Redwood Reader

The Eureka Reporter reported that the Buckeye Conservancy opened nominations for their Stewardship Award for exemplary stewardship. Nominations can only be made by members although any individual, family business or organization can be nominated for the award is eligible to be nominated.
The Buckeye Conservancy was established in 2004 to promote good land management for owners and resource managers. The Buckeye Conservancy, P.O. Box 5607, Eureka, CA, 95501. 707-786-9662. http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=18465 Meanwhile the debate over carbon trading continues as to the value of tree planting. We are pleased California has initiated trading as it is clear many studies are reported without understanding how much carbon is being stored underground as the mycelial residue glomalin. Redwood Reader has had a good number of California readers, who seem willing to pick up where the British are realizing carbon trading, without knowledge of glomalin, is a zero sum game. "Care Needed With Carbon Offsets" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6184577.stm, "Forests Only "Temporary Carbon Absorbers" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1643156.stm. It seems ignorance has a way of maintaining its own interests.
Meanwhile two articles in the December 2006 issue of Sentient Times discuss the role of fungi in restoring the earth. Paul Stamens of Fungi Perfecti explains the importance of carbon to soil and fungi's role in creating soil. He recognizes the vast amounts of carbon returned to the atmospheere by development and agriculture. Harnessing the power of fungi to restore the soils while reducing greenhouse gases is just over the horizon of his vision. His comments about trees falling over is partly about soil conditioning but also about how well restoration is occuring underground with many factors like root depth, percentage of soil glue, crowding, root grafting and soil moisture capacity and alerts us to some of the many things that can go wrong in the best intentioned plan. Nevertheless, plants and fungi will continue with their useful relationship conditioning their environment far into the future.
Stamens has studied mushroom cultivation for years but many of the mycorhizzia fruit insignificantly, and they are primary feeders from photosynthetic production and thus difficult to cultivate. Some work has been done innoculating seedlings by people like Dan Wheeler of Oregon White Mushrooms. Our culture has reduced the production and storage to a mininum. Areas of sustainable yield are often operating at a tiny fraction of capacity. Fungi will do this works if given the tools (plants) and opportunity to do so. This opportunity lies in strict competition with other economic land use choices and so must be a viable income for managers and owners and so the need for carbon credits.
The second article deals with reducing the waste stream by reduction with fungi. It includes sequestration of heavy metals and reduction of toxic chemicals. In these cases they are talking about using fungi that procure their own nutritional needs by foraging rather than symbiotic partnership.
http://www.sentienttimes.com/.