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Save Our Forests Having lived for many years in the Pacific Northwest, I can attest to the appalling degradation of national and private forests. While wood is ostensibly a renewable resource, we have gone way beyond sustainable harvesting and have ruined enormous ecosystems. Use wood as decoration. Cull dead trees for structural supports. Use masonry, straw bales, papercrete, cob, adobe, rocks, bags of volcanic rock, etc., instead of wood. Unfortunately it is difficult to get away from lumber in making a roof, so consider making a dome from materials that can be stacked. Domes are also more energy efficient and use less materials for the same space as a box. A conventional straw bale house only diminishes the amount of wood used by about 15%! Homes can be made with certified sustainably harvested trees. This means that the forests where the trees are harvested are carefully monitored to make sure that the health and character of the forest is maintained. Only certain trees are culled periodically, leaving the remaining trees to grow and contribute to a healthy ecosystem. Unfortunately, the American Forest and Paper Industries has begun to mislead the public with their own SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) label, which would better be considered the "Same-old Forest Industry" label. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) legitmately certifies forest products, so look for the FSC label. |
The
Last Ancient Forests (VHS video) starring James Redfield, 1999. A message from James Redfield: I grew up in the Alabama countryside,
a region blessed with wonderful forests as far as the eye could see.
Sadly, many of the forests I loved have been destroyed by clearcut logging
and development. Alabama is not alone in losing its precious virgin forests. 500 years
ago, America was covered with one billion acres of towering forests-forests
with giant trees one thousand years old, and a vast array of plants
and animals living in natural harmony that has existed for millions
of years. Tragically, 95% of America's original forests from Alabama
to Alaska have been cut down. |
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Building
with Vision: Optimizing and Finding Alternatives to Wood
by Dan Imhoff, 2001. The United States has both the rare fortune and
the dubious distinction of being among the only industrialized nations
to use wood as its primary material for residential buildings. While
other developed countries have evolved masonry and other building
systems not reliant on wood, on average, a full acre of trees is consumed
to build just one house in the United States. And, for every twenty
houses built, enough waste is typically left over to frame another
house. Combining environmental philosophy, practical information,
and dynamic visuals, Building with Vision makes accessible many solutions
to wasteful tree-dependent construction and design. In addition to
identifying the benefits, challenges, and applications of the recommended
alternatives to contemporary American construction, this book details
building methods to minimize wood waste, maximize efficiency, and
emphasize the unique aesthetic properties of non-wood materials. Case
studies highlight successful building projects that utilize innovative
and effective framing, siding, insulation, roofing, and finishing
materials and techniques.
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Finding the Forest: The Initiation by Peter P. Bundy, 1999, is a series of vignettes that offer a different vision of the forest. This vision challenges many of today's assumptions about trees, preservation and forestry practices. Peter Bundy is a certified forester who works with private landowners on stewardship plans, reforestation, harvesting, and habitat restoration projects.
The
Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save
the Redwoods by Julia Butterfly Hill, 2000. On December 18,
1999, Julia Butterfly Hill's feet touched the ground for the first time
in over two years, as she descended from "Luna," a thousandyear-old
redwood in Humboldt County, California. Hill had climbed 180 feet up
into the tree high on a mountain on December 10, 1997, for what she
thought would be a two- to three-week-long "tree-sit." The action was
intended to stop Pacific Lumber, a division of the Maxxam Corporation,
from the environmentally destructive process of clear-cutting the ancient
redwood and the trees around it. Hill endured El Nino storms, helicopter
harassment, a ten-day siege by company security guards, and the tremendous
sorrow brought about by an old-growth forest's destruction. This story--written
while she lived on a tiny platform eighteen stories off the ground--is
one that only she can tell. |
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The Woodlot Management Handbook: Making the Most of Your Wooded Property for Conservation, Income or Both by Stewart Hilts, Peter Mitchell, 1999. The authors offer information on developing a woodland-stewardship plan and buying woodland property. The overall thesis of the book is that good land stewardship maximizes both ecological conservation and economic returns.
From
the Redwood Forest: Ancient Trees and the Bottom Line: A Headwaters
Journey by Joan Dunning, 1998. A passionate account of the
struggle to save an area of northern California from logging. Describes
how it was logged sustainably for decades by a family-owned business,
but was subjected to liquidation logging by the Texas corporation
that took over the company in 1985. Augmenting the narrative are 57
color photographs by Doug Thron of the forest before and after logging
and of protest
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Common Sense Forestry by Hans W. Morsbach, 2002. Twenty-five years ago, when Hans Morsbach became interested in cultivating trees and managing small woodlands, he searched for a good how-to manual. He never found one, so he decided to write his own someday. Based on his subsequent experience, combining deep research into the academic literature on forestry with his successes and failures as a small-scale commercial tree farmer, the result is Common Sense Forestry, an indispensable reference for anyone who owns or wants to own wooded property. Morsbach is an unabashed nature lover as well as a businessman, and well understands the essential importance of a long-term approach to sustainable forest management. In this highly readable and entertaining text, the author offers a comprehensive look at managing existing woodlands by creating, and later maintaining, forests that promote biodiversity while providing harvestable timber.
