January 12, 2005
Stop the Martin Run Timber Sale
The proposed Tionesta Wilderness Area is under threat. The integrity of the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas are at risk. Restoration of the recovering forest is at risk. Please act today!
What you can do!
• Join the Allegheny Defense Project at tonights Forest Protection Meetups!
Buffalo, NY
Erie, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
• Write a letter to Allegheny National Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott, PO Box 847, Warren, PA 16365 or kbelliott@fs.fed.us
• Write your local Senator and Congressman asking them to stand for Wilderness and against the Martin Run Timber Sale
• Write a Letter to the Editor talking about the restoration value of the Tionesta old growth and the threats posed by the Martin Run Timber Sale
What is at risk? (the details)
The Martin Run Timber Sale is one of the most damaging proposals ever to come out of the US Forest Service offices in the Allegheny National Forest. This timber sale would allow more than 1,900 acres of primarily even-aged logging with major ramifications for wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and national treasures.
Posted by jkleissler at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2004
Lawsuit Garners Media Attention
Here are some quick links to various news articles about the lawsuit filed against the "Healthy Forests" Initiative yesterday.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Environmentalists Challenge Forest Service Loggings Projects in Court
Warren Times-Observer (registration required): ADP Files Lawsuit Over Logging Projects
The Bradford Era: ANF Logging Plans Challenged
more to come...
Posted by jkleissler at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2004
ADP Sues over Illegal Logging in Allegheny National Forest
September 23, 2004
Lawsuit Challenges Application of Bush Administration Forest Policies
Conservation Group Says 4,600 Acre Salvage Logging Scheme in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest is Illegal
Pittsburgh, PA – A Clarion, PA, based conservation organization, the Allegheny Defense Project, represented by Wildlaw attorney Tammy Belinsky filed a lawsuit challenging 19 controversial logging projects in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest. The 19 projects approve 1,670 acres of logging as part of a 4,600-acre logging scheme given a high profile as part of a Bush Administration initiative that brought Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman to Pennsylvania for Earth Day.
“The Bush Administration added insult to injury by spinning this illegal salvage logging in the Allegheny National Forest as part of their Earth Day celebration,” explained Bill Belitskus, a homesteader from Kane, PA. “The commercial logging program, including this so-called ‘Healthy Forests’ logging, are having serious consequences for the health of the Allegheny National Forest.”
The salvage scheme stems from a storm in July 2003 that blew down 10,000 acres in the Allegheny National Forest. The Forest Service has proposed salvage logging on approximately half of the affected areas. In order to speed up the logging process, conservationists allege that the Forest Service broke the project into more than 20 piecemeal logging projects allowing the agency to avoid detailed environmental analysis and public comment. The lawsuit challenges this piecemeal approach as a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“The Forest Service segmented this scheme into numerous smaller logging projects in order to avoid doing any comprehensive environmental analysis or collecting substantive public input,” said Ryan Talbott, Forest Watch Coordinator for the ADP. “The Bush Administration spin of its own ‘Healthy Forests’ program into a boon for the timber industry comes not only at the expense of forest wildlife and soil, but also gives short shrift to public involvement – the heart of the environmental laws at issue.”
The Forest Service has proposed 19 salvage logging projects without an environmental analysis using the so-called “Healthy Forests Initiative” that the Bush Administration signed into law last year. In particular, the Forest Service is using Categorical Exclusion 13, which states that as long as a project is below 250 acres and has less than 1 mile of road construction, there is no need to do an environmental analysis. The 19 salvage projects using Categorical Exclusion 13 will result in 1,670-acres of logging of the 4,600-acres proposed for salvage logging.
“The Forest Service is using smoke & mirrors to make 1,700 acres of logging fit into a policy specifically designed only for projects smaller than 250 acres,” said Jim Kleissler, Forest Watch Director for the ADP. “This illegal logging project is the Bush Administration’s equivalent to seeing how many clowns can fit into a 2-person Volkswagon.”
