Forest Service Drops Plan for ATV Trails
New trail system would have unacceptably harmed water resources
in the Clinch River watershed

The Forest Service has decided to drop plans to construct the 28-mile long Old Sawmill All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Trail System on the Jefferson National Forest in the remote Stock Creek watershed area south of Big Stone Gap, Virginia. After twice formally seeking public input and evaluating potential impacts of the trails, the Forest Service decided not to proceed, primarily because the trails would have “unacceptable” impacts on water resources and did not satisfy its criteria for new ATV areas.

In his October 3, 2005, decision, Clinch District Ranger Doug Jones explained that the agency’s analysis revealed a number of serious environmental concerns. The sensitive Stock Creek watershed is located a few miles upstream from dozens of federally-listed and rare freshwater mussels in the Clinch River, which is one of the most important centers of mussel diversity in the world.

“Public lands managers make decisions every day that affect the quality of our water resources. We congratulate the Forest Service for recognizing an opportunity to prevent unnecessary degradation to a priceless aquatic resource,” applauded Tracy Davids of the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, a citizens’ group that protects national forests and endangered species in the region. SABP participated in the public comment process and was responsible for securing critical habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act for many of the endangered freshwater mussels in the project area.

“In the long run there were no losers in this decision,” said Larry Pierson, a farmer in the watershed below the proposed trail system and a member of the Clinch Coalition. “It’s the future you have to look at here. The protection of this watershed will be a benefit to all citizens.”

Dropping the project will avoid further harm to already-impaired streams in the Stock Creek watershed, part of which is a stocked trout fishery. The trail system also would have disturbed a 900-acre tract of old-growth forest recognized as exceptional and unusual by the Virginia Department of Natural Heritage.

In comments to the Forest Service, Virginia Forest Watch, Sierra Club, and The Clinch Coalition expressed concerns about impacts of a new ATV trail system on wildlife, fishing, hunting, old growth forests, private landowners, hikers and non-motorized users, Virginia Natural Heritage recognized Special Biological Areas, and threatened and endangered aquatic species like mussels.

“The Stock Creek area is a 5,774 acre backcountry area. Although not roadless, it is certainly rugged and remote, and is one of the only large areas in this corner of southwest Virginia with few open roads. The Stock Creek area is unrivalled for scenic beauty and high-quality habitat for wildlife. All this would have been lost if a motorized trail had been opened in this watershed. In the end, biologists, soils scientists, hydrologists and professionals from several federal and state agencies came to the conclusion that the development of this ATV trail system would have serious negative impacts on multiple resources. We're glad the Forest Service evaluated the proposal with full public participation and took actions to safeguard the resources of the national forest,” Sherman Bamford, who is the Public Lands Coordinator for Virginia Forest Watch and a volunteer for the Sierra Club.

The Stock Creek watershed is a “Priority Watershed” under the recently revised Jefferson National Forest plan and so is managed to restore and protect water quality, aquatic habitat and federally-listed and sensitive aquatic species. “We commend the Forest Service for protecting water quality and the unique aquatic resources in Stock Creek and the Clinch River and for adhering to the revised plan,” said Sarah Francisco, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

For all these reasons, District Ranger Jones dropped the proposed Old Sawmill ATV Trail and is not considering alternative proposals in that area because they all “have a high potential to affect the sensitive aquatic systems downstream. Opportunities to reduce the impacts would result in diminishing the trail system to a level that would not meet our recreation demand or our need to prevent illegal use.”

The trails would have had to avoid sensitive resources, including a large beaver wetland. Also, plans to use old forest roads not currently part of the official road system proved unworkable, because the roads were located too close to streams and could not be moved because of the steep slopes in the area.

“The National Environmental Policy Act requires the Forest Service to ask the public for guidance and to consider all available information in its decision-making process. In this case, the available information overwhelmingly tipped the scale against implementing this particular project.” Tammy Belinsky, staff attorney with WildLaw.

####

Larry Pierson, Scott County Farmer 276-940-2022

Tracy Davids, Director, Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project 828-258-2667 tracy@sabp.net

Sarah Francisco, Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center 434-977-4090 sfrancisco@selcva.org

Tammy Belinsky, Attorney, WildLaw 540-929-4222 wildlaw@rev.net

More info: Read Clinch Ranger District Doug Jones' Oct. 03, 2005 determination letter