Forests in Peril: Tracking Deciduous Trees from Ice-Age Refuges into the Greenhouse World by Hazel R. Delcourt, 2002. In Forests in Peril, Hazel Delcourt takes the reader on her personal journey to document the history of the great deciduous forest that covers much of eastern North America from its elusive and nebulous presence at the peak of the last ice age through its development as a magnificent natural resource to its uncertainty in today's, and tomorrow's, greenhouse world. Along this journey, the reader is introduced to methods of studying vegetation, collecting and interpreting data, and applying the insights of forest ecology and history to project future needs of the forest in a world that is increasingly dominated by human activities. The philosophical, intellectual, and methodological perspectives contained in Forests in Peril will appeal to readers interested in understanding how the natural history of North America has been studied and how that study can contribute to the protection and preservation of America's important biological resources.
Our Forest, Your Ecosystem, Their Timber: Communities, Conservation, and the State in Community-Based Forest Management by Nicholas K. Menzies, 2007. Community-based forest management (CBFM) is a model of forest management in which a community takes part in decision making and implementation, and monitoring of activities affecting the natural resources around them. CBFM provides a framework for a community members to secure access to the products and services that flow from the landscape in which they live and has become an essential component of any comprehensive approach to forest management. In this volume, Nicholas K. Menzies looks at communities in China, Zanzibar, Brazil, and India where, despite differences in landscape, climate, politics, and culture, common challenges and themes arise in making a transition from forest management by government agencies to CBFM. The stories of these four distinct places highlight the difficulties communities face when trying to manage their forests and negotiate partnerships with others interested in forest management, such as the commercial forest sector or conservation and environmental organizations. These issues are then considered against a growing body of research concerning what constitutes successful CBFM. |
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Plantations And Protected Areas in Sustainable Forestry
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Communities and Sustainable Forestry in Developing Countries
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The Wealth of Forests: Markets, Regulation, and Sustainable Forestry
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Deforestation, Environment, and Sustainable Development: A Comparative Analysis
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In
a Dark Wood: The Fight Over Forests & the Myths of Nature
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Eastern
Old-Growth Forests : Prospects for Rediscovery and Recovery
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Last
Stands: A Journey Through North America's Vanishing Ancient Rainforests
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Natural
Woodland : Ecology and Conservation in Northern Temperate Regions
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Why
Save the Rain Forest?
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The
Last Stand: The War Between Wall Street and Main Street over California's
Ancient Redwoods
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Tree
Huggers : Victory, Defeat & Renewal in the Northwest Ancient Forest
Campaign
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Working
With Your Woodland: A Landowner's Guide
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Wild
Logging: A Guide to Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Forestry
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Wildlife,
Forests, and Forestry: Principles of Managing Forests for Biological
Diversity
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Creating
a Forestry for the 21st Century: The Science of Ecosystem Management
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Defining
Sustainable Forestry
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Forest Conservation Policy : A Reference Handbook
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Economics
of Carbon Sequestration in Forestry
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The
Business of Sustainable Forestry: Case Studies
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For more information about this plan, and many others, visit our sister site www.dreamgreenhomes.com, where you will find a wide range of plans for sustainable homes, greenhouses, small buildings, garages, and food storage space for sale. Dream Green Homes is a consortium of outstanding architects and designers, who have pooled their talent and expertise for your benefit. |
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SaveAmericasForests.org politically active site with news archive, resources list, internships. fscus.org Forest
Stewardship Council, ngo certifies wood products. sustainablescience.org systems for utilizing small diameter poles and recycled pallets for building. woodconsumption.org A discussion of the problems associated with wood consumption, featuring interviews with several experts. resourcesaver.org This June 2005 study rates plastic lumber strictly on environmental and public health priorities. worldforest.com supplier of FSC certified hardwoods and softwoods. |
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The basic structure is earthbags, with the vertical walls composed of two columns of earthbags, tied together with wire. The inner bags would be filled with local soil from the site, providing considerable thermal mass. The outer column of bags, including those for the roof, would be filled with an insulating material, such as crushed volcanic rock or perlite. A natural tree with several uplifted branches holds a steel hoop aloft, which in turn supports both the dome skylight and the many poles that radiate out from the center as rafters. The bags would be plastered both inside and out with stabalized earthen plaster, papercrete or stucco, leaving the natural rafter poles exposed on the inside. Some of the interior walls would be natural stones for their beauty and thermal mass. The floor could be adobe, flagstone, bricks or pavers for durability and more thermal mass. This structure would require minimal foundation work, since a rubble trench foundation down to the frost level is all that is required (no cement).
