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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/
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To learn more about -
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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]
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