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Forest Habitat Southeast Forests Up for Grabs Commercial logging is not the only threat to our National Forest lands. Two Southeastern forests provide examples of the land swaps becoming common across the nation. Unfortunately, as with many such land deals, it is clear in Alabama and Louisiana that the public interest is not the main motivation behind these land swaps. Critical habitat in forests and other public lands across America is being converted to condos, ski resorts, and centers of industrial activity. Louisiana's only National Forest, the Kisatchie, may soon be the site of tank training exercises. Alabama's forest managers are trading lands away in the Bankhead Forest for strip mines. The most devastated major American forest type is the longleaf pine landscape. Once covering over 60 million acres, the longleaf pine ecosystem was the dominant vegetation of the coastal plain from Virginia to Texas. Today, only 3 percent of this native forest ecosystem remains intact, as fire control, logging, and conversion to artificial pine plantations have all but destroyed these lands and the many species that depend on them. Kisatchie National Forest, located in west central Louisiana, is prized for its unique ecosystem made up of upland longleaf pine forest and its associated habitats. Even after all this destruction, the Kisatchie and other remnants of the longleaf pine ecosystem boast more plant species per square meter than any other habitat in North America. Rare pitcher plants, one of only two types of carnivorous plants, wild azaleas, and numerous wildflower species thrive in the Kisatchie. The forest hosts one of the largest populations of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in the world and is home to wild turkeys. Due to its abundance of wildflowers, the Kisatchie provides habitat for several types of rare migrating butterflies. A number of streams in the Kisatchie are designated Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers, and provide excellent fishing opportunities. The Kisatchie is also a popular recreational area for hiking, camping, hunting, horseback riding and off-road driving. Miles of trails, historic sites, campgrounds, boat launches and recreational areas are maintained for the public. But these important values may be lost in the near future. Three branches of the military are currently waging land-grab campaigns to gain ownership or exclusive and intensive use of almost 100,000 acres of the Kisatchies approximately 600,000 acres. The Louisiana National Guard, for example, is seeking outright ownership of over 10,000 acres, which it wants for expanded training opportunities. However, when the Forest Service offered the National Guard a special use permit, the Guard refused to negotiate. Although Guard spokesperson Major General A.M. Stroud has acknowledged that such a permit would meet his training needs, he has indicated he intends to go to Congress to accomplish the transfer of the forest lands. At least one state newspaper has suggested that lucrative timber rights and mineral rights might be an incentive for the Guards entrenchment on the issue. Louisiana conservationists are not alone in battling a formidable foe trying to snatch their public forest lands. Since 1984, the U.S. Forest Service in Alabama has been carrying out a mineral land exchange program with coal mining companies. Created as a method of avoiding restrictions on strip mining, this scheme allows mining companies to trade degraded clearcut land adjacent to the forests in exchange for pristine forest habitat. The valuable hardwood ecosystem of Bankhead National Forest in north central Alabama is dwindling fast, falling victim to the timber industry's chip mills which process large numbers of trees for the domestic pulp and paper mills and for a rapidly growing export market. The Bankhead is a classic hardwood forest, known for its steep river canyons and ravines. Abundant oak and hickory trees bring a handsome sum when mining companies first clearcut their newly acquired lands before devastating the land with coal mines. Although every mining company operating in the Bankhead has violated its permits for water contamination, failure to reclaim damaged land, and other environmental infractions, the land swaps continue. The Alabama Surface Mining Commission consistently permits mining on forested lands before the land exchanges are even complete. Already, the mining fiasco has led to the virtual extermination of the endangered flattened musk turtle, and to the serious degradation of local drinking water supplies. The Forest Service has admitted that it did not consider the effects on water supplies when it approved land exchanges with the mining companies. In both Alabama and Louisiana, such land-swap schemes may sound the death knell for these vanishing ecosystems. They will almost certainly lead to the continued loss of sensitive species of plants and animals. As poorly managed as U.S. Forest Service lands are, if the lands in Louisiana's Kisatchie Forest are traded away to the military, even the minimal environmental protections offered to National Forests will not apply. And despite repeated requests by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service refuses to look at the cumulative environmental impact of its land swaps with mining companies in the Bankhead forest. In both of these cases, valuable habitat, recreational opportunities and watershed protection will be traded away with our public land. Areas of Concern: Contacts: Louisiana and Alabama Chapters Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
