pm

Holy Cow Cafe at the EMU student center (across the street) will be open during our lunch break as a special favor for conference participants. If you would like to purchase lunch there, we request pre-registration to give Holy Cow a sense of the number of people they will be serving.
Holy Cow serves affordable, vegetarian, locally growth food with minimize garbage production. The University wants to replace them with another franchise restaurant. Please urge EMU Food Services Director John Costello to keep Holy Cow - email: jcost@uoregon.edu

Panel: Forests and Climate
afternoon session 12:30 - 2:05 pm

Doug Heiken
Conservation and Restoration Coordinator
Oregon Wild, formerly Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC)
Eugene, Oregon

Myths and Facts about Forests and Global Warming
My talk will focus on the myths that surround the role of forests in the global carbon cycle and climate regulation. I will attempt to debunk some of the misinformation that is promoted by the timber industry and their allies.

Pat Rasmussen
World Temperate Rainforest Network
Peshastin, Washington

Temperate rainforests of Alaska, BC, Washington, Oregon, northern California, Chile, New Zealand and Australia hold more carbon per hectare than any other forest type - tropical, boreal or temperate - and should be protected for the carbon they hold. From Tasmania to BC, activists are working together to get forests included in climate strategies. Forest die-off in Washington, BC, Alaska and the boreal forests has reached many millions of acres and demands emergency action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Pat has worked in the international forest defense community since the early 1990’s. In 1997 Pat brought her organizing skills to Chile, creating the Forest Americas Network to stop transnational timber corporations from destroying southern forests. In 2003, Pat organized the World Temperate Rainforest Conference in British Columbia bringing together activists, scientists, and First Nations from Chile, BC, Alaska, Argentina, Australia, and the Pacific Northwest. Pat serves on the Boards of the Gondwana Forest Sanctuary Campaign, the Taiga Rescue Network, and the North American Boreal Forest Network.

Dr. Alder Fuller
Euglena Academy, Eugene, Oregon

Global heating and climate change have accelerated far faster than scientists predicted only a few years ago. It is very likely that we are already past the tipping point for large-scale, long-term climate change, and that has huge implications for forests. This presentation will address several major principles from systems sciences that are crucial for understanding that assertion, including positive feedback, critical thresholds (“tipping points”), and phase transitions.

Lance Olsen
former president, Great Bear Foundation
Missoula, Montana (via video link)

Topics discussed include climate-driven habitat fragmentation, climate-driven deforestation, a "wysiwyg NOT" principle for nature tour leaders, a look at how land-use forcing and greenhouse
forcing will combine to deepen risk of drought, and transpiration loss from deforestation.

[affiliations for identification purposes only]

Break 2:05 - 2:30 pm

Afternoon Discussions
2:30-4:10 pm

how the climate and forest protection movements can work together
in Lawrence 177
real and false solutions for the climate / forest crises
remain in Columbia 150

Conclusion: Workshop summaries and Next Steps
4:15 - 5 pm

Tim Hermach
Native Forest Council, Eugene, Oregon

Post event informal reception in Lawrence Hall
5 pm - 7 pm

Conference moderator:

Brian Shaw, Town Hall Media

Conference registration and logistics

Maps of the University of Oregon campus are available at www.uoregon.edu/maps.shtml

Directions to the University of Oregon.

Please consider using public transit, bicycling, or carpooling, if feasible.

Transit:
Columbia 150 is a short walk from the Lane Transit District "Dad's Gate" and "Agate Street" Bus Rapid Transit stops (free service between downtown Eugene and Springfield). Numerous other bus lines (not free) serve the University campus - see the Lane Transit District website for details.

Bicycles:
Columbia Hall has covered bicycle parking (on the west side of the building). Bicycling is the most efficient mode of transportation ever invented, and part of the solution to climate change and peak oil.

Trains:
If you are traveling to Eugene from a community served by Amtrak, consider if train service is feasible for your trip. The Coast Starlight and Cascades routes make stops in Eugene. Unfortunately, this would require arriving on Friday afternoon (Coast Starlight) or evening (Cascades) and departing Saturday evening (Coast Starlight southbound) or Sunday (Coast Starlight northbound or Cascades). There are official (Federal) proposals for a substantial upgrade to train service in the Pacific Northwest, with high speed service between Eugene and Vancouver, B.C., but these plans are languishing in bureaucratic obscurity, unfunded, unpromoted, and unlikely to become a governmental priority in the near future.
[note: the Coast Starlight south of Eugene is temporarily out of service due to a landslide onto the tracks. Clearcuts are the leading cause of landslides in the Northwest.]

Buses:
Eugene's Greyhound station is in downtown Eugene, about a mile from the University, and has more frequent service than Amtrak. It is not as pleasant as Amtrak, but there are more arrival and departure times to choose from.

