Be a George Washington/Jefferson National Forest monitor

Getting started

Initially, it is easy to get intimidated with the forest service bureaucracy. Don't! In no time, you will become an expert in the forest you are monitoring.

The U.S. Forest Service is part of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The basic organizational chart for the GW/JNF would be:

USDA - Secretary of Agriculture
Washington office - Chief of the Forest Service
Regional office (Region 8 - Atlanta) - Regional Forester
Supervisor's office (Roanoke) - Forest Supervisor
District office - District Ranger

Pick a district to monitor
In 1995, the administrations of the George Washington National Forest and the Jefferson National Forest merged to become one administration known as the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. However, each forest still has its separate forest plan.

The GW forest plan was approved in 1993. The JNF forest plan is currently under going the revision process. The combined GW-JNF comprises 1.8 million acres in Virginia, 125,387 acres in West Virginia, and 961 acres in Kentucky. The GW-JNF is divided into 8 ranger districts and one national recreation area. Each district is overseen by a "District Ranger"or “Area Ranger.” Pick a district of your forest to watch.


Write the Forest Supervisor
Write to the Forest Supervisor at the Roanoke office and request copies of the Management Area Map for the forest, the Forest Plan and the plan's EIS (Environmental Impact Statement). Also, request copies of the National Forest Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and the amendments of each Act. These are the principle laws governing the forest service.

Write the District Ranger
Write to the District Ranger of the district that you have chosen to monitor. Use this sample letter.
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Contact VAFW
See if anyone else is working on your forest. If not, we can help you get started.

1) From the Forest Supervisor, you will receive the Forest Plan, EIS, and the Management Area Map. The Forest Supervisor is required by law to provide these documents free of charge. The map is a map of the forest divided into numbered blocks. These blocks are management areas. The number in the block will correspond to a table in the Forest Plan and EIS which will describe the types of activities that are permitted in that area. The Forest Plan and EIS are thick management books full of charts and statistics. Read through the plan. Now, you have an idea of how the forest is managed.

2) From the District Ranger, you will receive Scoping Notices, Environmental Assessments, quarterly list of proposed activities.
Scoping Notices are the first stage in the "scoping process". The forest service will briefly outline a proposed activity. You then have around 30 days to respond with your comments and concerns. The Deadline for comments is listed near the end of the scoping letter. It is very important to express your concerns at this initial stage. This will give you some time to start gathering information on the area where the proposed activity is scheduled. The Forest Service will analyze the comments received.
They may decide this project is a "categorical exclusion", thus no environmental studies will be done. Hopefully, they will at least complete an Environmental Assessment. The Ranger will mail out an Environmental Assessment (EA), and a Record of Decision (ROD), and , most likely, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The EA is supposed to detail and discuss the considerations of alternatives to the proposed project, and to detail the environmental impacts of the alternatives.

This will help you get started. Please contact VAFW if you have any questions.