Forest pathologists and entomologists from several leading universities and the agricultural agencies of Western states speaking at the "Importing Wood Products: Pest Risks to Domestic Industries" conference sponsored by Oregon State University's College of Forestry in early March pointed out that raw wood from forests outside North America contain fungi, insects, nematodes and other organisms that could kill entire species of native trees because, as new organisms, immunity and resistance against imported organisms hasn't yet evolved.
The import of raw wood from outside North America is taking place almost completely unnoticed by by environmentalists who have spent decades defending watersheds and species from chainsaw and bulldozer destruction yet are missing a potentially greater threat now looming quietly in Eureka, Stockton, on the central corridor of Interstate 5 and other ports and transportation corridors of Western states.
Our organization, Californians for Alternatives for Toxics (CATs), first became concerned about imported raw wood when pesticide laden logs began entering Humboldt County in 1991. Now we have learned enough about the of history of forest pest introductions in the U.S. to be deeply concerned about the potential for forest destruction and massive town and forest insecticide spraying when a destructive pest spreads from imported raw wood.
Imports of New Zealand logs began to enter the Humboldt harbor destined for the Schmidbauer mill in Eureka about eighteen months ago. At the port, inspectors examine the exteriors of a few logs as they attempt to learn if pinewood nematodes are living in a bit of dirt or buried in a scrap of bark, a fungus-vectoring wood wasp is hiding undetected deep in log centers, or any one of numerous fungi and insects known to be forest pests in New Zealand has immigrated with the logs. Known dangerous pests haven't been discovered on the imports to the Eureka port yet, although inspectors have discovered living organisms on the wood.
The logs are peeled and green from toxic insecticide and fungicide applied in New Zealand. Logs are also fumigated with deadly ozone-depleting methyl bromide at the exporting port. The toxic chemicals are used to kill hitchhiking organisms on and in the logs, but, according to the forest health experts gathered at the Portland conference, there is currently no pest-killing chemical or technique that can guarantee the elimination of all potentially dangerous pests except kiln drying.
Conference attenders learned that raw wood is currently entering the U.S. from central Mexico, Chile, and New Zealand, and that there is tremendous pressure by the wood products industry to bring in wood from forests all over the world, including the native forests of far eastern Russia and Siberia.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently promulgated regulations with the purported intent of protecting U.S. forests from destruction by non-indigenous pests. Yet all the conference experts, except those from the wood products industry and APHIS, insisted that pest mitigations required under the new rule will not prevent living destructive pests from entering with raw wood and escaping to U.S. forests.
According to Jeffrey Morrell, a professor of forest pathology and conference organizer, "...there are considerable gaps in our knowledge concerning the various mitigation measures which must be filled before many of those concerned about log imports will be satisfied with the proposed import regulations."
Several other speakers echoed the same theme during the three day conference, including entomologist Dan Hilburn with the Oregon Department of Agriculture who, as a young entomologist, fears what he will witness of forest destruction during the course of his career as a result of log imports. Responding to a question about what could make wood imports from outside North America safe for import, Hilburn expressed the opinion of most U.S. forest pest experts when he stated that the only safe way to import wood from outside North America is to kiln dry it in the country where it originates.
Forest scientists and others who, like CATs, have studied the issue have ample reason for alarm based on the history of forest pest invasions in the U.S. this century.
Western U.S. forests have experienced infestations by several significant forest pests including Port Orford root rot and European gypsy moth, but western forests have not been devastated on the same scale of those in the eastern U.S.
The American chestnut was once the most valuable tree of the eastern United States, providing timber, food and tannin for Native Americans and early settlers. It was an exquisitely beautiful tree that made up 25% of the forest composition of the region. But the chestnut was most important because of its position as provider of immense quantities of high value food for wildlife. The loss of the chestnut reverberated throughout the foodweb, reaching as far as the bald eagle. Chestnuts were replaced by lower quality oaks which now are plagued with oak wilt, a disease that has gained importance in Eastern forests as one of the many results of the loss of the chestnut early this century.
Other forest pests such as Dutch elm disease and European gypsy moth have taken their toll with massive pesticide use an added factor when managers and regulators face mounting tree destruction they must control. The sad fact is that, in spite of billions of pounds of deadly pesticide used during the past century to destroy marauding forest pests, the attempts have almost always failed. Pest populations can sometimes be eradicated if caught in time, but, at best, pest spread can only be slowed.
In addition to harming human and wildlife health directly, pesticide use in the forest exacerbates ecosystem disruptions caused by tree loss when non-target species are killed or damaged. When the Asian strain of gypsy moth was imported to the Pacific Northwest on grain ships in 1991, an eradication program totaling $27 billion dollars was undertaken in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.), a bacterial pesticide, was used on almost 200,000 acres. Little is known about direct health effects of B.t., but it kills indigenous moths and butterflies as well as the invasive pests.
Forest pathologist William Denison, speaking at the Portland conference, presented scenarios for "disaster planning" based on past experiences with forest pests and new pest introductions which are likely to occur with raw wood imports. One worst case scenario involves an as yet imaginary fungus which enters North America on sawlogs, attacks Douglas fir, spreads across its natural range and kills most Douglas firs during the ensuing fifty years.
The imaginary fungus is a previously unknown species of the pathogen Ophiostoma, for which new species are consistently being described in scientific literature, thus, while this is an imagined scenario; it is also a distinct possibility. The imaginary but potentially real fungus comes into the U.S. on healthy larch from Russia, a tree species genetically very similar to Douglas fir. In Dr. Denison's scenario, wood or bark beetles vector the fungus, moving it from tree to tree, rotting them from within. Massive insecticide spraying kills the beetles but won't eradicate them, and in 50 years 90% of Douglas fir throughout its range is dead. Heeding Dr. Denison's disaster planning scenario before it becomes reality might prevent it from becoming a nightmare from which we never wake up.
If you want more information about raw wood imports to judge for yourself the seriousness of the issue, contact Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, 860 1/2 11th Street, Arcata, CA 95521, (707) 822-8497 or by e-mail at cats@igc.apc.org.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1997
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited