At 1.1 million acres Virginia's George Washington
National Forest is the largest National Forest in
the eastern United States. The GW stretches
along both sides of the Shenandoah Valley, and
can be reached in less than two hours from both
Washington DC and Richmond.
A healthy George Washington National Forest is
vital to the health of our state, our people and
our environment.
· The
GW provides high quality drinking water for
communities throughout the Shenandoah
Valley. Additionally, its waters drain to
the James and Potomac Rivers and Chesapeake Bay
that provide drinking water to many more
Virginians.
· The
GW is home to a vast array of wildlife such as
migratory songbirds, Black Bear, native Brook
Trout and a number of threatened and endangered
species.
· The
GW provides Virginians with exceptional
recreational opportunities such as camping,
hiking, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, rock
climbing and bird watching.
· More
importantly, some of the largest remaining
unfragmented "roadless areas" and
ecosystems in the eastern United States are
located in the George Washington National
Forest.
For the past two years the Forest Service has
been developing a new plan for managing the
George Washington National Forest. Sierra
Club members and our friends in the conservation
community have been working diligently to make
sure that the new forest plan is environmentally
sound. Now the forest service needs to hear
from all of us!
Please let the Forest Planning Team know that you
care about our national forest, and that you
expect the new plan to protect the ecological
integrity of our forest. Please ask the
planners to:
·
Provide an Environmental Impact Statement for the
new forest plan
· Plan
for climate change by protecting core wilderness
and roadless areas, reducing forest fragmentation
and decreasing and eliminating other stresses
such as logging, road building and oil and gas
leasing
·
Protect all existing Old Growth tracts
·
Protect all watersheds especially those that
directly supply drinking water
·
Protect all "Special Biological Areas"
·
Protect the habitat and population viability of
all endangered, threatened and rare
species-especially the Wood Turtle, the Cow Knob
Salamander, and the Black-throated Green Warbler
·
Identify all qualified "roadless areas"
·
Protect all areas identified in the Virginia's
Mountain Treasures publication by designating
them as unsuitable for timber harvest, new road
building and surface-occupying oil and gas
drilling
·
Protect the Shenandoah Mountain Area for its
unique ecological and recreational attributes
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