"The new directive has been in place less than a year and the Forest Service is already violating it, despite a promise that project segmentation like this wouldn't happen. The Forest Service said it would not do this, and so it is no surprise that it has,” explained Wildlaw attorney Tammy Belinsky.
The lawsuit was filed this morning at the Federal Courthouse in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Posted by jkleissler at 05:22 PM | Comments (1)
August 19, 2004
Painter Run Report
RJ posted this in the comments but I felt it was an interesting post that other folks might want to see (and may not buried in the comments as such). It is a great example of the fun to be had exploring the Allegheny National Forest!
I spent some time in the lower stretches of Painter Run this past weekend. This area is outside the project area. This area is MA 6.1. The small stream and tremendous trees, white pine, made for a merry morning. I don't want to be too specific, but this tiny tributary holds a natural resource which I have never seen the likes of in any of the tiny trout streams I have ever spent time on.As I proceeded upstream, travel was made difficult by seriously thick rhododendron and mountain laurel. It was impossible to stay on the stream, though I tried to travel onto the East Branch of Painter.
One purpose of my pursuit was to seek the sites where the IUP archeological department found lithic fragments left by previous visitors to the Painter Run watershed. The five sites were supposed to be marked, but, alas, I didn't find anything.
The laurel and rhododendron kept me crawling on my belly for an hour. I kept near the stream until there was just a wet spot in the leaves. I was a bit bewildered as to my whereabouts, walked sidehill over to what was supposed to be the West Branch, but I never did see anything familiar.
I was sweating hard as I dashed downstream to the truck parked at the gravel pile on the Clarion R. I enjoyed my ride downriver to Belltown, then back to Brookville.
Posted by jkleissler at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2004
Forest Protection Starts Here!
Your e-connection to national forest defense.
Ancient Forest Protection Starts Here - http://weblog.greenpeace.org/stopthesales/
Medford BLM, Ore. - Greenpeace Activists locked to three-ton containers on logging road in Southern Oregon. Activists Deliver Message that "Ancient Forest Protection Starts Here".The forest in Oregon represents ancient forests on public lands throughout the United States that the Bush administration is fast tracking onto the chopping block. To date, 70 percent of all old growth forest has already been logged. Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on commercial logging on public lands, and for increased protection and restoration efforts.
URGENT CALLS NEEDED: U.S. House of Representatives
Congress will vote this week to protect some of America's most cherished natural treasures - wildlife harbored in our national forests, the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and Yellowstone National Park. The Interior Appropriations bill will be debated on the House floor today and amendments could be offered as early as this afternoon. Your help is urgently needed to generate calls to House Members to encourage them to vote for these three amendments to the Interior Appropriations bill.
Please call your Representative at 202-224-3121 (the Capitol Switchboard) and ask to speak to the Staff that works on environmental issues. Tell the environmental staff that you would like your Representative to:
Vote YES on the Udall FOREST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AMENDMENT to protect wildlife in our National Forests by halting harmful changes to rules governing forest management practices.
Vote YES on the Chabot/Andrews TONGASS SUBSIDY AMENDMENT to protect pristine areas of the Tongass National Forest by ending taxpayer subsidies of destructive new logging roads.
Vote YES on the Shays/Rahall/Holt/Johnson YELLOWSTONE AMENDMENT to protect the health of America's first National Park, its wildlife, employees and guests, by continuing to phase-out snowmobiles use inside Yellowstone and switch to snowcoaches.
More information available at http://www.americanlands.org/Appropriations/NFMAAmendment.doc, Lisa Dix by e-mail or 202-547-9105.
Posted by jkleissler at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
Is someone stealing Forest Service signs and using them to cover up timber theft?
It is the question for the ages. A few weeks ago forest defenders with the Allegheny Defense Project came across what appeared to be an illegal logging project conducted without NEPA review and comment. In order to find out if we were correct we filed a Freedom of Information Act request on May 17th asking for documents related to the planning, approval, and implementation of the logging marked by the sign pictured below (as always click to enlarge image).
