George Washington National Forest Plan Revision
April 2008: The Forest Service is now in the midst of revising its 15-year management plan for the George Washington National Forest. On April 11,2008, Jo Beth Brown of the Forest Service announced that the Forest Service "will resume the process of revising the George Washington Forest Plan." The Forest Service expects to start having meetings "early this summer." The agency has not formalized its schedule of public meetings yet. Initial drafts of the plan would give the Forest Service far greater leeway to log, build roads, and develop minerals on public lands (see www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/plan-home.shtml
). The current scheme also fails to protect special places that
the public would like to see protected, like the Toms Knob area,
the Great North Mountain area, Peters Mountain North special
biological area, and Paddy special biological area.
The 1.1 million acre GWNF covers much of mountainous northwestern
Virginia. It is a place with outstanding hiking trails, fishing
streams, old growth forests, black bear habitat, and more. The
GWNF is a remaining stronghold for southern Appalachian roadless
areas – possessing 35% of all such areas on Forest Service
lands.
We expect a series of meetings, perhaps as early as the summer of 2008, covering a variety of topics, including protection of wild areas/roadless areas, rare or unique wildlife, areas suitable for logging or other activities, eligible wild and scenic rivers, trails and recreation, and other topics. You
can learn more about future opportunities to get involved by
going to www.virginiaforestwatch.org
and reviewing “Our Land, Our Water, Our Home”; a white
paper on our long-term vision for the GWNF (and the accompanying
short brochure, "Forests for the Future"
). The website will also have updates on future meeting dates and
comment opportunities.
The GWNF Plan Revision would be launched under the Bush
administration’s 2008 Planning Regulations. On April 10,
2008, the Forest Service made its final decision on nationwide
planning regulations that, like the previous 2005 version,
substantially weaken wildlife protections and opportunities for
meaningful public participation. These regulations are
controversial and, immediately, on the next day, April 11, 2008,
were the subject of a lawsuit by fourteen conservation groups.
According to a recent article in the Environmental News Service,
"Under the Bush administration, the Forest Service attempted
to remove essentially all environmental safeguards for the
national forests with a new rule in 2005. In March 2007, however,
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
threw out the 2005 rule based on violations of the National
Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and
Administrative Procedure Act. The new Forest Service rule issued
earlier this month in response to the court's 2007 decision is
nearly identical to the 2005 rule, the plaintiffs say. The 2008
rule would eliminate the long-standing requirement to ensure
viable populations of fish and wildlife species. The new rule
decreases public participation in forest planning by allowing the
Forest Service to "categorically exclude" entire forest
plans from public review and environmental analysis
requirements." (http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2008/2008-04-11-092.asp.
See http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080410/NEWS03/780680823
for an Associated Press article).
In the midst of these changes and shifting schedules, it is
important for all members of the public who care about national
forests to keep focused on two major goals: protection of the
wildlands of the GWNF and the restoration of lands degraded by
past logging, roadbuilding, and extractive development. Let's get
to know our national forests better and speak out for them when
the time comes!
Roanoke Times March 7,
2007 Editorial: Under a new rule on the forests
- Roanoke Times Columnist Elizabeth Strother writes about the
George Washington NF Plan Revision and the new rules that will
guide the process.
A call to protect the
forest - an op-ed encouraging public involvement during the
George Washington NF Plan Revision written by VAFW's Sherman
Bamford. It appeared in the February 25, 2007 Roanoke Times.
Feb. 16, 2007: Conservationists call for ecological restoration on the George Washington National Forest - A broad coalition of conservation and forest-protection groups called on the U.S. Forest Service today to focus on protecting clean water, diverse wildlife habitat, old-growth forests and remote, wild areas, as well as prime recreation spots, in updating the long-range management plan for the 1.1 million-acre George Washington National Forest in western Virginia.
| Read Press Release | "Forests for the Future" - a brochure highlighting the Citizens Vision for the GWNF.
RESOURCES:
“Our Land, Our Water, Our Home” - a white
paper on our long-term vision for the GWNF
"Forests for the Future" - a brochure highlighting the Citizens Vision for the GWNF.
U.S. Forest Service Home Page http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/
and GW-JNF Plan Revision webpage http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml
Website by a coalition of Virginia groups working on the 10-15
year plan revision for the George Washington - http://www.forestsforthefuture.org
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