Virginia Forest Watch



National   Forest-Wide    
Clinch Ranger District  Eastern Divide Ranger District Glenwood-Pedlar Ranger Districts
James River Ranger District Lee Ranger District Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area
North River Ranger District Warm Springs Ranger District

Map of George Washington and Jefferson National Forest Ranger Districts

Note: all projected dates for release of Forest Service documents are agency estimates only. The FS lists its schedule of proposed actions at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/projects_plans/sopa/index.shtml


NATIONAL

updated July 28, 2009

CURRENT AND UPCOMING

April 2, 2009: Support the Act to Save America's Forests. The Act to Save America's Forests is one of the largest, most comprehensive pieces of forest protection and restoration legislation ever considered by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The bill has been supported by many prominent scientists, including Jane Goodall, E.O. Wilson, Dr. Peter Raven, and others. In the current bill, seven of the "special areas" to be protected include Virginia Mountain Treasure areas like Dismal Creek, Bear Creek, Stone Coal Creek, Terrapin Mountain, Wilson Mountain, Whitetop Mountain, and Feathercamp areas in the Jefferson National Forest.

Virginia Ridge and Valley Act signed: On March 30, President Barack Obama signed legislation, which included designating almost 43,000 acres as Wilderness and more than 10,000 acreas as National Scenic Areas in Virginia's Jefferson National Forest. VAFW thanks all those who helped bring about this protection. On March 25, the U.S. House passed The Virginia Ridge and Valley Act on a vote of 285-140. On March 19, the U.S. Senate pased the bill on a vote of 77-20. View VAFW Press Release. (includes photos, maps)

Roadless Areas:

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 2009 is expected to be introduced soon in Congress. This legislation would codify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule into law. With your help, we can protect our roadless wild 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. 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 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/

To learn more about -

Summit of Potts Mountain, Mottesheard Roadless Area, New Castle Ranger District. Overlooking Peters Mountain
Summit of Potts Mountain, Mottesheard Roadless Area,
New Castle Ranger District. Overlooking Peters Mountain

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/



Protecting Our Magnificent Wildlife & Our Natural Heritage:

About The Endangered Species Act:

http://www.stopextinction.org/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_custom&cause_id=1704&page=stop



News and Updates:

http://www.stopextinction.org/





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 were drastically cut by a rewrite of planning regulations in 2008, under the previous administration. Not only were most of these changes illegal, they were outrageous because they turned the notion of “public” lands and the “public” trust on its head, by eliminating the role of the public. These rewrites threatened 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.

On June 30th, a judge in the 10th Federal Circuit overturned the Bush administration’s forest planning rules. A drastic weakening of existing planning regulations first implemented under Ronald Reagan, the new rules did not adequately protect wildlife or waterways, did not provide for adequate levels of public participation, and allowed vague guidelines to be substituted for enforceable standards. At this point, the Obama administration will have to determine what rules to use.

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.”



JULY 1, 2009

“U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilkin ruled in favor of a group of 14 environmental organizations that sued the U.S. Forest Service for essentially relaxing regulations in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.

“The decision means the Forest Service will have to reinstate rules protecting fish and wildlife and limiting logging in 150 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 192 million acres, including more than a dozen national forests in California.

“…The lawsuit said the regulations discarded the environmental standards envisioned by the 1976 act in favor of vague guidelines administered by local forest managers with little public oversight.

“Judge Wilkin ordered the Forest Service to reinstate regulations from either 1982 or 2000 that had specific protections for fish and wildlife.

http://wilderness.org/content/forest-service-must-reinstate-tougher-guidelines

[note the correct spelling is Wilken]