WVEC Action Alert

September 19, 2006

Forest Service ignores 13,000 public comments in its final Management Plan.  Contact West Virginia’s Congressional Delegation and ask them to support wilderness legislation! 

In their final forest management plan released on September 18th, the Forest Service has ignored the will of the owners of the forest it manages by changing almost nothing in their draft plan that was released for public comment in August of 2005.

See the plan online at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/plan_revision/Information/information.htm
Read the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition Press Release here.

A record number of nearly 13,000 individuals commented on the draft plan and over 90% firmly rejected the Forest Service’s ‘preferred’ Alternative 2 which recommends only a small amount of wilderness designations to Congress and opens up several of our backcountry areas that qualify for this designation to logging and road building.  The public almost unanimously favored Alternative 3 and/or the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition’s Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal, both of which recommend much more wilderness designations to Congress and protect all of the most important wild areas on the Mon.

Fortunately, the decision to protect wilderness, which only happens through federal legislation, is in the hands of West Virginia’s Congressional Delegation.  They need to hear from you that the public’s voice is not being heard by the Forest Service and that you want them to introduce legislation that goes above and beyond the insufficient recommendations in the MNF’s final plan.  Please write a letter to both Senators Byrd and Rockefeller as well as to your Representative who will be key in protecting areas that the Forest Service is ignoring.  Be sure to mention areas left out of the plan like Seneca Creek, East Fork of Greenbrier, Spice Run, Big Draft, and the Dolly Sods Expansion.  The more you personalize your letter, the more effective it will be.  Here are some talking points you could include:

  • The US Forest Service has ignored the will of the public in its final management plan and West Virginia needs you to fix this situation by sponsoring legislation that will protect all deserving areas as designated wilderness.
  • It is critical that we protect not only the areas recommended by the Forest Service, but also areas that the citizens’ groups and the public at large have identified as important and in need of protection.  Areas like Seneca Creek, East Fork of Greenbrier, the Dolly Sods Expansion, Spice Run and Big Draft have been ignored by the Forest Service but must be protected permanently.
  • The Forest Service plan does not recommend any wilderness in the Greenbrier Watershed which currently has no designated wilderness and is a source of drinking water for many West Virginians. 
  • Protected public land like wilderness helps diversify and stabilize economies by attracting and retaining new businesses, residents, and a local workforce, in addition to generating travel and tourism, one of the fastest growing sectors of West Virginia’s economy.
  • Wilderness provides unparalleled primitive and traditional outdoor recreation opportunities, such as hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, horseback riding, bird watching, whitewater rafting, kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, and much more.
  • Be sure to mention what activities if any you participate in on the Mon, particularly hunting and fishing

 Please send a letter or email to these decision makers today, even if you have written to them about wilderness in the past.  One letter copied to the Senators, your Representative and the Governor would be very powerful.

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd
311 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3954
Fax: (202) 228-0002
Email via webform: http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20510
(202) 224-6472
Fax: (202) 224-7665
Email:  senator@rockefeller.senate.gov

The Honorable Nick J. Rahall II:
 2307 Rayburn HOB    
Washington, DC  20515    
(202) 225-3452    
Fax (202) 225-9061
Email via webform: http://www.rahall.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=521&Itemid=162

The Honorable Alan Mollohan
2302 Rayburn House Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4172
Fax: (202) 225-7564

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
1431 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2711
Fax: (202) 225-7856
Email via webform: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ 

Governor Joe Manchin III
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, E.,
Charleston, WV 25305
Toll Free: 1-888-438-2731   
Email: Governor@WVGov.org