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Chief of the USDA Forest Service
Celebrates a Lasting Partnership with Israel |
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In
February 2004, USDA Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth
visited Israel to celebrate the agency's 15 years of
partnership with the Jewish National Fund and the Government
of Israel. Initially focused on wildland fire management,
the partnership now addresses forest, range, and watershed
management challenges. Over the years, many scientists,
natural resource managers and government representatives
from both countries have participated in various activities,
including technical assistance and training for Israeli
foresters. The USDA Forest Service's Inventory and Monitoring
Institute, with support from the International Programs
Staff, administers and funds the program.
Chief
Bosworth's visit coincided with Tu Bishvat, a festival
similar to Arbor Day in the United States. Tu Bishvat
celebrates the spring renewal of trees and symbolizes
the strong Israeli connection to the land. To mark the
occasion, Chief Bosworth joined Israeli President Moshe
Katzav and Jewish National Fund World Chairman Yehiel
Leket in planting an olive tree in Jerusalem.
Chief
Bosworth also visited the sites of various collaborative
projects, involving oak management, reforestation, afforestation,
and gully control. The tour concluded with a visit to
American Independence Park in Israel, where the Chief
viewed a memorial dedicated to the 14 American firefighters
who gave their lives on Storm King Mountain in 1994.
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Earthquake
at Daybreak:US Response to Humanitarian Crisis in Iran
At
daybreak on December 26, 2003, powerful tremors destroyed
more than 85 percent of the buildings in Bam, a city
in southeastern Iran. More than 30,000 people reportedly
died, and 30,000 more were severely injured. Nearly
45,000 people were left homeless, a number swelled by
80 major aftershocks.
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Soon
after the earthquake, the U.S.
Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign
Disaster Assistance sent an 81-person Disaster Assistance
Response Team to Iran. According to the team, water
and sanitation were among the most critical needs. The
team helped Iran coordinate distribution of medical
equipment and supplies such as blankets and winterized
tents.
In
the United States, a 15-person Response Management Team
worked to deliver supplies requested by the team in
Iran. Drawing on their experience with wildland fire
emergency response, the USDA Forest Service and USDI
Bureau of Land Management joined the humanitarian
effort. With funding from the Office of Foreign Disaster
Assistance, they provided trained personnel to support
the teams in the United States and Iran.
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| The
Lucky Thirteen:Managing Gabon's New National Parks |
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After
the Amazon rainforest, the Congo Basin rainforest is the
largest contiguous tract of moist tropical forest in the
world. Stretching across central Africa, it is home to
the world's largest populations of lowland gorillas, chimpanzees,
and forest elephants. Eighty percent of plants in the
Congo Basin live nowhere else. More than 60 million people
live in the Congo Basin, many of them forest dependent. |
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In
August 2002, to help protect its rich biodiversity from
commercial logging and hunting, Gabon established 13
national parks covering 11 percent of its forested land
area. The USDA Forest Service is working with Gabon
to build capacity for managing the new parks. In June
2003, with funding from the Central
African Regional Program for the Environment, technical
experts from the USDA Forest Service and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service visited Gabon's Loango
National Park to help develop a model park management
plan. The team also identified needs for building park
staff capacity.
In
March 2004, a second USDA Forest Service team traveled
to Gabon to continue developing the park management
plan. In addition, the USDA Forest Service and its partners
will conduct a workshop on landscape planning in spring
2004. Trainees will include staff from the Gabonese
National Park Service and Gabon's Ministry of Water
and Forests.
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