The above sign and following picture of a steep eroding skid trail were attached to the request which asked for documents "including but not limited to documents related to the site shown in the attached photographs." (click to enlarge image)
The FOIA provides the Forest Service 20 working days to respond. If they are unclear about the request they are supposed to ask for clarification within those 20 working days. Given the specificity of this request this should not have taken the full 20 working days. Nevertheless it did and after 20 working days we got the following cryptic response.
"We do not recognize this project you describe as being administered by the Allegheny National Forest."
Huh? While we had given the project an arbitrary project name in our FOIA the photo of the cutting unit sign should have clarified any questions the Forest Service might have had. As mentioned above we received no clarifying questions about the project.
So I ask: Is someone stealing Forest Service signs and using them to cover up timber theft?
The question is obviously rhetorical, but what is the truth behind this obvious obstruction? Please put on your tinfoil hats and add your theories to the comments thread below.
Posted by jkleissler at 05:11 PM | Comments (3)
June 08, 2004
Laying it on Thick...
The things they'll say to defend the commercial logging program can range from the outrageous to complete nonsense. Here are a couple of claims made in this morning's Warren Times-Observer that deserve at least a quick rebuttal.
Sue Swanson, executive director of AHUG (Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group), Kane, said, the legal process has "gone on too long." The original legal appeal to the East Side project is "pushing eight years," she said. "That's eight years that nothing has been done in that area of the forest that's badly in need of treatment."
Not exactly. Litigation against East Side has been active for three years, not eight years. The original case against this project when it was Mortality II was filed seven years ago and lasted only six months. Unfortunately, "treatment" has begun on some 1,500 acres. Of course, we don't agree that the forest is "badly in need" of clearcutting.
She said the federal judge found that the Forest Service "did a thorough analysis and came to the right conclusion" about the salvage operation. But the Forest Service has not been able to follow through with its management plans because of legal challenges, she said.
Not exactly. The Federal Judge found that the Forest Service abused its discretion in approving even-aged logging on Group III soils and enjoined logging on 400 acres. The Federal Judge also found the emphasis on black cherry tree management "troubling" even without ruling in our favor in the end.
During a recent tour of the forest, Forest Service personnel said the forest is overmature, resulting in a higher susceptibility to insect infestation and blow down.Without intervention, "It will continue to happen," Swanson said.
I don't recall the Forest Service saying this. And in their defense I believe that when this was alleged during the Bosworth tour Forest Service researcher Susan Stout did not endorse this position. What was documented on the tour was that insect infestations and blowdown are both a direct result of black cherry tree farming. Insect outbreaks in the Allegheny National Forest are directly related to black cherry (and in some cases oak) concentrations. Similarly, black cherry is the tree most susceptible to windthrow and most affected by the July 2003 Windstorm for example.
Hedlund, executive director of the Allegheny Forest Alliance, said the court process "rapes the taxpayer for the expenses."
Can we say that now without getting critized? If ADP used that kind of language the timber industry would be all over us. The court process may cost a few hundred thousand dollars in the end. But the East Side Timber Sale is costing tax-payers millions of dollars (revenues are NOT returned to the tax-payers despite what common sense would tell us). The taxpayer will lose most if East Side is implemented with millions to be spent on logging road construction and "reforestation" costs such as herbicides and fencing. Revenue accrued from timber sales do not usually return to the US Treasury and therefore taxpayers never see that benefit. So it must be official, the timber industry must believe that the East Side Timber Sale is raping the taxpayer for millions! Right? no? Or do they just not care about the truth?
Update: Despite their protestations in this morning's article that they cannot afford to pay their attorney (something that is unbelievable on its face), the timber industry's attorney has filed his appearance on the appeal already. oops!
Posted by jkleissler at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2004
Salvage Logging Projects Approved
The word hit today as three logging projects that are part of the massive 6,000-acre salvage windthrow plan in the Allegheny National Forest were approved. There is a lot to say about this but our briefest take is in our press release:
Clarion, PA – Three logging projects were approved yesterday as part of a large 6,000-acre salvage logging project in the Allegheny National Forest that has brought two top Bush Administration officials to Pennsylvania and has drawn repeated criticism from conservation groups.The Forest Road 191 Salvage was approved on May 21, 2004, but was not announced by the Forest Service until today. The Forest Road 395 and Forest Road 468 Salvage Logging Projects were approved by US Forest Service officials on May 27 and 28, 2004.
