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JAMES RIVER RANGER DISTRICT
Annie Downing, District Ranger
810-A Madison Avenue
Covington, VA 24426
ph.(540)962-2214
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/jamesriver/
updated February 8, 2007
CURRENT AND UPCOMING
Jackson Grouse #2 timber sale – A proposed
278 acre logging project near Rt. 600, west of Covington,
Virginia.
RECENT
Wilson Mountain Timber Sale - Additional information plus
photos - 3.8 miles of roadbuilding and bulldozer/tractor
firelines, 177 acres of logging, and 42 acres of prescribed
burning above Iron Gate, Virginia. The project is located on a
high ridge above the water gap of the James and Jackson Rivers.
Rich cove forests up to 135 yrs. older could be affected by the
project. [see map]
Alleghany Highlands Trail System - a lengthy
loop trail system proposed throughout portions of the James River
and Warm Spring Ranger Districts between I-64 and the area north
of Douthat State Park. Conservation groups are generally in favor
of creating additional trails for low-impact recreation but are
concerned about some aspects of this project, particularly
provisions for bulldozing, maintenance work using all-terrain
vehicles, and other activities that may possibly impact the
roadless and semiprimitive character of the Dolly Ann Roadless
Area.
Fore Mtn. Prescribed Burn - 1000 acres of
prescribed burning in the Fore Mtn. in or around the area east of
Dolly Anne roadless area. The FS began taking initial comments on
this project in August 2005.
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Forest scene
in
Toms Branch Timber Sale site |
photo: Sherman Bamford |
Toms Branch Timber Sale - a 248 acre timber sale
on the George Washington National Forest just north of the
Barbours Creek Wilderness (a wilderness area on the contiguous
Jefferson National Forest). Much of the Toms Branch timber sale
is located in the Barbours Creek RARE II area, an area that was
first identified as a nearly 13,000 acre roadless area under the
Forest Service's RARE II roadless area evaluation in the late
1970s. Over a decade ago, citizen-activist Steve Krichbaum sent a
letter to the FS asking that the area be examined for inclusion
in the roadless inventory in the George Washington National
Forest Plan Revision. Subsequent internal emails within the
Forest Service even admitted that an examination of the area was
warranted. But there are no records that show that the area was
ever examined. (Response to Steve Krichbaum's October 28, 2004
Freedom of Information Act request). In the course of the NEPA
analysis for this Toms Branch, the public again alerted the FS to
the need to include the area in the roadless inventory before the
project proceeded. Yet, once again, in this case, the FS simply
chose to do nothing and ignore the public. This is yet one more
example of how the Forest Service fails to protect many areas
that are, in fact, roadless.
The project calls for the construction of a dozen sizeable
helicopter landings that will have serious impacts on soils.
Already, in the 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of acres of logging
occurred on the periphery of the area, when Westvaco had a
long-term contract to log the area. Non-commercial restoration of
the damaged lands in this area should have been a priority, not
additional logging in the interior of the area, as was approved.
The project will impact the viewshed visible from a large outcrop
located just beyond the end of the Lipes Branch Trail. The
streamside habitat in the Toms Branch project area is part of a
conservation zone for endangered or threatened mussels or fish.
In the early summer of 2005, the Toms Branch project was approved
over the objections of Virginia Forest Watch and other groups.
The Forest Service put the sale up for bid in 2006, but on the
first round did not receive a single bid at the $150,342 minimum
acceptable bid level. The Environmental Assessment for the
project stated that the total estimated revenue for the sale
would be $489,160, 3.3 times this amount.
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Forest scene
in
Jerrys Run project area |
Jerrys Run Timber Sale - 169 acres of logging,
540 ac and 1.8 mi. of road construction near I-64 near the West
Virginia line. The project area contains rich forests containing
northern red oak, sugar maple, tuliptree, hickories, and
basswoods, and other drier areas containing large white oaks, red
maples, and chestnut oaks. Several of the proposed cutting units
are 100+, 120+, 130+, and 140+ years old according to own Forest
Service figures. Before logging, cutting units "units"
#2, 14, 16, 17, and 18 contained some patches that could have met
the Forest Service's operational criteria for old growth,
according to independent surveyors who visited the area on behalf
of the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. These areas
were not adequately protected. The project could also impact a
trail segment identified as one of the best potential sites for a
future section of the Allegheny Trail, a long-distance trail that
will eventually run from Peters Mtn Wilderness Area in the
Jefferson National Forest, through Virginia and West Virginia, to
the Pennsylvania line. The Virginia section is uncompleted. This
project was appealed by Virginia Forest Watch and other groups in
the spring of 2004, but has gone through final approval by the
Forest Service.
Brattons Run Salvage Sale - This sale was
approved under the fast-track categorical exclusion under new
regulations approved by the Bush administration. Projects put
forth under such a categorical exclusion are excluded from
detailed public input and analysis unless significant controversy
emerges. The Brattons Run salvage sale is an 81 acre
"salvage" project using ground-based skidders in the
Brattons Run area near Goshen, Va. Skidders can cause serious
damage to soils, watersheds, and trees.
Johnson Mtn. Timber Sale - 98 acre of logging
and 1 mile of roadbuilding were approved in sensitive watersheds
under this project. The project is of great concern to adjacent
landowners, the Town Council of Clifton Forge, and the Board of
Supervisors of Alleghany Co.
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