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 Send
your comments
here -- it's easy! (Please make sure you personalize the letter you send;
give the reasons why *you* think the Mon should be protected.)
Background: On Friday, Aug. 12, the Monongahela National
Forest issued a draft plan for how it will be managed for the next decade or
more.
We have
the unique
opportunity
to influence how this valuable resource is to be managed. The Forest has offered
up four different visions for our Monongahela, they range from current management
to a timber industry dream world. It is up to us to guide the forest managers
to support the values of a wild forest that we share. The plans break down
like this:
Alternative 1: under the process by which
these plans are changed one alternative has to be a no change alternative.
That is Alternative One. It recommends no
change in current wilderness acres, making it unacceptable.
Alternative 2: This
is the Forest Service’s Preferred Alternative. We
do not prefer it. The West Virginia Wilderness Coalition has identified 15
areas in the Mon as having wilderness quality - Alternative 2 recommends only
one, and parts of two others . The Seneca Creek Backcountry was not even recommended.
Many currently protected roadless areas are opened to logging and roadbuilding.
This alternative fails to protect our forest.
Alternative 3: While not perfect, it does a much
better job of protecting the forest. It will protect watersheds providing flood
protection, drinking
water and fisheries protection. It will safeguard wildlife habitat for our
forest friends, especially those requiring canopy cover. It values backcountry
recreation, enhancing the experience of hikers, backpackers, mountain bikers,
hunters and anglers. Importantly, Alternative 3 recommends as wilderness 11
of the 15 areas recommended by the WV Wilderness Coalition.
Alternative 4 is
the alternative that emphasizes logging. It recommends NO additional wilderness
while actually decreasing the acres protected for backcountry
recreation. It opens up almost the whole forest to timber production and road
building.
Now is the time for you to provide comments to the managers of our
Monongahela National Forest. Express your love of Seneca Creek, your enjoyment
of that
specific hiking trail or fishing hole, and your appreciation of the avian life
that travels through our forest. In 1985, when the first forest plan was presented
for public comment, it was much more industry friendly than this current option.
Due to the passionate dedication of few organizers and the love west Virginians
have for their mountains the comment period ended with a large number of comments
asking for backcountry and wilderness.
It was the comments received during
the draft plan process that changed entirely how the plan was to be released.
The MP 6.2 or backcountry areas were created out of that comment period. We
can do it again in 2005, we need a bare minimum of 2000 substantive unique
comments asking for wilderness, backcountry, watershed and fishery protection
to give us a better final plan. Logging interests have been active and effective
in their comment drive, giving us an imperative to get our comments in.
Take ACTION:
Use
our automated Take Action System to send in your comments to the Forest Service.
It's easy! Click
here. Please note when you use this system, part of the text is
permanent, and part of it can (and should!) be personalized by you. Please
take the time
to change it reflect your personal connection to the Mon or your own reasons
for why it should be protected.
Volunteer to work with us at some of the Forest
Service open house events on this issue, or walk with
us in October to
help build support.
For more information on the plans visit the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition
website.
www.wvwild.org
or the West Virginia Highland Conservancy at
www.wvhc.org
Please send us a copy of
your comments by email or snail mail so we have a record.
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