« Bad News from Virgina | Main | Bosworth Tour Update »
May 10, 2004
Bush Administration Turning “Healthy Forest” Into Stumps
Salvage Logging in the Allegheny National Forest part of White House Propaganda Effort
Giant soil turnup created by forest windthrow. Click above to get a larger image.
!! Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth in the Allegheny today!!
Bush Administration Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman Used Earth Day in Order to Tout Salvage Logging in the Allegheny National Forest. Now Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth has come to the Allegheny to promote illegal logging using Bush’s Healthy Forests Initiative as cover.
The Forest Service proposes more than 2,500 acres of salvage logging of forest “windthrow” areas using the Bush Administration’s “Healthy Forest Initiative” as cover.
The logging proposal results from a July 2003 windstorm event in the Allegheny National Forest. Instead of doing the legally required environmental impact statement and holding extensive publlic comment periods the Forest Service has broken down this massive logging project into more than 20 smaller projects in order to explout the new loopholes.
The areas proposed for logging are currently deficient in down coarse woody debris (large fallen dead trees) which are vital to maintain viable populations of certain wildlife. These down and dead trees are also vital for the regeneration of certain tree species including eastern hemlock.
We need your help today. Please take the time to write a letter to Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott and protest this illegal logging. Demand that an environmental impact statement be prepared due to the size of this project, the use of controversial logging practices, and the scenic and ecological importance of the areas affected.
Supervisor Kevin Elliott
Allegheny National Forest
PO Box 847
Warren, PA 16365
Secretary Veneman (left), Supervisor Elliott (right) and Congressman John Peterson (right of center) providing special access to timber industry rep Kan Kane (center). Click above to get a larger image. Note: the sign is not real. Source
If the Action Center isn't working (we're in process of getting this permanently repaired) you can send Supervisor Elliott an e-mail. Click on the extended text for a sample letter.
Dear Supervisor Elliott,Please accept these comments on the July 2003 Windstorm Salvage Timber Sale including all of its component parts (all 20 Categorical Exclusions, KEF Environmental Assessments, and Martin Run and Spring Creek Environmental Impact Statements). I am writing in opposition to the illegal use of Categorical Exclusions to implement portions of a forest-wide salvage logging project in response to windthrow events last summer.
It is illegal under federal law to break up a logging project into several parts in order to avoid more detailed environmental review. The total response to windthrow events, a response that will impact thousands of acres through salvage logging (including "stand replacement" clearcutting in areas), must be considered in a single detailed environmental impact statement (EIS). In that EIS the Forest Service should consider an alternative that accepts the importance of downed woody debris in restoring forest health.
In this case the proposal to salvage log in response to windthrow events from July 2003 undermines attempts to restore healthy forest conditions in the Allegheny National Forest. These wind events provide downed woody debris which is important to forest health but which is otherwise deficient in this second growth forest. Ecologically, dead and downed wood provides important habitat for birds, salamanders, and small mammals, and is an important source of nutrients for tree seedlings and water for more mature trees.
Categorically excluding this project from more detailed environmental analysis undermines our rights to public participation opportunities and to information relating to the environmental impacts of the proposed logging activities which will impact areas such as Twin Lakes Recreation Area. The abbreviated public comment periods being held by the Forest Service simply do not allow enough time for meaningful comment and analysis.
I am also greatly disappointed at your use of Earth Day to promote a pro-logging agenda in the Allegheny National Forest. Thank you for this opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
Posted by jkleissler at May 10, 2004 01:10 AM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)