[MPWG] NNFP Non-timber forest products News For Distribution (6.30.04)-news from around the nation

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

This newsletter is compiled for The National Network of Forest Practioners
, www.nnfp.org by Non-timber forest products working group member, Penny
Frazier, www.pinenut.com.  The information is to be freely distributed.


----- Forwarded by Patricia De Angelis/ARL/R9/FWS/DOI on 06/29/2004 10:19
AM -----

NTFP News Digest

6.30.04

Conference to look at 'Art of Tibetan Medicine'
Many of the wild plants that grow in Tibet also grow in western Montana,
Nyima and Rinpoche said, because the climate and land are so similar.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/06/18/news/local/news02.txt

Native Plants For Farms
 In many cases, long before the forests are cleared, local people have
extracted the useful plant species to the point there are none left."
Determining whether the plants can be grown far from their native
territories is important both in making widespread cultivation by farmers
in Missouri and other states possible, and to protect native plants, he
said.More recently, he has been growing black cohosh, a flowering plant
used by American Indians found to have properties that ease the discomfort
of menopause, to determine whether it can be grown commercially by Missouri
farmers. Cultivating black cohosh began with two plants and ended up with
hundreds being grown over three years. The experiment concludes this fall
when the plants are dug up and the roots processed. Determining whether the
plants can be grown far from their native territories is important both in
making widespread cultivation by farmers in Missouri and other states
possible, and to protect native plants, he said.
http://www.news-leader.com/today/0620-Couldplant-115797.html



Restoration with native food plants
Planting Fields of Wild Rice Help to Bring Back Life to the Anacostia River
6/10/2004 10:34:00 AM
This project will help teach kids, young and old about the importance of
restoring America's wetlands and watersheds," said Ben Grumbles, EPA's
Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. "By reintroducing native plants,
such as wild rice, students provide a healthier habitat and cleaner water
for the Anacostia River."
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=109-06102004

UW study blames deer for decline in native plants
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found significant
losses of native plant species in northern Wisconsin forests over the past
50 years - a trend that could have a profound effect on the future
landscape of the state.After surveying 62 carefully selected sites, the
researchers found less variety in the plant life as well, meaning a
potential loss of habitat for insects, birds and animals.What the
researchers found was that plant diversity was lowest where deer numbers
were highestand there was little or no hunting pressure.
By contrast, on Indian tribal lands where deer numbers are lower and the
deer season is longer, there was greater plant diversity.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jun04/235531.asp
 Registration Required

New degrees focus on native plants
Students can learn all about prairie plants such as spiderwort, butterfly
milkweed and moonshine yarrow, to name a few varieties found at the
arboretum.
"Twenty years ago it was very difficult to get information about native
plants," said Lorna Harder, an environmental biology instructor. "If you
talk to my grandparents, they wanted to get rid of those quote-unquote
weeds and let their cows eat them. Prairies have come a long way. Now we're
realizing they're part of our natural landscape and heritage."
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/local/8940937.htm

Wonders of weed eating
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Kallas hopes workshop participants will contemplate where their food comes
from and become better stewards of the environment. There are, he says, a
growing number of places wild foods can't be gathered because of pollution.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1087301023179230.xml



 Culture Issue with NTFP enforcement
(A.P. wire 6/7)
In the sting, agents for the state game department and the National Park
Service posed as sellers of illegal wild ginseng and bear parts. Agents who
did not speak Korean warned the buyers that the activity was illegal, using
a mix of short, English sentences and pantomime, for example, of being led
away in handcuffs.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=11&u=/ap/20040607/ap_on_re_us/bear_parts_1


Native Plant Thefts
At the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco, where native species are sold, a
"little old lady" was observed digging plants out of beds and putting them
in her purse."A lot of the things that happen are a result of tradition.
That is, people have always done those things," said wildlife biologist
David Blankinship."As we acquire new tracts of land, places they used to go
are now refuge tracts. They don't make a distinction between private
property and refuge land," he said. Often the greatest problem is habitat
destruction.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/community_comments.php?id=59723_0_3_0_C


Three in park accused of mushroom rustling

Glacier National Park rangers cited three Troy men for picking morel
mushrooms and carrying weapons in the park earlier this week.
Charles Ekstedt, 34; Mark Kelso, 43; and Kevin Kelso, 18, were caught
Monday in the Fish Creek area near Apgar Village with roughly 210 pounds of
morels that were confiscated. Ekstedt and Mark Kelso were cited for
carrying loaded weapons
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory_AD.tpl?command=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=1-817093-2


