WVEC Action Alerts

January 12, 2005

Below:

Contact the Forest Service Now to Protect the Mon!  

Looking for a good way to mark the New Year?

Monongahela National Forest Plan Revision Enters Critical Period -- Contact the Forest Service Now to Protect the Mon!  

West Virginians now have a rare opportunity to help shape the future of one of the state’s most important natural treasures, the Monongahela National Forest.  The “Mon” is rewriting its land management plan, the legal document that determines how the forest can—and can’t—be used (or abused) by the Forest Service. 

The new plan will direct the kinds of management that take place on the land – ranging from wilderness and wildlife protection to logging, road construction, mineral and gas drilling, pesticide application, and other destructive practices.

The Forest Service is entering a critical period in its planning. Hundreds of West Virginians have already let the Forest Service know that they love to hunt, fish, bike, and hike in the Mon, and want to see its forested backcountry and streams protected. As the Forest Service enters the last critical months before a draft plan is released, it is important that they hear that message again loud and clear from West Virginians and others throughout the region. Talking points and Forest Supervisor Clyde Thompson’s contact information are at the end of this message.  

Forest Service Planning Update

For over a year now, the Forest Service has been quietly weighing its options for the Mon’s future.  Several critical issues are currently being considered that will determine the forest’s future for decades to come.  Will the agency decide to allow logging in important backcountry recreation and habitat areas that are currently protected from logging?  Will the Forest Service propose more wilderness areas for the Forest?  Will old growth forests be protected?  Will streams and rivers be protected?

And while the agency is addressing these key questions, it is also trying to amend this plan with a minimum of public engagement.  The Forest Service plans to release a draft of the plan by late spring. All of which means that important decisions are quietly being shaped now and now is the time to let the Monongahela National Forest hear from WV conservationists who believe:

  • The Mon as an oasis of natural forests and clean drinking water in the state and want it to stay that way,   
  • Local businesses and communities will benefit more from protecting the natural heritage and recreational opportunities that the Mon provides, than from increased logging,
  • The Forest Service should provide more wilderness and stronger – not weaker – protection of special areas, recreation opportunities and wildlife habitats.

 Backcountry Protection

For the first time in 20 years, the Forest Service is considering the fate of currently protected areas such as Cranberry Backcountry, Tea Creek Mountain, and Seneca Creek backcountry.  These special places are called “6.2 Areas” by the Forest Service.  These 6.2 Areas are among some of the Forest’s most special places and they are currently off-limits to logging and road construction.  These areas are popular because they provide important hiking, hunting and camping opportunities for people and strong fish and wildlife habitat protections as well.

The Forest Service will decide whether it will continue these protections as they are now, expand them to other areas, or eliminate them entirely for some areas under the guise of habitat “restoration.”  Eliminating these protections means the agency could allow logging, road building, and damage to streams and sensitive wildlife.

Logging in the name of “restoration” will jeopardize the special benefits [recreation, drinking water, and wildlife] this Forest offers West Virginians and others. Now is the time to tell the Forest Service that is should keep current “6.2” protections in place and expand them to other special places, not reduce them. 

More Wilderness in WV

Wilderness designation by Congress is another tool to protect important wild lands on the Forest.  Working together as the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, WV Chapter of the Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society have identified 15 special places on the Mon Forest that deserve permanent protection as congressionally designated Wilderness.  Please tell the Forest Service that is should be recommending Wilderness designation for the 15 special areas identified by the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, to safeguard them for the use and benefit of many generations of West Virginians and others in the future.  For more information about Wilderness in West Virginia, visit the Coalition’s web site at www.wvwild.org.

TAKE ACTION: Make Your Voice Heard

West Virginians who care about the state of their native forests need to get involved now.

Using your own words as much as possible, please tell Supervisor Thompson that you think the Mon Forest and the citizens of West Virginia will be best served if the Forest Service:

  1.  Recommends wilderness designation for the 15 areas supported by the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition [www.wvwild.org].  Designation as wilderness would ensure that these areas are protected from logging, road construction, and commercial exploitation for the benefits of future generations.
  2. Protects all remaining 6.2 Areas from all logging and road construction and extend this protection to other special areas of the Forest, including Falls of Hills Creek and Gauley Mountain. 
  3. Protects remaining Old Growth on the Forest and allow more to naturally regenerate in the future.
  4. Protects streams, rivers and watersheds from damage from logging and road construction with strong management guidelines.
Send your letters to: 

Clyde Thompson
Forest Supervisor
Monongahela National Forest
200 Sycamore Street
Elkins, WV 26241 

or email cnthompson@fs.fed.us  

 Remaining Questions?:

Contact Dave Saville of the WV Highlands Conservancy at (304) 284-9548 or daves@labyrinth.net or Mary Wimmer of the Sierra Club at mwimmer@hsc.wvu.edu.

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Looking for a good way to mark the New Year?

Be Part of Something Renewed!

Come to the first meeting of the newly reorganized Sierra Club Charleston Group!

Watch excerpts of “Kilowatt Ours,” an engaging and hopeful documentary about our energy problems and viable solutions that you can be a part of (www.kilowattours.org). Learn about new efforts to strengthen the local base of Sierra Club membership and activities.  Meet other people in the community interested in cleaning up our communities and protecting our wild places.

When:   Thursday, January 13 at 7pm
Where:  South Charleston Public Library
312 4th Ave, South Charleston

Contact: Group Chair Tom Blankenship at 610-7714 or captain.mercury@gmail.com or the Sierra Club office at 342-3182 or anna.sale@sierraclub.org

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