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NORTH RIVER RANGER DISTRICT
(formerly Dry River and Deerfield Ranger Districts)
Elwood Burge, District Ranger
401 Oakwood Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
ph. (540) 432-0187
updated: February 8,
2007
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Elliott
Knob Roadless Area
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CURRENT AND UPCOMING
Big Run timber sale - This 350 acre logging
project is proposed in the Hearthstone Lake area west of Staunton
and Harrisonburg. Sixty-five percent (227 acres) of the cutting
acreage is porposed in an area (with some possible unroaded
inclusions) between the 10,109 acre Little River Inventoried
Roadless Area and Tillman Road in Augusta County. Call or write
North River RD, 401 Oakwood Dr., Harrisonburg, Va. 22801, ph.
(540) 432-0187 & fax (540) 432-1917 to express your concern.
Fox Grape timber project – 263 acres of
proposed logging near the town of Goshen. The project is located
in a management prescription area, part of 91,000 acres on the
GWNF where logging is emphasized over most other uses. Some
cutting units may also lie within or near a scenic corridor that
is in the foreground of Rt 42, an outstanding scenic route on the
GWNF. The project is also located in the watershed of the
Calfpasture River and Cold Sulphur Springs Branch. The Forest
Service plans to convert an unauthorized road to official use as
part of this project. Call or write North River RD, 401 Oakwood
Dr., Harrisonburg, Va. 22801, ph. (540) 432-0187 & fax (540)
432-1917 to express your concern.
Hickory Hollow timber project - 70 acre logging
project in the Spurs area of Bath County near the Wild and Scenic
- eligible Cowpasture River. The Forest Service is expected to be
taking initial comments on this proposal soon.
Rocky Run Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Route Relocation
- In 1996, a 1/5 mile portion of an OHV trail along Rocky Run was
damaged by flooding and the Forest Service determined the section
could not be used again without causing drastic damage. Now the
FS is considering relocating the motorized trail a short distance
from the original OHV route and stream, and reopening the route.
The segment is part of a larger loop that funnels OHVs through
portions of (1.) a special management area on Shenandoah Mtn. and
(2.) through an area classified as "remote habitat for
wildlife" by the Forest Service. The Forest Service took
initial comments on this project in the summer of 2003 and again
in the summer of 2005.
Road Maintenance – Augusta, Bath, Highland,
and Rockbridge Counties. Various alternatives of “maintaining
road corridors” are being considered.
Back Draft and Ramsey prescribed burns –
burning on 3000 acres at Walker Mountain and Great North
Mountain.
Deerfield prescribed burns – burning on
1,430 acres in the Wallace Tract, Marshall Tract, Augusta
Springs, Ingram Draft, Rail Hollow, Phillips Spring, and Hog
Back.
Dry River prescribed burns – burning on
19,125 acres in Augusta, Highland, Rockingham, and Pendleton
Counties.
Hite Hollow and Chestnut Oak Flat prescribed burns
– burning on 600 acres on Great North Mountain near Forest
Road 82.
Various Trail Projects - provide replacement
access or improved locations for several non-motorized trails.
RECENT
Sugar Run timber project - A 518 acre timber
sale in Pendleton County, West Virginia with 2.3 miles of
roadbuilding in the flats along Little Fork, Seng Run, Sugar Run,
Thorny Run, and George Run just below Bother Knob and the 7313
acre Dry River Roadless Area.
Signal Corps Knob timber project - SIGNAL CORPS KNOB LOGGING
PROPOSAL - UPDATE: SIGNAL CORPS KNOB PROJECT DROPPED on
April 27th!: It is a
rare occasion when the Forest Service chooses "No
Action." From the time that this project was first
announced, Wild Virginia, Virginia Forest Watch and local
citizens had serious concerns about how the 230 acre timber sale
would affect the unique values of the area, including: remote
wildlife habitat, extremely steep slopes, old growth forest, and
trails. Thanks to diligent work by conservationists and thanks to
environmental laws now in place, such as the National
Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the Forest Service looked at
the Signal Corps Knob logging project deliberately before
proceeding. Ultimately the Forest Service decided not to proceed
with this project in a highly inappropriate area. NEPA is a
landmark environmental law that works! Let's defend it.
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Cutting unit in Cold Springs timber sale
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Cold Springs timber project - In June 2005, the
Forest Service approved the Cold Springs timber sale, an
even-aged logging and thinning project in the rich flats to the
northwest of Elliott Knob. There were several braided streams and
complex riparian areas in or near several of the cutting units.
Two cutting units were located very close to the boundary of the
Elliott Knob RARE II roadless area and one unit may have been
partially within it. In August 2005, following appeals by three
conservation groups (including Virginia Forest Watch), the Forest
Service was willing to engage the public in a constructive
dialogue in an attempt to resolve these concerns. As a result,
the only even-aged cutting unit (663-15) between Forest Service
Road 77 and the Elliott Knob inventoried roadless area will not
be logged. A portion of this area is in or adjacent to the
Elliott Knob RARE II area and we believe that the remaining
portion is part of an uninventoried roadless area. A second
cutting unit (665/11) with a braided stream and complex riparian
area in it will not be logged. This unit has one of the most
significant and sizeable riparian areas in the project. The
Forest Service also formally incorporated promises it had made
regarding riparian area conservation and aquatic species
conservation into binding mitigation measures. The compromise
reached does not fully satisfy the need to protect the
biologically diverse, low-lying forests to the northwest of
Forest Service Road 77 (which have already been heavily logged
and roaded) - or some other concerns.