Forest Service prepares for influx of mushroom pickers

By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian
Based on past experiences with other large fires throughout the western
United States, as well as our experience following the fires of 2000, when
the Lolo National Forest issued 1,040 commercial permits and 891 personal
use permits, we expect an influx of several hundred to several thousand
people seeking mushrooms," wrote Lolo Forest Supervisor Deborah Austin. A
personal-use permit will allow someone to pick up to five gallons of
mushrooms per day. The mushrooms must be cut in half so they can't be sold
commercially.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/05/02/news/local/news05.txt



Mushroom Harvest Permits
Ranger station will be open Saturday for morel permits Facing an upswing in
demand, the Hungry Horse Ranger Station is expanding its hours for issuing
mushroom permits.As of Wednesday, 788 personal-use permits and 48
commercial permits had been issued on the Flathead Forest.A commercial
14-day permit is $40, a 30-day permit is $75 and an all-season permit is
$100. personal use permits are free.

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory_AD.tpl?command=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=5-816845-70


Posted on Tue, May. 04, 2004

Boom in herbal products depleting resources:
[A]ll that essential oil and tree bark has to come from someplace, and
those places are disappearing as the demand grows. So in an herbal love
triangle, industry, government and academia have come together to teach
those at the bottom of the herbal chain -- the pickers and growers -- how
to keep their products alive.
Aveda, an Estee Lauder business unit whose hair and cosmetic products are
created from flower and plant ingredients, has hired American Indian
communities to plant sage and cedar where none existed. A Rutgers
University professor is teaching Madagascar farmers about overharvesting.
And the U.S. Forestry Service has implanted thousands of tracking chips
into ginseng plants to prevent poaching."These plants have been used for
thousands of years. What's made it different is globalization," said James
Simon, the Rutgers plant science professor. "There's a $17 billion trade in
natural products; it's a consumer-driven phenomenon."The overharvesting
problem started in the late 1980s when organic and herbal products began to
boom, said Wayne Owen, national botany program leader for the U.S. Forest
Service. St. John's wort was in demand for depression, then ginseng for
energy and echinacea for colds.esources
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/8580786.htm



Buckwheat seed collection and Restoration
This fall the BLM will collect seed from the butterfly's host plant,
Kearney Buckwheat, and send it off to the United Kingdom. Researchers at
Britain's Royal Botanical Gardens will clean the seed and perform all the
tests on it the bureau requires, then send half back to the U.S.
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040527/News/105270007



Reasearch Completed

A year of fieldwork in Michigan's Upper Peninsula revealed that non-timber
forest products (NTFP) such as boughs, mushrooms, bark, and berries
continue to be an important part of many people's livelihoods in this
heavily forested northern region. Interviews with gatherers identified 138
products from more than 80 botanical species. These products have
medicinal, food, floral, and ceremonial uses. They provide for gatherer
households' needs through both nonmarket and market means. Most gatherers
have multigenerational ties to the region's forests and acquired the
ecological knowledge and skills needed for successful gathering from older
family members. The role of NTFP as a livelihood strategy varies over time,

becoming most important when formal employment and income are not adequate
to meet household needs.  For details on this work visit:

http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/burlington/research/ne4454/nontimb/



NTFP Land Owner Conference

http://www.ruralaction.org/conference.html


.Pesticides and NTFP
Juneau EmpireApril 14, 2004

Aerial pesticide spraying permit may harm forests
Now imagine that a timber company has sprayed toxic pesticides over this
land from a helicopter. You may not know it, but the berries that you pick
and may later bake into a pie for friends and family contain chemicals that
are linked to everything from low sperm counts to cancer.
This is exactly what could happen to people in Hydaburg this summer if
Klukwan, Inc., a Native corporation, gets the go-ahead from the state to
spray Arsenal and Accord over its regrowing forest land in Southeast
Alaska. Klukwan's permit application is the result of a new state
regulation that, for the first time in Alaska's history, specifically
endorses aerial pesticide spraying for forestry purposes. This first permit
will be a test case for the rest of the state, as logging companies and
agricultural enterprises stand by to hear the answer to this question: Will
Alaskans put up with chemical contamination of our forests and waters?
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/041404/opi_pesticide.shtml



Alternative Medicines
Herbal World:
April 16, 2004 12:04 IST
The global market for alternate medicine is presently pegged at around $15
billion and is poised to grow upto a whopping $5 trillion by the year 2050,
feel experts.Dr P Das, former chairman, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Review Committee, believes, "To get approval in international  markets the
herbal companies need to follow good manufacturing practices (GMPs) right
from the time of harvest to delivery of the herbal products."He further
opines, "We have rich biodiversity, however, we have not tapped our
resources properly. Rather than cultivating medicinal plants, we collect
them from the wild which has resulted in depletion of these natural
resources."
 Since almost 85 per cent of the plant extracts are collected from the
forests, where chances of cross-pollination are high, same extract might
not be present in all the plants.

