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| Now that politicians friendly to the timber
industry have figured out that Americans don’t want their
national forests clearcut for commercial use, the U.S. Forest
Service now disguises the same old pine farm system in Sam
Houston National Forest with endangered species, wildfire
prevention and insect infestation.
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State of the Sam Houston National Forest:
Sam Houston National Forest is the western most national forest
in Texas. It lies just north of Houston and only a two-and-a-half-hour
drive from Austin. The Sam Houston is one of four national forests
that were established in 1934 as an invitation from the Texas legislature.
The Sam Houston National Forest contains a number of forest types,
including shortleaf and loblolly pine forests, mixed pine-hardwood
forests and slope and bottomland hardwood forests. However, extensive
logging in the region has greatly reduced the diversity of these
forests. The original forests thriving in East Texas, which included
stands of southern magnolia, American beech, giant bald cypresses,
oaks and hickories, have long since been cut. Most stands of magnolia
and black cherry have been removed, and foresters still look upon
these hardwoods as weed species, invading the easily-logged pine
plantations that have replaced so much of our original forests.
| In the years following World War II, management
on the National Forests in Texas increasingly included conversion
to pine plantation. Large areas were cleared and replanted
with fast-growing, mostly loblolly pines. These pine plantations
were repeatedly thinned to increase hardiness of the “crop”
and mechanical extraction, herbicides, and burning were used
to eliminate hardwood trees, considered “weed” species. As
the monoculture stands aged, they were periodically thinned
until they reached a minimum basal area for the stand. At
this point, the “crop” was “harvested”, i.e. clearcut. |
Logging threatens Lone Star Hiking Trail |
The elimination of older trees seriously threatened the Red-Cockaded
Woodpecker (RCW), which builds its nesting and roosting cavities in
older pines. In the 1980s, Sierra Club and Texas Committee on Natural
Resources (TCONR) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service
to protect the woodpecker. In 1988, Judge Robert Parker placed an
injunction against even-aged logging within 1200 meters of RCW colonies.
The Forest Service revised the Land and Resource Management Plan based
on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Recovery
Plan. While the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan is much
improved over the original, conservationists still feel it leaves
many aspects of RCW management to the discretion of the Forest Service.
Also important in the management of the national forests is the
southern pine beetle (SPB). Naturally occurring monoculture stands
of pine in East Texas consisted primarily of longleaf pine a species
that is relatively resistant to SPB infestation and totally absent
in Sam Houston National Forest. Loblolly pine is the least resistant
species to the SPB and pure stands of loblolly are most vulnerable
to SPB infestations. Because so much of the forest has been converted
to loblolly and hybrid pine plantations, outbreaks in the ‘80s and
‘90s were wide spread. Instead of managing for true forest health,
the Forest Service continues to manage to favor pine plantations
by destroying existing hardwood stands and discouraging hardwoods
from growing in the pine monocultures.
In July of last year, the 1988 injunction
against clearcutting around RCW colonies was lifted, allowing
the U.S. Forest Service to use clearcutting and other forms
of even-aged logging, as a management tool on the 200,000
acres in RCW habitat management areas. The Forest Service
has used this tool in the past to treat SPB infestations,
and, believe it or not, to create habitat diversity. While
natural resource managers may find it beneficial in some cases
to mimic the natural role of fire with prescribed burning,
clearcutting is not a legitimate management tool for maintaining
natural forests.
Input to the Forest Service from an informed and interested public
is the best insurance that pressure from special interests will
not lead to the loss of some of the best remaining forest habitat
in the state. Public opinion can encourage the Forest Service to
manage for endangered species, habitat diversity, recreation and
other non-commodity-based resources. Continued management for timber
emphasis will only continue the legacy of declining forest health.
New Threats
Since the Bush administration
began running the Forest Service, threats to true forest health
have increased, particularly in Sam Houston National Forest.
The Bush administration’s ill-named “Healthy Forest Initiative”
found its way into the Sam Houston as one of 11 pilot projects
nationwide. Petroleum development projects have increased on
the proposed actions list. Logging threatens the Lone Star Hiking
Trail, which crosses the Sam Houston and is the longest, continuous
trail in Texas. And thousands of acres are slated to be logged
by private companies for the so-called benefit of forest health.
