SISKIYOU NATONAL FOREST, OREGON -- Port Orford Cedar is a rare cedar found only in the Klamath-Siskiyou region. It is being decimated by a fungus-like root rot is spread by vehicle traffic such as logging trucks, foot traffic and aquatic pathways.
Right now, in addition to logging, the POC is being attacked by
a fungus-like root rot (Phytophthora lateralis). This root rot is
depleting the POC population, causing irreparable harm to the
Siskiyou Wild Rivers ecosystem. Phytophthora is spread by human
activities like logging and road building equipment, vehicles and
human foot traffic, to places where the pathogen may have not been
introduced.
Port Orford Cedar is a conifer tree that can grow up to 200 feet
tall and live for 200 to 400 years. This old-growth tree is one of
the few tree species that flourishes in the heavy metal soils found
in areas of the Siskiyou/Kalmiopsis forest region. POC grows very
close to rivers and streams, providing an anchor with its root
system for soil along the river. Since no other tree in the
Siskiyou forest ecosystem fulfills this critical role, its
disappearance and scarcity will have devastating effects on fish
and other river-dependent animals and plants.
Port Orford Cedar's beauty and strength, make it valuable on the
commercial market. It is grown in nurseries and planted as an
ornamental tree, and is also used for paneling, decking, fence
posts, rails, stringed instruments and arrow shafts. Its boughs are
used to make reefs and floral arrangements. Native Americans living
in the tree's limited range consider Port Orford Cedar to be sacred
and value the tree for its cultural and medicinal properties.
Port Orford Cedar is also highly prized in Japan where it is
used for home and temple construction. In the last 10 years, the
amount of POC exported to Japan and other Asian countries has
greatly decreased, but its value remains high with a single log
selling for as much as $50,000. As the larger old-growth trees
become scarcer, the value will continue to grow.
Port Orford Cedar is found on a checkerboard of public lands
managed by the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), as well as private lands, making protection
efforts complicated.
The disease that is attacking Port Orford Cedar spreads via
living spores in water and soil. These spores are then widely
dispersed by the mud on logging equipment like trucks, pulleys and
loggers' shoes, and by water running downroads, rivers and streams.
Because the spores cross lands managed by agencies under different
jurisdictions, protecting the trees requires an integrated
multi-pronged process that involves local, regional, national and
international governmental efforts, as well as private.
To effectively mitigate the spread of the disease, POC
protection entails halting new road
construction, closing low-grade roads and ending logging and
mining in areas that will affect Port Orford Cedar stands,
including significant watersheds. Currently, none of these measures
are being implemented by any government agency. Instead, the Bush
administration is dismantling forest protection laws like the
Northwest Forest Plan and is on a steadfast mission to increase
logging in public lands.
Local efforts to protect these trees must be supported by
national efforts to end commercial logging in areas containing Port
Orford Cedar and in watersheds where the root rot can travel to the
Port Orford Cedar stands. Other disease mitigation efforts are also
needed, such as closing certain hiking access and washing any kind
of equipment and boots before traveling to areas containing disease
free trees and watersheds where water can spread the root disease.
On an international level, Port Orford Cedar exports should be
banned in order to decrease the threat to the species posed by the
export trade.
Greenpeace is working to have Port Orford Cedar listed to
Appendix I of the Convention on the International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES). An Appendix I listing would essentially
ban the export trade in Port Orford Cedar wood products and
eliminate the financial incentives to log it. A study by the World
Conservation Monitoring Center clearly shows that POC qualifies for
this highest form of trade control to help ensure its permanent
protection. To expedite a CITES listing, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service could unilaterally list POC to Appendix III of CITES and
stipulate a ban on the export trade.
Greenpeace also supports efforts to
list Port Orford Cedar to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A
listing to the ESA is the only way to ensure effective protection
of this species on both public and private lands.