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/apr/16herbal.htm


Reforestation brings life to Burn Canyon wildfire site
Montrose Press, 4.25.04
  Notes harvest of seeds for replanting on USFS projects, together with
issues related to forest workers and labor expecation.
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2004/04/25/local_news/1.txt
Mushroom pickers urged to be cautious in fire aftermath (Canada)
Wild mushrooms, particularly the higher-valued morel variety, are expected
to emerge from the ground and attract pickers looking to make money.
Mushroom-picking is an unregulated activity and permitted on provincial
forest land, but it is illegal in provincial parks. Permission is required
for picking on private property.

http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=15&cat=23&id=224336&more
=


TRAINING and NTFP
Goods from the Woods launches summer program
'Good Wood' Appreciation Series: A Season of Learning

GRAND RAPIDS MN ? Goods from the Woods launches its second season in June
with a series of 25 broad-based learning opportunities including workshops,
hands-on classes and forest tours and lectures.

"The summer series is designed for forest professionals, entrepreneurs and
people interested in learning about Minnesota's forests, non-traditional
wood products and managing our forests," said Julie Miedtke, Extension
Educator. "The series starts June 8 with traditional Scandinavian Wooden
spoon carving and concludes August 21 with a workshop on Doing Business
Better Using the Internet."
Called the 2004 'Good Woods' Appreciation Series, the programs are
organized according to five tracts:

Your Back 40 ? a program series for private forest landowners includes
Forest Cooperatives; Forest Certification; Growing and Tending Your Forest;
Family Forests and Finances; and The World of Special Forest Products.
Harvest, Gather, Forage ? a program series for people who work with forests
includes Barking Up the Tree: Harvesting Birch Bark the Right Way; Going
Nuts? Collecting Native Seeds and Cones for Profit; Wild Berry Jam, Jelly &
Syrups: Safe Steps to Sweet Success; and Managing Native Shrubs for Fruit
Production.
Grow Your Business ? a program series for people who produce goods from the
woods includes Getting Your Ducks in a Row: Preparing for the Marketplace:
First Impressions! How to Deliver Your Message through Product Displays;
Creating a Product Image; Staying Legal: Minnesota Sales Tax Made Easy; and
Doing Better Using the Internet.
Forest Family Fun ? a program series of forest and wildlife learning at the
Forest History Center for the entire family. The series includes: Our
Feathered Friends: Birds of the Northern Forest; A Tree is a Tree?Right??
Tree Identification for Beginners; BEAR! Discover the Secrets of Minnesota
Black Bears; The White Pine: Minnesota's Legacy Tree; and Oh DEER! You Are
What You Eat!
Making Art from the Forest ? a hands-on series at the MacRostie Art Center
for beginners working with artists and their materials. The series includes
Wooden Spoon Carving; Intro to Birch Bark Weaving; Hooked on Steaming; The
Art of Splintering and Frame it the Willow Way.

Registration is required and register early, Miedtke said, because class
sizes are limited. Register at 888.649.8705 or at woods at uslink.net.

For details see our website at www.specialforestproducts.com

For Global Information on Non-timber forests products be sure to review:
NWFP-
www.fao.org/forestry/foris/webview/fop/index.jsp?siteId=2301&langId=1

NEXT ISSUE:

WEEK IN WASHINGTON REPORT - NTFP Working Group
NTFP HARVESTERS WANTED- Ouray Colorado October 12 -16 Annual Meeting,
***********************************************************************************************************************


Please email your NTFP related news items to: penny at pinenut.com
 for inclusion in the news digest. If email is not available please call
Penny Frazier 1.800.267.6680. This newsletter is compiled for The National
Network of Forest Practioners , www.nnfp.org
by Non-timber forest products working group member, Penny Frazier,
www.pinenut.com
  The information is to be freely distributed.