Industry goes after Leslie March

Clearcutting cypress cannot be justified

Timber industry spokesperson Buck Vandersteen's inaccurate data and personal attacks demand that I set the record straight ("Best practices used in managing our forests," Oct. 4). There is no justification for clearcutting cypress, our state tree, because nearly 80 percent of the trees will never regenerate once they are cut. Indeed, many cypress swamps logged up to 100 years ago have not regrown. These trusted data come from scientists and the U.S. Global Change Program. Big Timber often claims growth based on the controversial data that compared cypress "apples" in 1991 to "oranges" in 2005.

The Save Our Cypresses Coalition - of which Sierra Club is a member - supports conservation easements and other ways of compensating landowners for protecting cypress. Cypress forests are our best natural storm protection, and they are the natural legacy we will leave for future generations. Instead of mocking my passion, Vandersteen should help lead our state toward responsible stewardship of our cypress forests.

LESLIE MARCH
SIERRA CLUB
MANDEVILLE

The letter that started it all:
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/OPINION03/710040310/1014/OPINION

Cypress Trees of the Gulf - are getting some press

More specifically the destruction of the Cypress Trees of the Gulf is getting some press. The following blog post is from the Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/agitpop/cypress-trees-of-the-gulf_b_62563.html

Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's are driving destruction of the Gulf's best natural storm protection by selling cypress mulch all over the country.

Sierrans,

As leaders of the Save Our Cypress Coalition, you all know clear-cutting cypress trees solely to decorate gardens and flower beds is crazy. It becomes even worse when you realize that these trees are the Gulf Coast's best natural storm and flood defenses, and they just might be where some of the last ivory-billed woodpeckers are surviving. It all sounds like the plot of a cartoon, doesn't it?

The GRN is releasing Corporate Low Down Depot Mart Clearcuts the Gulf Coast, a short video clip that tells the ridiculous (and unfortunately true) story of the cypress forests. Cypress swamps are being clear-cut and entire trees are being used solely to produce cypress garden mulch. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's are driving destruction of the Gulf's best natural storm protection by selling cypress mulch all over the country. It's time they stopped.

You can watch the video at www.healthygulf.org.

One of the most important actors in this tragic comedy is you. Once you've seen the cartoon, please help ensure a happy ending to the story by using our action system to send an email directly to the CEO's of all three companies. Then, if you show the clip to five friends, we'll send you a little token of thanks.

For our Forests and Our Future,

Aaron Viles

p.s. If the voice doing the intro sounds familiar, you're probably thinking of Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, and Smithers, among others. Harry Shearer, voice of many characters from The Simpsons, is a supporter of the GRN and lent his talents to this project. You can help us thank Harry by taking action today!

The Gulf Restoration Network is a diverse network of local, regional, and national groups and individuals dedicated to protecting and restoring the valuable resources of the Gulf of Mexico. The GRN has members in the five Gulf states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The GRN will not sell or share your information.

**Visit our new website at www.healthygulf.org.**

Cypress mulch is bad...How bad is it?

Citizens and groups throughout the Gulf Coast region are calling on Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's to celebrate this Arbor Day by saving cypress trees and halting the sale of cypress mulch.

Read More >>

SaveOurCypress Goes National

This is great! The Club has put their national communications tools to work, helping the SaveOurCypress coalition kick off our effort to get Maul-Mart, Low's, and the Home Despot to stop spreading cypress mulch.

They sent the issue out as the number 2 link in this week's edition of "Currents" which goes out to a ton of Sierrans nation-wide, blogged on it in "Compass" the official web log of the Club, and featured our very own Jeff Dubinsky's fantastic shot of a bald eagle taking off from its nest in a cypress tree on the homepage. (Bald eagles need cypress to thrive here in coastal Louisiana, it's about the only tree strong enough to support their crazy-heavy nests).

A big thanks to the media team for helping draw attention to our little issue! Now, about that nationwide action-alert...

Aaron Viles
Secretary, Legislative Chair

http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2006/11/mulch-madness.asp

New "Save our Cypress" Website online

The Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club along with a handful of other groups have joined together to raise awareness to stop the logging of cypress forests to be used for cypress mulch. If cut, most of our coastal forests will not be able to regenerate due to the changes in the ecology. The coalition's new website was designed and maintained by Jeffrey Dubinsky, webmaster extraordinaire for the Baton Rouge Group.

Go to the site at: http://www.saveourcypress.org/