Updated their Tree Carbon Calculator

Recently, the Forest Service has updated their Tree Carbon Calculator so that it works nationally instead of just for California. You can find the updated version in their Climate Change Resource Center. The calculator runs off an excel platform.
>>see Center for Urban Forestry Research
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/cufr/

January: National Radon Action Month

During January’s National Radon Action Month, the U.S. Surgeon General and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urge all Americans to protect their health by testing their homes for radon.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste but could be present at a dangerous level in your home. As the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. and the first leading cause among non-smokers, radon claims more than 20,000 lives annually. If a high radon level is detected in your home, you can take steps to fix it to protect yourself and your family.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is offering a limited amount of free radon test kits to Tennessee citizens. Please mail your request to: Radon Program, 711 R.S. Gass Blvd., Nashville, TN 37216 or email your request to TDEC.Radon@tn.gov. Be sure to include your name, address, city, state and ZIP code.

Wetlands: are they important?

There is a good article in Nashville City Paper today concerning wetlands. I guess very few people get up in the morning and think "What can I do today to protect a wetland?" Few do. What do 'wetlands' do and why should we protect them and what do they have to do with the price of eggs (well, they don't have much to do with the price of eggs but they sometimes are associated with the price of development and/or the roads we build). A wetland is not just a swampy area that has sketters and we should avoid. It can be a complex ecosystem that supplies habitat for plants and animals you don't find anyplace else. We usually describe wetlands as what function they supply to the watershed: such as flood control(if the wetlands had not been destroyed outside of New Orleans, Katrina would not have been half as bad); ground water recharge; as I said before, they supply habitat for sensitive animals and their functions go on. But they are located and function best where mother nature has put them. If a road or development comes in and needs that space to develop on, then what do we do? If the state considers them to be large enough (and The Army Corps of Engineer also has input here) then a 'developer' would be required to mitigate for the destruction of them. To replace near by "on-site mitigation" is the best choice because wetlands function best in the watershed where they are located. There are wetland bank credits that can be purchased for mitigation, but they are pretty expensive. Read the article in the paper....
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