On 9 February 2009, due to intense rainfall a landslide took place on the western mountainous city of Tartagal in the province of Salta.
A massive landslide of water and mud then hit the town of Tartagal, northern Argentina, leaving at least 12 people missing and over 1000 evacuated.
Environmentalists and indigenous communities quickly pointed the finger towards the clearing of native woods as one of the reasons behind the phenomenon. Even though the government and other organizations rushed into denying any relation, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez went into her office and signed the final ruling of a native woods protection law that had been laying on her desk for over a year.
Greenpeace Argentina says that over 4 thousand hectares of woods were cleared from the river's coastlines and surroundings, an area equivalent to three times the size of the city of Tartagal.
The Civil Defense (Defensa Civil) in the province of Salta informed that 10,000 people have lost their homes, 742 people have been evacuated and eight temporary shelters have been opened to shelter the affected families. The most immediate needs identified by the local authorities are safe water, food items, clothes, bed clothes, footwear, mattresses, diapers and the rehabilitation of sanitary systems.
Update:
Heavy rains persisted in the northwestern city of Tartagal, in Salta. The situation is hampering the return home of more than 600 people. Argentinean president announced on February 13 a USD 45.4 million fund to reconstruct houses, roads, sewage and gas systems. More than 87,000 food rations, 2,400 mattresses, 1,300 blankets, bed linen and mineral water has been distributed in the affected zones, according to authorities. No further needs have been identified.
Ann DeLaVergne spent time making her own, reusable envelopes via a sewing machine to help in preserving trees and using less paper. She eventually went on to patent ecoEnvelopes with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
The envelopes zip closed, eliminate the need for a separate reply envelope, and are manufactured with paper from managed forests and contain up to 100 percent post-consumer waste content.
DeLaVergne used to be an organic farmer and beekeeper. The environment has always been important to her and she has spent a huge portion of her life devoted to being "green." The ecoEnvelope sort of became a passion and she took it under her wing, perfecting it and sharing it with the world. She received grants from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance and the Eileen Fisher Foundation and won supporter after supporter, including the former CEO of one of the largest envelope manufacturers in the U.S.
The main objective of these envelopes is so businesses need not enclose an envelope inside your mailed bills and such. If you're not comfortable going paperless with billing then the least you can do is push for companies you deal with to use the environment friendly envelopes. As it stands right now 80 billions "reply" envelopes are sent each year in the U.S. alone and that is just unacceptable.
On February 20, 2008 the USPS finally decided they are going to take this green initiative and legally push the bill. The ecoEnvelopes have received a key National Customer Ruling from the U.S. Postal Service and this is VERY important. "The USPS National Customer Ruling is issued after an official testing and approval process. The ruling provides customers with increased confidence that ecoEnvelopes' unique designs meet the most stringent qualifications for use in the US mail."
"Eliminating return envelopes saves energy, water, and forest resources and reduces the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Every one million ecoEnvelopes used saves an estimated 250 million BTUs of energy and 37,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses. All ecoEnvelopes are manufactured on certified papers from managed forests using up to 100% recycled content."
This man and his hoodlums never cease to infuriate me. The Bush Administration has done it again.
His administration has announced plans to open more than 3 million acres of Alaskan forests to logging, mining and road building. More precisely, the plan will open 3.4 million acres of the Tongass National Forest. This decision effectively reverses the "Roadless Rule" protection given to the area by President Clinton.
The Forest Service said it would consult with Indian tribes to protect and maintain sacred sites in the forest. So far it is confirmed that 90,000 acres of old-growth will be off-limits to loggers which is positive news.
Trees are coming down all over the place, so what is the big deal with this? Well, Tongass is the nation's largest forest and the world's largest intact temperate rainforest. It has been deemed the "crown jewel" or "biogem" of U.S. forests.
As a member of Earth Justice, I receive e-mails whenever they feel I need to be alerted about something. Anyone can join and you can opt-in to receiving the e-mails as well. I find it very informative and interesting.
Right now the call for action is in regards to public forests. The current members in office with the Bush administration have been promoting more logging and clear cutting, less protection for wildlife and water resources and less citizen involvement in the forest planning process.
Just today three House Democrats requested a formal probe of possible illegal Forest Service Logging projects in California. There is a possibility that there has been illegal logging in several areas, including the Trail of 100 Giants, which is protected under a 2000 presidential proclamation.
On April 15, 2000, President Clinton signed a presidential proclamation to help protect national forests in that area. On January 12 2007, the US Forest Service proposed a new draft management plan that leaves the majority of roadless old growth forests open to commercial logging.
It just so happens the Bush administration is attempting to pass the latest proposed drafts. In addition to more logging, there have also been more burn piles planned. Go figure.
