These Soe Ker Tie Houses were built on the Thai Burmese border for Karen refugee orphans.

Plywerk Inc. is a small company in Portland that mounts your artwork on bamboo/maple panels. It started with a good idea 5 years ago, and has evolved into a blossoming bamboo business with 15 employees. The bamboo wave is upon us.

News Article: http://www.oregonlive.com/small-business/index.ssf/2012/03/startup_portland-based_plywerk.html

http://www.abc26.com/news/newswithatwist/wgno-bamboo-gardens-not-in-china-but-in-louisiana-20120320,0,7841903.story

Measure the diameter of each bamboo species in your area that measures over 1 1/2 inches. Measure at about four feet above the ground.

Data for the ABS Big Bamboo Contest must be submitted on or before August 1, 2012 for inclusion in this years competition, and a report to be available at the annual meeting.

Send your list of species and sizes to: frabin39@hotmail.com or mail it to : Frasier Bingham, 407 Lakeshore Drive, Bainbridge, Georgia 39819.

Lets make a go of this, Regards, Frasier

The article also cites another bamboo forestation project in 1996 by INBAR, which successfully reclaimed land depleted by the brick industry in Allahabad, India. In 2007, the project won the Alcan Prize for Sustainability for its lasting impact.

The certification has catalyzed the development of a revised carbon accounting methodology for bamboo in a unified effort between INBAR, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University (ZAFU) and China Green Carbon Foundation (CGCF) in order to ease the accreditation process for other organizations interested in getting paid to grow bamboo.

Watch a video on the Bamboo for Africa program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1FUk9-BUvU

Link to the article: http://forestindustries.eu/content/world%E2%80%99s-first-bamboo-carbon-offset-credits-issued-under-vcs

TruBamboo, a 9-year old company producing bamboo housewares, has recently hired Dan Demicell who doubles as the company’s General Manager and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. TruBamboo manufactures their products in China from Moso using FDA-approved adhesives. They have an impressive list of international retailers including Publix, Target, Macy’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Crate and Barrel. However, the company’s growth has faced headwind from a struggling US economy and as result has been forced to cut prices in an attempt to increase sales.

What?
Who has the biggest bamboo? Do you?
Enter our contest and find out.

When?
Entries must be received by August 1. Winners will be announced at the annual meeting of the American Bamboo Society in October. Prizes will be a Certificate of Achievement with you photographed with your big bamboo as part of the document.

Why?
The American Bamboo Society hascreated the Big Bamboo Contest to further its mission to promote bamboo. Our Contest is intended to increase public awareness of bamboo and to promote American bamboo research and industry.

Potential Value
The contest has the potential to generate valuable regional information. Which species grows best in a specific region? What are the best farming practices? Which clones within a species are biggest?

Bamboo?!
Bamboo grows wood faster than trees. Bamboo produces edible bamboo shoots every spring. Bamboo is evergreen and sequesters carbon year around. Its leaves are eaten by livestock; its groves provide habitat for wildlife. Bamboo is beautiful. It is a giant grass adapted to live with forests.

People have become aware of a few of the good qualities of bamboo.
Enter the contest so people will learn more.

Big Bamboo Entry Form

Get your bids in now at: http://absauction.bambooweb.info/

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE – AGENDA AND TECHNICAL PROGRAM

Wednesday, October 12

8:00 am to 5:00 pm ABS Annual Board of Directors Meeting, Holiday Inn-Lafayette.

Thursday, October 13

8:00 to 8:45 am           Registration

8:45 to 9:00 am Welcome, ABS Pres., LGCC Pres.

9:00 to 5:00 pm           Conference Tour. A visit to Jungle Gardens/Avery Island. Depart for Avery Island day trip from Hotel using Rental Vans

Friday, October 14

8:00 to 8:30 am           Late Registrations

8:30 to 8:45 am           Announcements

8:45 to 9:45 am           Dr. Clarissa Maroon-Lango, USDA, Maryland, “Bamboo Importation – New USDA Regulations”

9:45 to 10:00 am         Coffee Break

10:00 to 11:00 am       Miss Lihua Jiang, China, “Overview of Botanic Gardens in Southern China & Introduction of 75 Bamboo Species Not Known in US”

11:00 to 12:00 pm       Professor Tan Hongchao, Yunnan Normal University, China, “Chinese Bamboo Propagation Techniques, Nursery Industry and Seedling Production”

12:00 to 1:00 pm         LUNCH

1:00 to 1:55 pm           Mr. Dain Sansome, Oregon, “Moving Monster Moso”

1:55 to 2:45 pm Mr. Mike Richard, Louisiana, “Chimeras in Bamboo”

2:45 to 3:05 pm Coffee Break

3:05 to 3:55 pm           Mr. Marler Spence, China-Texas, “Search for Tumidissinoda Walking Canes”

3:55 to 4:45 pm Dr. Eduardo Ruiz-Sanchez, Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico, “A Taxomonic Revision of Otatea (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae) Including Four New Species”

4:45 to 5:15 pm Additional Questions & Discussion

5:15 pm Adjournment for day, special announcements

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE – AGENDA AND TECHNICAL PROGRAM (cont,)

Saturday, October 15

8:00 to 8:15 am           Remarks and announcements

8:15 to 9:05 am Mr. Mike Jones, Texas, “Musical Wind Instruments from Bamboo”

9:05 to 9:55 am Mr. Durnford Dart, Australia, “ The Value of Bamboo Mulch and Bio Char”

9:55 to 10:10 am         Coffee Break

10:15 to 11:05 am       Judge Edwards, Louisiana, “ Proven and Possible Uses of Bamboo in Marsh Reclamation”

11:05 to 12:00 pm       TBD, Mississippi State University, “Riparian Stabilization with Arundinaria Gigantea in Choctaw Land , Mississippi”

12:00 to 1:20 pm         Lunch and ABS Annual Members Meeting

1:00 to 5:00 pm           CONFERENCE OPEN TO PUBLIC:

BAMBOO DISPLAYS AND INFORMATION. ARTS AND CRAFTS DEMONSTRATIONS, BAMBOO ARTICLES AND PLANTS FOR SALE.

BAMBOO FLUTE WORKSHOP – You make a flute (Registration required & $30 fee. Contact: Mike Jones, jonesmr@sbcglobal.net)

1:30 to 4:00 pm           ANNUAL ABS AUCTION

5:30 pm to 10:00 pm Tour of The Shadows on the Teche Gardens and Plantation Home, New Iberia. Dinner and Presentation by Andrew Ringle et. al. on early History of The Shadows.

Official adjournment of 2011 ABS Annual Meeting

Sunday, October 16

8:00 am departure       Post Conference day trip to Jefferson Island and tours of Rip Van Winkle Garden, Historic Joseph Jefferson House and Live Oak Gardens