Save the temperate forests

Because of logging gridlock in the Northwest, some timber companies have turned their saws toward the Northern Rockies. Forest activists will plan their response Nov. 9-13 at the Second International Temperate Forest Conference in Missoula, Mont. The Native Forest Network, a coalition of environmentalists, wants the gathering to attract indigenous peoples, conservation biologists, and non-governmental groups to work out strategies for ending the destruction of forests in both the West and further afield. The main focus of the gathering is to prevent the Northern Rockies from becoming “the next major stomping grounds’ for timber companies, says Tom Fullum, a conference organizer. The first international conference was held in Tanzania in 1992, and last year activists met in Burlington, Vt. Organizers are calling for papers ranging from the scientific to “philosophical rants and other scribblings.” Conference proceedings will be published. Contact Jake Kreilick, Ecology Center, 101 E. Broadway, Room 602, Missoula, MT 59802 (406/728-0867). To submit papers, contact Tom Fullum, P.O. Box 1788, Silver City, NM 88062 (505/538-0427).