US Forest Service Chief Bosworth toured the Allegheny National Forest to promote these controversial logging projects on May 10th after having an exclusive breakfast with the local timber industry. These projects were highlighted during a controversial Earth Day visit by Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman who used the day traditionally meant to celebrate the environment to support these commercial logging projects in the Allegheny National Forest.
...
Conservationists also challenged the accuracy of original documentation on the project. They pointed to areas approved for logging outside of the “project area” identified in the original public notice.
“When we tried to compare the proposed logging areas in the public notice with the on the ground survey work they didn’t appear to match,” explained Jim Kleissler, Forest Watch Director with the Allegheny Defense Project. “It appears that the public notices for these logging projects were out of date before they were ever released to the public. Public participation and forest conservation are being undermined by government officials who believe that national forests should be logged at any cost.”
Posted by jkleissler at 06:14 PM | Comments (4)
May 26, 2004
Taking the Allegheny Defense Tour
Click on Picture To View Larger Image
Today, members of the Allegheny Defense Project led a tour of the Allegheny National Forest for members of the media. The tour featured clearcutting, "thinning" cutting, and "shelterwood" cutting implemented under the East Side project currently under appeal before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, we toured examples of "Allegheny Hardwood", aka black cherry, forests and Eastern Hemlock-Northern Hardwood Forests where we were greeted by this Red Eft.
Click on Picture To View Larger Image
From there we visited a forest area that had been sprayed with herbicide as demonstrated by these two photos. They are taken from the same place - one looking left into forest, one looking right into herbicide area.
Click on Pictures To View Larger Image
Ah, but that is not all. From there we proceeded onwards to the Thad Shanty Windthrow Salvage - part of the massive 6,000 acre logging project being implemented with the use of the Bush Administration's "Healthy Forests".... excuse me, Healthy Stumps Initiative.
Click on Picture To View Larger Image
After a day of destruction and pending destruction we finished with a visit to the proposed Bogus Rocks Scenic Area. This proposed Scenic Area is part of our Allegheny Wild! Citizens' Proposal for the Allegheny National Forest. All there is to say is wow!
Posted by jkleissler at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2004
Killing With Herbicides
Ever wonder what a forest stand looks like after it has been sprayed with herbicides? These two photos were taken from the same location, one looking left into normal forest stand, one looking right into sprayed forest stand. Where are you going hiking? (as always, click on each picture for a larger view)
Posted by jkleissler at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)
Parsing Words
Sometimes you have to wonder. Such as these comments from timber industry mouthpiece Jack Hedlund in today's Bradford Era. I'm often tempted to break down the absurdity of his comments so why not today.
Hedlund said the appeal is a dead issue; the groups already lost on the same claims."They have their own ideas that harvesting timber is abhorrent. They work with no room for negotiation -- they work from a stance of no cut," Hedlund said.
So, apparently we have to give Mr. Hedlund a basic course in how the Courts work. When you lose on an issue - you appeal. When you win - you don't appeal. Get it?
The second part to his quote is beyond ridiculous. This is the same Jack Hedlund that once complained because the US Fish & Wildlife Service wanted to increase buffers around Bald Eagle nests by 100 feet. And he is chastising us for not "compromising"? Obviously he thinks that anything short of full access to all public and private lands for the timber industry (the largest landowners in the area) is an unacceptable compromise. Whatever.
Hedlund also said the group's appeal shouldn't have too much of an effect on the actions of the Forest Service at this time because the Forest Service is essentially starting over on the East Side project.He said the forest here is not a national park, but a national forest, and if there was no cutting, it would be a national park.
"It's frustrating," he said. "We spent three years in district court. It was researched and now we will be going to the 3rd circuit to trudge through it again. The taxpayers are not benefiting from it, the lawyers are. This is costing the taxpayers a bundle of money."
