Genetically modified eucalyptus trees are growing in the sandy soil of Baldwin County, part of an experiment that aims to turn an Australian export best known as koala bear food into fuel for American motorists.
Altered in laboratories in New Zealand to withstand American caterpillars and tolerate colder temperatures than are found in their native down-under habitat, the trees have been growing on a secret 1-acre plot in Baldwin County for two years.
Officials with ArborGen, a South Carolina-based company, declined to reveal the exact location of the modified trees, citing "security reasons."
Genetically engineered crops, such as the eucalyptus, are under fire from scientists and environmentalists, who fear that the plants can escape from farms and wreak havoc on native plant populations.
Creating such engineered crops often involves inserting bits and pieces of DNA from other species with the intention of developing super-fit plants that are more productive or are more resistant to damage from pests or other factors. Late last week, a federal judge prohibited the widespread use of genetically altered alfalfa until a safety study can be completed.
Federal officials have just published an Environmental Assessment of the ArborGen project, which is out for public comment until May 21. At the end of the comment period, the government will decide whether to permit further experiments with the eucalyptus in Baldwin County.
New Alabama crop? ArborGen officials said if they get approval and are successful in creating a eucalyptus that can survive the mild Southeastern winter, they believe the resulting tree would provide a lucrative new crop for Alabama pine farmers who have been hurt by the decline of the U.S. pulp and paper industries.
Eucalyptus, according to an ArborGen spokesman, is better than Midwestern corn for producing ethanol, because, he said, the trees require a fraction of the energy to raise and harvest.
Congress spent the last week developing a major legislative package to promote ethanol, with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee calling for the nation to produce 36 billion gallons of the biofuel per year by 2022.
Currently, corn drives ethanol production in the U.S., but corn is a labor-intensive crop that scientists say requires nearly as much energy to grow as it produces in the form of ethanol.
More efficient By contrast, eucalyptus trees would produce 8 gallons of ethanol for every gallon of gas or diesel used to farm and process them, according to ArborGen.
The company is now seeking a permit to allow the trees to mature, flower and produce seeds. All of that was specifically forbidden under the original permit, which granted ArborGen permission to simply grow the trees and test them for cold tolerance.
ArborGen is a partnership between an investment company, paper companies International Paper and Mead Westvaco, and a New Zealand-based genetic laboratory, Genesis Research and Development.
A recent notice on the new permit in the Federal Register offered a broad description of the Baldwin County site, but federal officials refused to provide a more specific location, citing confidentiality rules.
While researching the location of the trees, the Press-Register discovered that Baldwin County is home to a number of experimental, genetically modified crops, many of which appear to be growing on a Loxley farm owned by agricultural giant Monsanto Co.
Monsanto officials did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Global controversy Genetically engineered crops have stirred controversy around the globe, with some countries, including the United States, banning most of them from the human food supply.
But when it comes to crops dedicated for animal feed or other non-food purposes, such as cotton or trees for lumber and pulp, genetically modified plants are sprouting all over the nation. For instance, federal records show that such crops -- which require federal permits and oversight before they can be grown -- have been grown in 296 locations in Alabama since 2004.
Some of those crops are engineered to be resistant to herbicides, so they can be drenched in products, such as the weed killer Round Up, without ill effects. Others, including soybeans and corn have been altered to resist insect damage.
Federal scrutiny Federal officials keep tabs on where genetically modified crops are growing to ensure that measures are taken to prevent those crops from either escaping into the wild or cross-pollinating with native species.
In the case of the ArborGen project, the farmers are required to kill any trees that turn up outside of the 1-acre plot. Because eucalyptus have a difficult time growing in Alabama except as ornamental plants, some say it is not considered likely that the altered trees will become established or become invasive like other foreign plants, such as kudzu or the Chinese tallow tree, which is quickly overtaking Alabama's wetlands.
In California, eucalyptus has long been recognized as a noxious invasive species, displacing native habitats, disrupting water supplies and playing a significant role in worsening wild fires. Eucalyptus contain large quantities of a highly flammable oil.
Altered in three ways The eucalyptus growing in Baldwin County have been altered in three ways, though federal documents only describe the insect resistance traits and cold tolerance. The other modification is a secret, considered "confidential business information" by both ArborGen and the government.
"This is a tree you can grow in plantation settings. It can be farmed as an energy crop. It provides a new crop for the South, where the logging infrastructure is already in place from pine production," said Glenn Ray, with ArborGen. "We've done studies that show with (eucalyptus), the South could be self-sustaining for ethanol production.
"The president is talking about replacing 30 percent of the gasoline with ethanol. The Midwestern states have corn and wheat. Down here, we don't grow those, but the Southeast can help with these trees."
Don Rockwood, a forester with the University of Florida, has been working with eucalyptus in that state, where about 20,000 acres are under cultivation. He said those plants are not the same species being used by ArborGen, as the Florida trees do not need to be frost tolerant. He said he has been asked to serve as an independent judge and help determine the potential for the ArborGen trees to become invasive pests.
He said he regarded that as unlikely because the eucalyptus trees will be cut down and harvested before they mature and produce seeds, which does not occur until they are about 8 years old.
He said he expects that the colder climate in much of the South will also interfere with flowering success and seed production and said that even if a tree did produce seeds, the sapling would have a difficult time competing with the fast growing native and invasive weeds that dominate the forest floor throughout the South.
"At the moment, I'm a neutral observer. I consider these trees escaping to be such a low probability as to be non-existent," Rockwood said.
He has been studying trees as a potential biofuel source since the energy crisis of the 1970s. He described the nation's current appetite for fuel from plants as "an outgrowth of a little panic and a little political pressure."
Rockwood said eucalyptus plantations designed for ethanol production are probably still a few years away from being commercially viable, but different species of the tree have been grown successfully in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.
Economics of farming One of the primary hurdles will be the cost of farming and converting trees in this country compared to other countries, a hurdle that will likely require some form of trade protection to overcome.
"Pine production, which the South used to dominate, is losing the pulp market to overseas growers because the cost of growing pine trees and making paper is a lot less than it is here," Rockwood said, citing Brazil in particular, which is also growing eucalyptus.
"I think the economics are going to be important. But as long as the government is willing to subsidize domestic ethanol production, instead of letting something cheaper come in from Brazil, then it can work. We are already talking about subsidizing corn. Why not eucalyptus trees in the South?"Mobile Press-Register
