Forests: Lumber, Landfill, or Living Legacy?

Roanoke Times Op-Ed: Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

Sherman Bamford

Bamford is the public lands coordinator of Virginia Forest Watch and a volunteer member of the Sierra Club.


For the third time in a row, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests were named among America's 10 most endangered forests. No other forests in the lower 48 states have been named three times. The listing was announced in the new report, "America's Endangered National Forests: Lumber, Landfill, or Living Legacy?" ("State's national forests among the endangered," Oct. 12). The report, published by a nationwide coalition of grassroots groups, can be viewed at www.virginiaforestwatch.org.

Spanning the western edge of Virginia and neighboring states, the two national forests provide a backdrop for our daily lives. We rarely contemplate this 1.8 million acre gift to us from previous generations. And we rarely reflect upon the threats to this important piece of public land.

But imagine. More miles of the Appalachian Trail pass through our state than any other state -- much of it traversing our national forests. The drinking water for numerous communities across Western Virginia originates in our national forests. More wild, unroaded acres are found in Virginia's national forests than those of any state east of the Mississippi River. These national forests are places for quiet reflection, places for family gatherings, and places of refuge for dozens of unique, disturbance-sensitive wildlife and plants -- including freshwater mussels, salamanders, flying squirrels and other species.

All of this is nearby -- a gift that should be treasured and protected.

Unfortunately, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests face many threats, including over 4,000 miles of roads; increasing logging; incursions in unroaded areas, logging in old-growth forests; gas development in Southwestern Virginia; and off-highway vehicle use in sensitive environments. For example:

The agency still carries out road building and industrial logging, reaching ever further into the more pristine areas of the national forests. Even sensitive lands below the Arnold Valley overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway are now classified as areas where logging is promoted above other uses.

The new Jefferson National Forest Plan Revision, approved last year, allows logging and roadbuilding well above recent levels across much of the forest. The adjacent George Washington National Forest's plan revision is scheduled to begin soon and citizens are concerned that protections will be weakened there also. Forest Service officials are contemplating a "categorical exclusion" for the forest plan, which will greatly hinder the public's ability to participate in the development of the new plan. Categorical exclusions are typically reserved for only small, non-controversial projects.

This spring, the Bush administration acted to undo the popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule, ignoring earlier promises it made to uphold the rule. As a result, 81 percent of Virginia's 387,674 acres of roadless areas could be placed in management designations that allow roadbuilding and/or logging.

We are already seeing timber projects in several highly deserving roadless areas that have not been formally recognized or protected by the agency. For example, parts of Big Schloss and Barbours Creek RARE II areas, some of the first roadless areas identified by the Forest Service, will soon be logged. The Toms Branch timber sale, visible from a large outcrop near the edge of Barbours Creek wilderness, is part of an unprotected portion of the Barbours Creek RARE II area.

We are also seeing logging in majestic old growth forests. According to the Forest Service's own Regional Old Growth Guidance, "old growth forests are rare or largely absent in the southeastern forests of the United States," comprising only 1/2 of 1 percent of total forest acreage. Amazing old growth 130- to 315-years-old was logged in the Hoover Creek timber sale. A special report on Hoover Creek can be viewed at www.virginiaforestwatch.org. And logging of old growth has occurred in elsewhere on the forest -- including the Peters Mountain North, Overly Run, Parkers Gap, Johnson Mountain, and Sugartree areas.

Destructive, off-highway vehicles are a growing problem in sensitive environments, and have been named as the No. 1 law enforcement problem on the national forests.

Gas drilling is also a major threat. Equitable Resources of Pennsylvania has proposed a gas development that would crisscross some three-quarters of the North Fork of the Pound Roadless area, just above the drinking water supply for the town of Pound, Va. Under the new Jefferson National Forest Plan revision, 72 percent of the forest is open to oil and gas leasing and exploration.

There are two steps you can take to protect Virginia's national forests. Please write your senator and representative and ask them to support the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act of 2005 (HR 1975 and S 942), if they have not already done so. The bill would protect 55,000 acres of Southwest Virginia's national forests as wilderness and national scenic areas.

Please also write the governor of Virginia and ask him to advocate for the full protection of all of Virginia's roadless areas.