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Stream below cutting unit in Cold Springs timber sale
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However, in the Cold Springs project resolution, the Forest
Service took strong steps to protect better roadless areas and
riparian areas. We welcome legitimate efforts improve a project
and make it reflect the values of the local community. As
Americans, we are guaranteed the right the right to have a
"say" before the government moves forward with a
potentially destructive project because of the National
Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), a law that has been in
effect for over 30 years. We are glad that the Forest Service and
the public took the effort and time to listen to each other and
resolve their differences in this instance - just as we have seen
in the past on other occasions.
Trout Branch timber project - Approved 70 acres
of logging near the eastern side of the Elliott Knob RARE II
(roadless) area. Virginia Forest Watch appealed this project in
August 2005.
Sidling Hill timber project - Approximately 80
acres of logging on Sidling Hill near the Calfpasture River and
Marble Valley. VAFW joined with other citizens and neighboring
landowners in negotiations with the Forest Service in order to
better protect riparian forests at Sidling Hill.
Roadside herbicide spraying - There are thousand
of miles of roads on the George Washington and Jefferson National
Forests. This vast road system negatively affects wildlife,
soils, and watersheds, and provides prime areas for the spread
and introduction of non-native plants. Selected, unneeded roads
could be closed to reduce the spread of non-native plants and
other problems. Instead, the Deerfield Ranger District proposes
spraying 132 miles of the ranger district's roads with toxic
herbicides such as glysophate, triclopyr, and other substances.
Schoolhouse Road timber project - logging near
Sugar Grove, W. Va. A decision has already been signed. Wild
Virginia and SABP are appealing this West Virginia project.
Grindstone Timber Sale - Five years ago, the
original proposal for this project included hundreds of acres of
logging and approx. 5 miles of roadwork on Walker Mtn., just
north of Marble Valley Special Management Area. Wild Virginia
appealed this project.
Chestnut Oak Knob-Grouse Timber Sale - Approved
clearcut logging (combined with old cutting units) would nearly
encircle Chestnut Oak Knob. There is already 641 acres of
recently logged forest (0-40 years old) in the area, but the
Forest Service wants to log even more. Forest Service public
relations campaigns dating to the early 1990s claimed that the
agency was reducing the amount of clearcutting it was doing on
public lands. In reality, the reduction was only a change of
euphemisms, because, at the time, it was still doing a lot of
other types of even-aged logging, with many of the same impacts.
Now the FS is reviving the practice of clearcutting under the
guise of so-called "grouse" logging projects. Chestnut
Oak Knob-Grouse is one of a trio of clearcut logging proposals
labeled as "grouse" timber sales in the George
Washington and Jefferson National Forests (joining the Powell
Mtn. II project in the Clinch RD and the Cripple Creek Grouse
project in the Mt. Rogers NRA). The Chestnut Oak Knob project
decision approves 94 acres of clearcutting and over a mile of
road construction in an area just north of Crawford Mtn. Roadless
Area and just east of Ramseys Draft Wilderness Area.
Farrow Hollow Timber Sale - Proposal for
possible "clearcutting, modified shelterwood logging,
overstory removal" and other logging on 150 acres upstream
from the Calfpasture River and Lake Merriweather in Rockbridge
County. The Forest Service approved this project in an appeal
decision in April 2004.
Sugartree - In 2002, the FS approved 216 acres
of logging and vegetation-clearing just outside of the
Jerkemtight Roadless Area. The Forest Service chose a form of
highgrading - removing trees from the best sites - here. Many of
the cutting units are located deep draws with notable old growth
and large trees. Even before this project was approved, FS
logging in the vicinity of the project denuded long strips of
richest ravines and streamside forests elsewhere, as VAFW members
have observed in 2001 field visits. In 2002, Virginia Forest
Watch joined a Shendandoah Ecosystems Defense Project appeal of
the project.
Liptrap Timber Sale - Additional information plus photos
- 287 acres of logging just outside of Elliot Knob Roadless Area.
Maybe Timber Sale- even-aged logging ofi stands
that are, according to Forest Service CISC records, 90+, 100+,
130, 140, 150, and 200 yrs old or older. The 130 acre logging
project is located high on the slopes of the northernmost section
of Shenandoah Mountain in Virginia. Virginia Forest Watch and
other groups appealed this project; the Forest Service allowed
the project to proceed in an appeal decision in September
2004. North River Timber Sale - A proposed timber project at a
popular recreation area beside the North River. The FS proposes
logging white pines and artificially planted red pines here. The
FS claims that root disease is affecting some of the planted
stands, but logging is known to worsen root disease in many
cases. The over half of the project area consists of a riparian
area and many of the cutting units appear to be close to the
North River. SEDG and Virginia Forest Watch appealed this
decision.
Hogpen Mtn Rd - Proposed closure of a road along
Long Creek that is contributing high amounts of sediment to the
stream. The initial comment period for this project occurred
summer 2003.
Canbe Timber Sale - 163 acre timber sale near
the Little Dry River. The FS plans to close 1 mile of road, but
the benefits of this will be lost because, as part of the same
project, the FS also plans build an additional 0.8 mi. of roads.
Some of the sale area is potential habitat for the rare Cow Knob
salamander. Potential old growth could be affected by this
project, but the FS failed to adequately consider old growth and
even failed to document how old the trees are in the area.
Virginia Forest Watch joined a fall 2002 appeal of this project
by Shenandoah Ecosystems Defense Groups and other groups.
Dice Run Timber Sale - 126 acres of logging on
the northwest side of Shenandoah Mtn. in Pendleton Co., West
Virginia. Decision approved by the FS in January 2003.
Jerkemtight Roadless
Area
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