What would Sam Houston, Texas’ first President think if he knew
that his namesake forest was being converted from a natural
East Texas forest into an industrial nightmare? How would he
feel knowing that the forests he knew, part of our natural heritage,
was being ruined by an administration that seems friendly to
big business over natural recreation for American families?
Petroleum Development
Like other public lands in the U.S., Sam Houston National Forest
is threatened by petroleum development. The most recent Schedule
of Proposed Actions for the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas
lists nine separate proposals to drill or reenter 32 different wells
for oil and gas production in Sam Houston National Forest alone.
Below is a summary of the proposed well sites:
- WELL SITE. FAMCOR, Inc. proposes to drill a well on federal
land, federal minerals. RAVEN FOREST PROJECT, #1 USA with associated
pipeline.
- WELL SITE. FAMCOR, Inc. proposes to reenter a well on federal
land, reserved minerals. Pleasan Project Gibb 1A, shooting range
area, with associated pipeline.
- WELL SITE. FAMCOR, Inc. proposes to drill 4 wells on federal
land, federal minerals. USA EVERGREEN with access road and associated
pipeline.
- WELL SITE. JET OIL proposes to drill 2 wells on an existing
well pad on federal land, federal minerals at Coline 4 and associated
pipeline.
- WELL SITE. FAMCOR, Inc. proposes to drill 14 hydrocarbon wells
and one saltwater well on federal land, reserved minerals with
associated roads and pipelines.
- WELL SITE. FAMCOR, Inc. proposes to drill a well on federal
land, federal lease at USA #3 with associated pipeline.
- WELL SITE. R.P. SMALL proposes to drill 2 wells on federal land,
reserved minerals. Gibbs #4 and #5, shooting area, with associated
pipeline.
- WELL SITE. PRIME OPERATING proposes to drill a well on federal
land, reserved minerals at Moneywort Prospect with associated
pipeline.
- WELL SITE. R.P. SMALL proposes to reenter 5 wells on federal
land, reserved minerals.
Petroleum development degrades our national forests. While the
Bush administration has continuously spoken about forest health,
the administration’s policy of increasing oil and gas development
on public lands has put these forests at risk of pollution and other
threats. Petroleum development on national forests in Texas has
led to leaks and spills.
Lone Star Hiking Trail Threatened by Logging
Marked trees are to be cut
|
The U.S. Forest Service under the Bush administration proposes to
log one million cubic feet of trees (~1,250 truck loads) on 969 acres
in Compartment 28 and 395 acres in Compartment 37 of the Sam Houston
National Forest on the shores of Lake Conroe and construct 2.7 miles
of temporary roads to access the trees.
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The name of the logging
proposal is Timber Harvesting for Forest Health for Compartments
28 and 37. The Houston Regional Group of the Sierra Club, the Lone
Star Chapter of the Sierra Club filed an administrative appeal of
the proposal on February 21, 2002. The U.S. Forest Service rejected
the appeal on May 6, 2002. Subsequently, the Sierra Club, along
with TCONR and other forest conservation groups filed a lawsuit
to halt the logging.
The proposal will log on, across, and next to about 2 miles of
the Lone Star Hiking Trail, the longest, continuous hiking trail
in the State of Texas. This logging occurs on an unprotected portion
of the Lone Star Hiking Trail. The eastern end of the trail is one
of 12 National Recreation Trails in the country, which are designated
by the Secretary of Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to
recognize exemplary trails of local and regional significance.
The proposal also allows logging near streams and the shoreline
of Lake Conroe and failed to inventory for wildlife like Eastern
Wild Turkey, Pileated Woodpeckers, Gray squirrels, Fox Squirrels,
Wood Thrushes, Big Thicket Emerald Dragonflies, Ospreys, Southeastern
Myotis and Rafinesque’s Big-Eared Bats, and Canebrake Rattlesnakes.
The logging would also convert mixed hardwood and pine forests
to pine plantations that support far less wildlife.
“Forest Health” or Pine Farm Health?
|
The Lone Star Hiking Trail is just one example of how the U.S.
Forests Service under the Bush administration is using language
like “forest health” and “restoration” to further its agenda of
increasing logging on national forests and create pine plantations
where there were once natural forests. |
30-inch stump left after ‘Forest
Health’ logging
|
Classic pine plantation management consists of allowing pure stands
of pines to grow by conducting a series of commercial thinnings
and hardwood removal projects until the pine stand has reached maturity.
