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NATIONAL
updated April 13, 2008
CURRENT AND UPCOMING
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Summit of
Potts Mountain, Mottesheard Roadless Area,
New Castle Ranger District. Overlooking Peters Mountain |
Attacks on Forests Continue. Recent changes have awakened some in the Congress to the need to better protect forests, but the Bush administration is still defiant, engaging in a concerted, back-door effort to weaken our nation's environmental laws. We are currently witnessing a systematic and deliberate attack on public lands, roadless areas, and wildlife, and the laws and regulations that are in place to protect them.
The public cares deeply about the conservation of the National Forests. These attacks are not only putting the forests at risk, but they are also undermining public participation -- telling the public that it should go home and not bother getting involved any longer.
Nationwide Forest News (American Lands “Landscope”)
:
http://www.americanlands.org/landscope.php
Roadless Areas:
Roadless Areas (Southern Appalachians): http://www.safc.org/campaigns/roadless/roadless_rule.php
Roadless Areas and other special areas (Virginia): http://virginia.sierraclub.org/newriver/mountaintreasures
(Virginia Mtn Treasures, Jefferson)
Roadless Areas (nationwide): http://www.ourforests.org/
Roadless Areas (2007 - 08 Legislation):
Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007 (H.R. 2516 and S. 1478)
Call to Action: Ask Your Member of Congress to Support
Roadless Legislation
To look up your Member of Congress, go to: www.congress.org
The Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007
was introduced in both houses of Congress in May 2007. This
legislation would codify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule
into law. With your help, we can protect our roadless wild
forests.
The recent repeal of the Bush administration Roadless rule by
Federal Judge Elizabeth LaPorte reinstated the 2001 Roadless Area
Conservation Rule that limits road building, logging and other
development on about 60 million acres of national forests. These
areas provide unmatched opportunities for camping, hiking, and
other recreational activities, valuable habitat for fish and
wildlife, and abundant supplies of clean drinking water. Judge
LaPorte found that the Bush administration acted illegally in
reversing the 2001 Roadless Rule. But the Bush administration is
attempting to undo roadless protection piece-by-piece, beginning
in three western states, Colorado, Idaho, and Alaska.
In Virginia, there are 394,000 acres of inventoried roadless
areas, including areas like Laurel Fork in Highland County, North
Fork of Pound in Wise County and St. Marys Addition in Augusta
and Rockbridge Counties. Help protect these areas.
For more information about the repeal of the Bush
administration's Roadless rule and recent efforts to reduce
roadless area protection beginning with three western states, go
to: www.ourforests.org
For information about the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule,
go to: www.ourforests.org/roadless/
To find out how many acres of Inventoried Roadless Areas exist in
your State go to: www.ourforests.org/local/
There are over 148 co-sponsors of the bill in the House of
Representatives and over 19 co-sponsors of the companion bill in
the Senate.
Current list of co-sponsors
(House of Representatives): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2516
(Senate): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1478
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Protecting Our Magnificent Wildlife & Our Natural
Heritage:
About The Endangered Species Act: http://www.stopextinction.org/site/c.epIQKXOBJsG/b.736051/k.DDF6/About_ESA.htm
News and Updates:
http://www.stopextinction.org/site/c.epIQKXOBJsG/b.704799/k.CCB4/Home.htm
Involving the Citizens in Long-term Public Lands
Decisions:
Plan revisions set the direction for national forests like the
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests for 10-15 years!
Unfortunately, many traditional opportunities for public
participation in Forest Plan Revisions have been drastically cut
by the Bush administration’s rewrite of planning
regulations. Not only are most of these changes illegal, they are
outrageous because they turn the notion of “public”
lands and the “public” trust on its head, by
eliminating the role of the public.
“Passed by Congress in 1976, the National Forest Management
Act is designed to shape and guide implementation of "forest
plans," which are intended to responsibly balance
development, timber sales, road building, and other industrial
projects with the need to conserve forested lands and resources
like clean air and wildlife. NFMA serves as the basis for
virtually every forest management and conservation effort on our
nation’s 192-million- acre National Forest System, which
makes up eight percent of the United States…The Bush
Administration has proposed new forest-management rules that will
result in a radical departure from the spirit and scope of NFMA.”