I'll be addressing the status of East Side tomorrow. OK, lets play that what the Allegheny National Forest is NOT game. Its not a National Preserve. Its not a National Park. Its not a National Wildlife Refuge. Its not the National Strategic Petroleum Reserve (so why all those oil & gas wells anyway?). What else isn't it?
The East Side lawsuit doesn't allege violations under the National Park Management Act - it alleges violations under the National Forest Management Act. What part of this doesn't the timber industry understand? Apparently the part that says that National Forests are supposed to be managed as tree farms because they aren't National Parks. Huh? Then how are Bureau of Land Management Lands supposed to be managed?
Posted by jkleissler at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2004
ADP Challenges Black Cherry Tree Farming
The Allegheny Defense Project joined today with Heartwood, National Forest Protection Alliance, Pennsylvania Environmental Network, Pennsylvania Chapter Sierra Club, and Communities for Sustainable Forestry in an appeal to the 3rd Circuit of the East Side Timber Sale. Click on the links below for more information.
Posted by jkleissler at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2004
ADP Files Appeal to Defend Sugar Run Wilderness
Today we filed our appeal of the Sugar Run Timber Sale which proposed logging within the proposed Sugar Run Wilderness Area, Sugar Run Natural Area, and Colosmos Historic Area. Our appeal is long but here is the gut issue:
Of greatest and most pressing concern is the failure of the EIS to address in any way, shape, or fashion the specific special areas proposed in a detailed science based publication for the Sugar Run Project Area. These include the Sugar Run Wilderness Area, the Sugar Run Natural Area, and the Colosmos Historic Area. The Sugar Run Wilderness Area has been included as a special area in the Act to Save America’s Forests currently pending before the US Senate. These facts have all been communicated on numerous occasions with the US Forest Service. The failure to address this fact is inexcusable. Maps of the proposed Special Areas are attached to this appeal. The maps, legislation, and the scientific publication A Citizens’ Alternative for the Allegheny national Forest are included on the enclosed CD-ROM.
• The failure to consider the Sugar Run Wilderness, Sugar Run Natural Area, and Colosmos Historic Area in the development of alternatives for the Sugar Run FEIS violates the NEPA which mandates that a reasonable range of alternatives be developed using the best available scientific information. 40 CFR §§ 1502.14(a) and (c).
• The failure to consider the Sugar Run Wilderness, Sugar Run Natural Area, and Colosmos Historic Area when considering direct and indirect effects of the proposed timber sale (as well as past, present, and future cumulative effects) violates the National Environmental Policy Act. 40 CFR §§ 1502.16.
Posted by jkleissler at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2004
Bosworth Tour Update
Chief Dale Bosworth was in town today for a tour of logging in the Allegheny National Forest (and how great it is!). We'll post more details in the morning but for now check out our revised and updated press release.
Update: Photo shows Marienville Ranger Leon Blashock, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, and Congressman Peterson from left to right. I have one question that has been bugging me all day. What is with that shirt?
Click on the image for a larger version.
Posted by jkleissler at 06:27 PM | Comments (2)
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 01:10 AM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2004
Veneman Continues to Undermine National Forest Protections
Yesterday we joined with Clean Air Council and the Heritage Forest Campaign to mark the three year anniversary of Bush Secretary of Agriculture's Pledge to Vigorously defend the Roadless Areas Rule. This is the "healthy forests" display we had on hand in the Capital Rotunda in Harrisburg. My statement on behalf of the Allegheny Defense Project is included in the extended text (click on the image to zoom in).
Secretary Veneman Defies Common Sense, Scientific Knowledge on Roadless AreasStatement of Jim Kleissler
Forest Watch Director, Allegheny Defense Project
May 4, 2004Bush Administration Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman has defied Common Sense and Scientific Knowledge in proclaiming commercial logging as a solution to “healthy forests” on Earth Day in 2004. Secretary Veneman came to the Allegheny National Forest but said nothing about her broken promise to vigorously defend our Pennsylvania roadless areas. Secretary Veneman didn’t visit our roadless areas nor did she allow conservationists to join her on her Earth Day Tour. Instead she continued to provide unfettered access to the timber industry – access to her and apparently our national forest roadless areas.
