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Hi Mary, Dec 4, 2013
Shooting from the hip doesn't solve difficult problems which in =
large measure have been generated by simplistic thinking. Or by an =
absence of thought.
If you cut selectively you give the remaining trees an opportunity =
to fix carbon more efficiently. If you leave them to die and rot then =
all of the carbon of those dead trees will eventually be released as =
gaseous CO2. The carbon will of course cycle through myxomycetes, =
beetles, fungi, bacteria ... but it all will eventually become released =
as CO2.=20
From any wood that you might have burned the eventual carbon release =
by biological action will equal that released from combustion. Of course =
if you don't burn wood completely, which is often the case if you don't =
rake coals, then the carbon released by burning will be somewhat less =
than biological release due to a residue of charcoal which is not =
readily used by organisms and is actually a good way to fix carbon =
permanently.=20
=20
Even if the firewood is clearcut, provided no more than 10% of a =
watershed is cut in any decade, you are still ahead of the game in all =
respects.=20
As for burning little or nothing, try turning off your power and =
heat sources for say the next 6 months; walk to work wearing carbon free =
clothes (e.g. animal hides) and of course eat only raw food obtained =
within walking distance of home. =20
Typically when roads, building lots, commercial outlets (for sale of =
insulation eg.) and power lines are constructed/maintained, the wood is =
just bulldozed to one side, pushed into huge piles and burned or cut and =
piled to rot and worst of all there is no opportunity for regrowth. So =
in those cases not only does all of the wood go up in smoke (by fire or =
decay) but the habitat for future carbon capture is destroyed or greatly =
diminished
Now one does not need to fly over Truro at low altitude to get some =
appreciation of the carbon fixing potential that is obliterated by power =
lines. I expect Google Earth will now be just a good. It is huge.
So don't shoot the messenger.Think about the alternatives and =
especially with some correct biology in play.=20
Yt, DW
=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Mary Macaulay=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 7:40 PM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Leave those old snags up!
Burning anything is putting carbon back in the atmosphere. Far better =
to super insulate our homes and burn little to nothing.
Mary Macaulay, P.Eng.
On Dec 4, 2013, at 5:59 PM, "David & Alison Webster" =
<dwebster@glinx.com> wrote:
Hi All, Dec 4, 2013
I sense some politically correct ideas floating to the surface =
in these recent e-mails so I wish to interject some biologically correct =
ideas.
Snags sometimes can be good centers of biodiversity; no =
question. They sometimes can be, after bark is shed, quite barren of =
activity including fungal growth, until they fall and gain earth =
contact.=20
Pileated, although they sometimes will work a dead snag or a =
fallen rotten birch they mostly feed on ants in live softwood trees =
(Hemlock, Fir, Spruce) and something (probably ants) near the tops of =
Poplar. Usually when I prune branches from Hardwood trees in the yard I =
leave stubs 2-8' long. Downy & Hairy feed on these as they age but I =
have yet to see a Pileated there. But just a few feet away I usually see =
a Pileated every year or so on the live Crack-Willow (arthropods in bark =
crevices ?) and when the Five-fingered Ivy fruits, feeding upside down =
on these vines which have climbed a Black Cherry. Pileated also like =
Dogwood fruit and I watched one strip a shrub, upside down again, while =
I ate lunch.=20
And one of the best ways to provide growth & feeding =
opportunities in live, dying and dead trees into the future is to burn =
more wood and less petrochemical fuels. Except for the carbon cost of =
cutting and hauling wood, the burning of wood is carbon neutral, in =
spite of short-sighted foolishness to the contrary. On the other hand =
all of the carbon in petrochemicals is new to the atmosphere and by the =
time they arrive in your dooryard already have a large carbon burden; =
exploration, extraction & transportation.
The wood should of course be cut selectively, with an eye to =
giving healthy long-lived trees adequate room and encouraging a wide =
diversity of tree and shrub species. But burning wood cut in any way is =
a step in the right direction.=20
Yt DW
"To save the forest you must burn trees" DW 2013
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Nancy P Dowd=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 5:41 PM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Leave those old snags up!
And when all else fails leave as much of the trunk and limbs as =
possible on the forest floor to benefit the birds, plants etc. This is =
what I had them do with my old dying maple that was in the path of the =
excavator at the camp.=20
Nancy
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 4, 2013, at 3:44 PM, Rick Ballard <ideaphore@gmail.com> =
wrote:
A better link than the gigantic google url is : =
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/deadwoodwithnotes.pdf
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 3:37 PM, Rick Ballard =
<ideaphore@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 1:16 PM, James W. Wolford =
<jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote:
"c
heck out the 16-page paper on Dead Wood that was done =
several years ago by the World Wildlife Fund"
Eurocentric, but an interesting read.
Dead Wood - Living Forests pdf
--=20
Rick Ballard=20
Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada=20
--=20
Rick Ballard=20
Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada=20
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