Carpooling:
The organizing committee regrets that we do not have the logistical ability to arrange a ride board for carpools from other communities - if you are driving a long (or short!) distance, please invite a friend to attend the conference with you! There are a variety of internet lists for "riders wanted," Craig's List might be helpful. We cannot be responsible for anyone's carpooling experience, urge caution and compassion, respect for energy efficiency and honesty in your total energy footprint.

Parking information:
All parking options will require parking your vehicle at least two or three blocks away -- there is no direct car access to Columbia 150. East 13th and University Street are dead end streets, they do not continue all the way to their intersection directly in front of Columbia Hall. If you are not familiar with the University of Oregon campus, please print out a copy of the U of O parking information map (1.6 megabyte file or read these directions to the University of Oregon. Columbia 150 is at the center of the campus and easy to find.
Free on-street car parking is available to the public on Saturdays on the periphery of the University at the following parking lots:

Lot 16 at 14th and Kincaid (best parking lot for south Eugene drivers if you are not taking public transportation)

Lot 6A between 11th and Franklin

Lot 15 at Agate and Franklin - enter on East 13th Street (this is the best parking lot to park in if coming from I-5 from south of Eugene - take I-5 Franklin Blvd. exit 192)

Parking meters on University, 13th, 15th, Kincaid and Agate Streets (the closest streets to Columbia 150 with on-street parking) are 75 cents per hour on Saturdays.

There is a limited amount of handicapped accessible parking around the "EMU Student Union" (immediately next to Columbia 150).

We will have complimentary warm drinks for attendees during the event - please bring your own cup!

If you are hearing-impaired and plan on attending Clearcutting the Climate, please email Josh @ forestcouncil.org by January 15 so we can arrange for a sign-language presenter.

Registration information:

Clearcutting the Climate is a free event open to everyone, but we request pre-registration to be able to plan adequately for the size of the audience.

Holy Cow cafe, a vegetarian restaurant specializing in organic and local food, will be open during the conference lunch break in the University of Oregon "EMU" student center as a special favor for conference attendees. Please pre-register and indicate if you plan to buy lunch so they can make preparations to serve us.

Please send an email to

conference [at] forestclimate [dot] org

and include your name, contact information, and whether you are planning to purchase lunch at Holy Cow. Thanks!

YES! I would like to make a donation:

donations above $35 will receive a complimentary DVD of the conference presentations

please make checks payable to:

Native Forest Council
Box 2190, Eugene, OR 97402

please note on your check that your donation is for the conference and if you want a DVD sent to you.

Contact us:

Call 541 688-2600 or email info@forestcouncil.org

Volunteers will be needed to help with publicity and logistics during the conference.

Organizers:

Cascadia's Ecosystem Advocates

Native Forest Council

GreenwashEugene.com

Many Rivers Group Sierra Club

UO Survival Center

Co-sponsored by:

Allegheny Defense Project

Cascadia Rising Tide

Cascadia Wildlands Project

Climate Crisis Working Group

Ecological Design Center

Eugene Weekly

Forest Land Dwellers

Helios Resource Network

LandWatch Lane County

Land Air Water

Lane County Energy Round Up

Lost Valley Educational Center

OLYecology

Oregon Wild

OSPIRG Students

Pitchfork Rebellion

Vision for Intact Ecosystems and Watersheds (VIEW)

A model of relocalization:
a bioregional conference with global implications

This conference is not flying in anyone from anywhere. We seek to conserve energy, prevent pollution, and be a model of relocalizing actions. The Willamette Valley - and the Pacific Northwest - have tremendous local talents that do not require importing speakers from distant places.

Why this conference is not "carbon neutral"

We hope that the positive impact of the conference offsets the consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels, but Clearcutting the Climate is not pretending that our energy impact can be "carbon neutral." The electricity used as part of the preparation for this conference was a mix of coal, hydro-electric, natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar (in order of greatest to least). Some petroleum was used by some of the organizers, some of the speakers and some of the audience. This website is hosted by a computer company that is largely powered by burning coal and nuclear energy. The main computer used to write this website has some of its electricity directly supplied by photovoltaic solar panels, but in the wintertime most of its electricity is just from the electric power grid with its mix of electrical generation sources.

Carbon neutrality and carbon offsets are propaganda exercises that provide the illusion that promoting efficiency and renewable energy can somehow undo the impact of burning stored solar energy from the Carboniferous era. No project - not even the best - can remove carbon from burned fossil fuels and sequester it back into the crust of the Earth. Coping with the ecological crisis would require honesty about our impact - and carbon credits or offsets are distractions that provide the illusion that we can burn finite, toxic energy sources without long term consequences.

For more about "carbon neutrality"

www.cheatneutral.com (parody website)

www.oilempire.us/carbon-neutral.html (serious analysis)

www.carbontradewatch.org

disclaimer:

The speakers, organizers and co-sponsors do not necessarily agree with everything on this website. The science of forestry's contributions to climate change is complex and evolving. We support the precautionary principle to prevent irreversible damage to ecosystems and the atmosphere. We also support reduction of waste and overconsumption of forest resources.

visitors since November 7, 2007