WVEC Action Alert

February 16, 2006

Help stop the anti-wilderness movement in the WV legislature!

Dear Friend of West Virginia’s Wild Places:

We need your help!  Although concerned West Virginians were successful in getting a resolution in the state legislature that opposes any new wilderness designations on the Monongahela National Forest taken off of the Senate Natural Resource Committee’s agenda this week, it is only a postponement.  This harmful resolution (SCR 13 ) will be on the committee’s agenda next Monday so we need to act today! 

The good news is you now have some time to let committee members know that West Virginians support protecting special places in the Mon through wilderness designation.  We need to keep the pressure on and there are a number of ways we can do that:

  • Please call Senator John Pat Fanning’s office (304-357-7867) to tell him to oppose SCR 13 and not to put it on his committee’s agenda. 
  • Call or email the other members of the Natural Resources Committee (listed below) if any of them is your Senator, and tell him/her to oppose SCR 13 which will likely come up in that committee next week, (click here to find out who your senator is:)
  • Join us and attend the committee meeting next week at the state capitol.  The meeting will be on Monday, February 20 at 1:00 pm in 208W.  We’ll meet at ‘the Well’ on the first floor under the dome at 12:45 and walk down to the meeting together.  A large presence will send a strong message to committee members and may convince them to back down. If you have questions about this meeting please contact Matt Keller (matt_keller@tws.org or 304-864-5530)

Senate Natural Resource Committee Members
Senator Fanning (Chair) 304-357-7867 cglagola@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Randy White (Vice Chair) - 304-357-7906 crwhite@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Edwin Bowman - 304-357-7918 jwazell1@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Tracy Dempsey - 304-357-7939 tracyd@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Shirley Love - 304-357-7849 shlove@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Brooks McCabe - 304-357-7990 brmccabe@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Roman Prezioso -304-357-7961 cglagola@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Clark Barnes - 304-357-7973 cbarnes@mail.wvnet.edu
Senator Don Caruth - 304-357-7854 dcaruth@mail.wvnet.edu

Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 (SCR 13), the anti-wilderness resolution is bad for West Virginia’s environment, economy and future.  Here are just a few reasons to oppose SCR 13:

1.       IT IGNORES THE WISHES OF WEST VIRGINIANS  Record numbers of West Virginias recently commented on the Forest Service’s new plan for the Mon – 15,000 total comments.  The overwhelming majority of comments (over 90 percent) called for more wilderness with many of them highlighting special places that should be designated as wilderness including, Dolly Sods North, the Cranberry Wilderness Expansion, Roaring Plains, Seneca Creek, Spice Run and Big Draft. SCR 13 could prevent these places from being protected

2.       IT WILL LIMIT THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOURISM ECONOMY Hundreds-of-thousands-of-outdoor enthusiasts come to the Mon every year to enjoy our world-class recreational opportunities.  Many of those are found in the Mon’s remaining roadless wild areas.  Hunters, anglers, backpackers, horse packers hikers and campers all flock to the Mon’s wilderness areas – special places loved by people throughout the state and the region like Dolly Sods and the Cranberry Wilderness. SCR 13 could prevent us from ensuring that other wild areas on the forest are permanently protected and will ultimately limit recreational opportunities on the forest.  According to a recent study conducted for the WV Division of Tourism, Tourism is growing at a rate of 11.4% since 2004, making it the fastest growing sector of our economy

3.       WILDERNESS WILL NOT AFFECT TIMBER OR REVENUE RECEIVED BY COUNTIES
Designating additional wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest would have absolutely NO impact on logging on private lands, which produce over 95% of West Virginia’s commercially-harvested timber.  The Forest Service reports that timber from the Monongahela National Forest supplies a mere 3.2% of the state’s timber harvest.  The majority of land in the Monongahela National Forest being considered for wilderness protections has already been out of the timber base (not available for logging) for the past 18 years. 

Because wilderness designations can only occur on existing federal lands they do not change land ownership and therefore do not affect Federal PILT payments or other revenue sources going to counties.  All counties containing proposed wilderness areas get a fixed amount of revenue (“county payments”) because they contain Mon forest lands, regardless of how many trees are cut on the national forest.

Wilderness protection is simply a way to keep well-loved wild places in the Monongahela National Forest just the way they are.  SCR 13 would unwisely and unfairly restrict our ability to conserve West Virginia’s spectacular wild country and pass it along to future generations.
Please Oppose Senate Concurrent Resolution 13

Thanks and stay tuned!

Matt Keller
Campaign Coordinator

West Virginia Wilderness Coalition
Phone: (304)864-5530
Fax: (304)864-3391
mattk@tws.org
http://www.wvwild.org