Bush administration rewrites of NFMA regulations in 2005 (and now
2008) threaten to weaken wildlife, clean water, and other
environmental protections by transforming enforceable standards
and goals to vague, unenforceable "desired conditions"
and guidelines that the Forest Service need not follow.
See excerpts of articles on the April 2008 rewrite of the planning rules:
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Forest Service Bid to Lift Wildlife Protections Met
With Lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 11, 2008 (ENS) - A coalition of
14 conservation groups filed suit today in federal court to block
the U.S. Forest Service from implementing a new rule that would
remove protections for fish, wildlife, and other resources
throughout the 192-million acre National Forest System.
Issued earlier this month, the rule represents the Forest Service’s
third attempt to weaken the nationwide regulations. The two
previous attempts were rejected by the courts.
"The Forest Service violated the law in preparing new rules
in 2000 and 2005, and the 2008 rule is also fatally flawed,"
said Paul Spitler, attorney with the Center for Biological
Diversity. "The Forest Service should stop wasting resources
and develop a rule that ensures protection for the fish,
wildlife, and other resources in our national forests."
During the 1980s and 1990s, the Forest Service operated under
nationwide regulations that provided mandatory protection for
forest resources, including a requirement to ensure the viability
of fish and wildlife species.
These regulations governed all timber sales, livestock grazing,
and road construction throughout the National Forest System.
...
The new Forest Service rule issued earlier this month in response
to the court's 2007 decision is nearly identical to the 2005
rule, the plaintiffs say. The 2008 rule would eliminate the
long-standing requirement to ensure viable populations of fish
and wildlife species.
The new rule decreases public participation in forest planning by
allowing the Forest Service to "categorically exclude"
entire forest plans from public review and environmental analysis
requirements.
"Thankfully the Bush administration is coming to an end, as
it continues to push forward with woefully inadequate protection
for our national forests," said attorney Pete Frost of the
Western Environmental Law Center...
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2008/2008-04-11-092.asp
WASHINGTON, DC, February 7, 2008 (ENS) -
Environmental attorney Trent Orr of the nonprofit public
interest law firm Earthjustice warns that the Bush
administration is again attempting to remove key
protections for U.S. national forests.
This attempt was evident, he says, today, when the U.S.
Forest Service released its court-ordered Final
Environmental Impact Statement for the 2008 Planning Rule…..
"This preferred alternative expands public
involvement by requiring early and frequent public
dialogue in all phases of the development, implementation
and monitoring of land management plans,” said David
Dillard, director of Ecosystem Management Coordination….
Orr disagrees.
Like the draft released this summer, he says, the Final
EIS just states that none of the alternatives would
affect the environment….
The Final EIS reveals that the new regulations eliminate
wildlife and diversity protections just as the 2005 Bush
Rule did, Orr says, adding, "The new regulations
substitute "Categorical Exclusions" for
Environmental Impact Statements as the rule for forest
plans."
"The Forest Service appears to be rushing out yet
another set of regulations that weaken protections for
wildlife and biological diversity on the national
forests," Orr said. "This proposal will
continue to favor industrial forestry over protecting
clean streams and fisheries."
"Not only is the Bush administration trying to
seriously weaken key protections for our National
Forests, they pretend that these actions won't have any
effect," said Kate Freund, legislative associate for
Earthjustice. "They have once again failed to make a
good-faith effort to follow the law."…
Last October, 68 members of the U.S. House of
Representatives wrote a letter to the Forest Service
opposing the proposed National Forest management changes
and calling for thorough environmental review of the
rule.
See the full article at http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2008/2008-02-07-093.asp
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For more information, see http://www.americanlands.org/documents/1103737833_nfmafactsheet.pdf
and http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/NFMA-Directives-Analysis.pdf.
A guide to the 2005 process, similar in many ways to the new 2008
process, can be found at http://www.safc.org/resources/documents/PlanningResourceGuidereduced.pdf.
Other regulations adopted in December 2006 will categorically
exclude forest management plans from National Environmental
Protection Act (NEPA) review, cutting off most avenues of
meaningful public participation until the individual project
stage. For more information, see http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Forests/ce.cfm
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