George Washington National Forest Plan Revision

Jan. 30, 2009: Send Comments on GW National Forest Plan Revision Help protect and preserve the Natural Wonders and Ecological Integrity of the George Washington National Forest. - a notice from our friends at the Sierra Club.

GWNF Forest Plan Revision Review with the Forest Service - The Forest Service is revising its management plan for the George Washington National Forest. This plan will determine what level of protection local treasures such as Massanutten, Big Schloss, and Shenandoah Mountain receive. A strong management plan would recommend permanent protection of these areas with Wilderness, National Scenic Area, or National Recreation Area status. A weak management plan would endanger old growth forests and pristine watersheds by opening them to logging and natural gas extraction. Come tell the Forest Service that you want to protect our last great places in Virginia. Let's show the Forest Service how important this resource is to Northern Virginians and all Virginians.
You can view the Forest Service's web site for this review process at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml
Date and Time - Thursday evening, March 12th @ 6:45 pm - 9:00 pm. The presentation will start at 7:00 pm but come at 6:45 to view the maps.
Location - NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association) Building at 4301 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22203. It's near the intersection of Wilson Blvd and Glebe Rd, one block from the Ballston Metro stop on the Orange Line. After-hours free parking is available in the building's parking garage, which is entered on Taylor St.
Directions to the facility can be found at: http://www.nreca.org/ContactUs/directions.htm

The Forest Service has been holding public meetings on a schedule of roughly 2 meetings a month since July. Earlier meetings included important discussions on roadless and wild areas and road and trail access. Upcoming meetings are scheduled as follows:


FOREST PLAN COMPONENTS (Fitting the workshops and other information together toward a Draft Plan)

Upcoming meetings: Thursday, February 5, Time: 6:30-9:00 p.m., The location of the February 5, 2009 public workshop has been changed to W.W. Robinson Elementary School, 1231 Susan Avenue, Woodstock, VA. This is located next door to the Middle School.

Please attend these meetings if you can. It is important to express your ideas to the Forest Service. Comments about the Plan via letters, emails, phone calls and faxes are critical. The Forest Service will continue accepting comments for the remainder of 2008 and possibly beyond. Comments should be sent to the George Washington-Jefferson National Forests Headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia. Please contact the Forest Service Mailing address: Maureen Hyzer, Forest Supervisor, George Washington National Forest,162 Valleypointe Parkway, Roanoke, VA 24019-3050 Email address: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us (Please write "Comment on George Washington Plan Revision" in the subject line of your post.) Fax numbers:(540) 265-5145(540) 265-5109

You can keep up to date by checking http://www.virginiaforestwatch.org/revisionplan.html and http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml

Two more public meetings for revising the Forest Plan of the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) have been set for October 29 and 30. Details are in the box below, as posted on the GWNF website. The topic of both meetings will be road and trail access. Please attend meetings or write to the Forest Service.


Key Points to Raise:


1.) ROADS: There are approx. 1,872 miles of roads on the George Washington, and as of 2003, the road maintenance backlog for the combined GW/Jefferson was about $19.34 million. (USFS, Fiscal Year 2004 Forest Service Budget Justification (2003)). The maintenance backlog has undoubtedly gone up since this last report was released, due to continued low levels of agency funding and continued roadbuilding in the interim. This costly roads maintenance backlog should be improved by decommissioning unneeded roads or converting them to non-motorized trails. Roads that are negatively impacting watersheds, soils, native plant diversity, and wildlife should be decommissioned, where appropriate, as well. A reasonably rapid timetable, with benchmarks, should be implemented in order to ensure that the Forest Service substantially reduces unneeded road mileage over the course of the next 10-15 years.


2.) ROADS: In order to protect remote habitat for wildlife, black bears, wild turkey, and other wildlife, the Forest Service currently uses so-called road density requirements as a roads management tool. These road density requirements also have other benefits, including protecting the recreation experience, protecting water quality in important watersheds, and ensuring peace and quiet for surrounding neighbors. Road density requirements should remain part of the desired condition for areas now specifically managed for Bear, Turkey, Grouse, and other wildlife. Indeed, they should be strengthened and should become binding standards. Before changing any road density requirements, the Forest Service should use peer-reviewed research and local studies to determine what the adequate or optimal road density levels are for key species of wildlife. Black bears are one such keystone species. A thorough landscape-wide analysis of all threats to black bears, (including the impacts of new road construction, four-lane highways, residential and other development outside of national forests) should be part of the research utilized. When we think of the Appalachians, one of the first things that comes to mind is the black bear. Black bears were nearly wiped out by the early 20th century and were brought back from the brink, with careful efforts, over subsequent decades. Let's not throw away the gains we've made by creating new roads or opening too many areas to vehicle traffic on Forest Service lands without a thoughtful analysis first.


3.) TRAILS: If you have favorite trails on the George Washington NF, cite examples of non-motorized trail(s) on the George Washington National Forest that you are familiar with. We must ensure that key non-motorized trails are recognized, adequately maintained, and have fully protected viewsheds and corridors. Some trails that you might mention include the Appalachian Trail, the Alleghany Trail, the Tuscarora Trail, the proposed Great Eastern Trail, the North Mtn Trail (Lee District), the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, the Wild Oak Trail, the Dowells Draft Trail, Rader Mtn Trail, Slate Springs Trail, Bother Ridge Trail, Chestnut Ridge Trail, Grooms Ridge Trail, Sand Spr. Mtn Trail, Timber Ridge Trail, Lookout Mtn Trail, the Little Stony Trail, the Shaws Ridge Trail, the Crawford Mountain Trail, the Chimney Hollow Trail, the North Mtn. Trail (North River District), Walker Mtn. Trail (#488), Paddy Knob Trail, Bogans Run Trail, Warm Springs Mtn. Trail, Piney Ridge Trail, Little Mare Mtn Trail, Brushy Ridge Trail, Beards Mtn Trail, Dry Run Trail, White Rocks Tower Trail, North Mtn Trail (James River District), Oliver Mtn Trail, Jerrys Run Trail, Bat Lick Trail, Signal Knob Trail, Massanutten Mtn Trail, Duncan Hollow Trail, Roaring Run Trail, Mills Cr Trail, Kennedy Ridge Trail, and Whetstone Ridge Trail. But there are many others. Please talk about your favorite spots!
Background information about the meetings should be posted soon at the GWNF website, www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml. Information on previous meetings and the planning process for the GWNF can also be found there.

Please attend one or both meetings if you can. It is important to express your ideas to the Forest Service.

Comments about the Plan via letters, emails, phone calls and faxes are critical. The Forest Service will continue accepting comments for the remainder of 2008 and possibly beyond. Comments should be sent to the George Washington-Jefferson National Forests Headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia. Please contact the Forest Service:


Mailing address:
Maureen Hyzer, Forest Supervisor
George Washington National Forest
5162 Valleypointe Parkway
Roanoke, VA 24019-3050

Email address:
comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us
(Please write "Comment on George Washington Plan Revision" in the subject line of your post.)

Fax numbers:
(540) 265-5145
(540) 265-5109

Phone numbers:
(888) 265-0019
(540) 265-5100

Two Public Meetings regarding Roadless Areas on the George Washington National Forest have been scheduled for September. More information and Issues to Raise

Issues to raise on George Washington National Forest Plan Revision - Comments were due Aug. 8, 2008.

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