Charleston (WV) Gazette - Group plans to fight change in Mon Forest plan; Proposals would weaken protection of forest and allow more logging, environmentalists say
- Ken Ward

West Virginia environmental groups are gearing up to fight proposed changes they say will weaken protection of the Monongahela National Forest.

Later this week, the U.S. Forest Service is expected to formally issue its draft rewrite of the forests management plan.

Information about the proposal, though, was posted on the Internet last week.

We are extremely disappointed that the Forest Service is rolling back protection of the Mon,said Dave Saville, an activist with the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.

Under the umbrella group the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, the Highlands Conservancy and other organizations have been monitoring the issue since the Forest Service announced in June 2002 that it would rewrite the forests management plan.

The Monongahela, established in 1911, covers nearly 1 million acres in 10 counties. It is the fourth-largest national forest in the northeastern United States, and is within one-days drive of one-third of the nations population.

The current forest plan was published in January 1986 and was amended several times, most recently in 1992.

Under the new draft, the Forest Service would allow large increases in logging in the forest. The draft also includes new wilderness protections for four areas totaling 27,700 acres. Conservationists had hoped for more than a dozen new wilderness designations that would have totaled more than 137,000 acres.

Saville said, In the new draft plan, the Forest Service is proposing roughly 70 percent of the forest be placed in management prescriptions that allow logging and road construction, a sharp increase from current levels.

Popular protections for backcountry wildlife recreation areas would be abandoned,Saville said. As a result, a number of well-loved and currently protected areas, including parts of Canaan Mountain, Little Mountain, Lower Laurel Fork, Laurel Run and others would be opened up to potential logging.

As part of its campaign, the Wilderness Coalition is distributing briefing papers to media organizations across the state, seeking editorial support for stronger protection of the forest.

The group also is sending out colorful booklets about the Monongahela, urging the public to speak out on the issue.

The Mon is a rare gift from earlier generations,the booklet says. We see it as an invaluable reservoir of clean drinking water for our communities and a place for families to enjoy.

We see it also as an essential element to a thriving state economy,the booklet says.

But perhaps even more significantly, we increasingly see it to be a fragile oasis of calm and peace in a world where those values dwindle daily,it says. If we are wise and determined, we can pass it on safeguarded to our children.

Copies of the draft forest plan are available online here.

The public comment period for the draft plan runs from Aug. 12 to Nov. 14.

Comments can be sent to Monongahela National Forest, Attn: Forest Plan Revision, 200 Sycamore St., Elkins, WV 26241. They also can be e-mailed to [email protected], or faxed to (304) 637-0582.

The Forest Service also will hold five open houses to discuss the draft plan. The first is scheduled for Sept. 17 in Elkins. A complete schedule is available online at www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/plan_revision/Information/Issue_7.pdf. More information is available by calling (304) 636-1800.