The remaining mature pines are then clearcut, either all at once
or in two to three stages, and then the cycle starts all over again
with the seedlings left by the parent pines.
Now that politicians friendly to the timber industry have figured
out that Americans don’t want their national forests clearcut for
commercial use, the U.S. Forest Service now disguises the same old
pine farm system in Sam Houston National Forest with endangered
species, wildfire prevention and insect infestation.
Periodic logging projects are now conducted in the name of “fuels
reduction.” Hardwoods are removed to increase habitat for the endangered
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. Mature pines are then cut down to reduce
risk of southern pine beetle infestation.
The first quarterly Schedule of Proposed Actions for National Forests
and Grasslands in Texas lists 10 projects to log areas under the
heading of forest health, fuels reduction, woodpecker habitat or
southern pine beetle treatment. Scoping letters from Sam Houston
National Forest in this year alone propose to remove hardwoods from
2,869 acres and commercially thin pines to “reduce fuels or risk
of southern pine beetle” from 4300 acres.
This year, an administrative appeal for the Boswell Creek Watershed
Healthy Forest Initiative in the Sam Houston was denied by the Bush
administration. The appeal, filed by Houston Sierra Club, pointed
out that the one-size-fits-all approach of the project did not consider
the diversity of the forest. It cited several instances in the proposed
project where concerns over water quality, increased risk of wildfire
and insect infestation, and endangered or threatened species were
not adequately addressed. The Forest Service under the Bush administration
simply issued a denial to the assertions without answering specific
concerns.
Recommendations
Petroleum Development
- The Sam Houston National Forest will better serve the American
people as a place for recreation. All drilling projects on Sam
Houston should be discontinued, especially those on federal mineral
rights.
- Privately owned mineral rights should be bought by the federal
government and retired permanently
- Reduction in America’s dependence on foreign oil can be accomplished
by investing in clean, renewable energy and conservation.
Lone Star Hiking Trail
- The U.S. Forest Service should abandon the proposal to log on
the Lone Star Hiking Trail in Compartments 28 and 37.
- The Lone Star Hiking Trail should, at the very least, provide
a 75-150 foot wide no log and burn corridor on both sides of the
Trail. This corridor will protect the visual quality of the trail
and the forest diversity along the trail.
True Forest Restoration
- The Sierra Club agrees that some amount of thinning ecosystem
management is needed in Sam Houston National Forest. However,
as long as such treatment is tied to commercial logging, true
forest restoration and community protection from wildfire will
continually be compromised for commercial gain.
- The Bush administration should emphasize treatment for risk
of wildfire where it counts: near communities. The Forest Service
fire lab has stated “the risk that a home will ignite from wildfire
is almost entirely determined by the landscape within 200 feet
of the building and by the materials and design of the building.”
A reasonable alternative to such widespread logging in the name
of fuels reduction would be to reallocate precious funding to
fire-proof local communities by treating the landscape around
structures and offering small grants to fire-proof buildings,
i.e. roof materials, etc. as the Forest Service’s own fire lab
has recommended. Also, the U.S. Forest Service should manage for
denser forest canopies since this shades the ground and forest
fuels from elevated temperature due to sunlight. Finally, the
older and larger trees should be protected since these trees are
more fire-resistant and provide more shade.
- Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) management should continue on
active and inactive cluster sites. However, as for recruitment
sites, greater emphasis should be put on creating and managing
for recruitment sites in the bird’s preferred habitat, i.e. longleaf
pine forests in Angelina and Sabine National Forests. The translocation
program can be used to reestablish colonies in those national
forests rather than using so much funding and energy creating
artificially pure pine stands in areas that were most probably
mixed pine and hardwood forests.
- Southern pine beetles would be better managed by allowing natural
hardwood forests to regenerate in areas outside of RCW cluster
sites. Hardwood forests naturally disrupt southern pine beetle’s
prey search image for tall, vertical pines.
- Streamside zones should be protected from any logging or prescribed
burning.
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Texas N.F. Economic Report
Read the "Hidden Costs of Logging on National Forests in Texas 1987-1999"
report at the Forest
Conservation Council site. More coming soon... if you have comments
or suggestions about what you'd like to see here, let
us know!
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