The Allegheny National Forest is Pennsylvania’s only national forest. While the forest is over 513,000 acres in its entirety only 4.4% of the forest lies in inventoried roadless areas. This pales in comparison to other national forests in the Eastern Region which average more than 12% of their forest lands in inventoried roadless habitat. Yet Allegheny National Forest roadless areas remain unprotected because of Secretary Veneman’s broken promises.
The Allegheny National Forest was established in 1923 by President Coolidge in order to protect its watersheds – roadless areas are vital towards this goal. Minister Creek is recognized as a high quality watershed in part due to its position in an inventoried roadless area. Although Millstone Creek doesn’t have any inventoried roadless areas it does have seven uninventoried roadless areas totaling more than 7,000 acres. It is no coincidence that Millstone Creek has the highest diversity of dragonflies and damselflies of any other creek within the Allegheny National Forest.
Roadless Areas are important for wildlife habitat. Native wildlife species such as the Cerulean Warbler and Northern Goshawk rely on large unbroken tracts of forest in order to maintain viable nesting populations. Amphibians and reptiles often avoid roads because they leave them exposed and susceptible to predators. Roadless areas help protect our forest areas from both native and non-native invasive species that use roads as access ways into forest areas they wouldn’t otherwise thrive there. Roadless areas are full of rich wonders that help bring recreationists back to the Allegheny National forest again and again.
There are more than 4,000 miles of roads in the Allegheny National Forest that have allowed the Forest Service to log 100,000 acres and oil & gas operators to drill more than 3,000 new oil & gas wells over the last eighteen years. The Sackett Oil & Gas Field has a road density comparable to the neighboring city of Warren, Pennsylvania.
A true conservation plan for the Allegheny National Forest requires the restoration of historically impacted areas but it starts with the complete protection of our existing roadless areas. If we do not provide our Pennsylvania roadless areas with immediate protection we cannot and will not have a healthy forest in the future. If Secretary Veneman had taken a true Earth Day Tour through our last unroaded wild areas she would have understood this.
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Posted by jkleissler at 06:08 PM | Comments (3)
Peterson Responds!
So, who wants to bet that Peterson is trying to help cover Veneman's butt on this? Oh, and in case Peterson doesn't understand - we didn't criticize the ecologists did we? No, the ecologists are questioning the Forest Service. Ooops.
For Immediate Release May 3, 2004PETERSON RESPONDS TO ALLEGHENY DEFENSE PROJECT CRITICISM OF FOREST SERVICE OFFICIALS
Pleasantville, PA – U.S. Congressman John Peterson (R-PA/5) issued the following statement in response to criticism by the environmental activist group Allegheny Defense Project (ADP) regarding the U.S. Forest Service’s efforts to remove downed trees and restore the forest ecosystem in areas affected by the severe wind storms in the Allegheny National Forest last summer. Peterson serves as Vice-Chairman of the House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health.
“If the activists at the Allegheny Defense Project had any legitimate science or forestry background, they would know that salvage logging and other forest management techniques are used to improve the health and wildlife diversity of the national forest, and that these decisions are made by professional scientists and land managers at the Forest Service and not by the timber industry. And if the ADP activists had any legal training, they would realize that categorical exclusions were included in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act specifically to deal with situations like the blowdown in the Allegheny National Forest which contribute to the spread of disease, breed insect infestation and ultimately create a severe fire hazard.“Contrary to the ADP propaganda, allowing millions of trees to rot on the ground is not good for the forest or for the environment. It is understandable that the ADP is struggling to find a new cause now that the courts have ruled in favor of sound forest management in the East Side decision. But accusing the dedicated scientists and staff at the Forest Service of illegal actions is the kind of silly publicity stunt that has earned them their reputation as radical extremists, as opposed to true conservationists.
“The Allegheny Defense Project serves neither the people and communities of the Allegheny National Forest region, nor the forest which they claim to want to protect, by making false allegations about the dedicated professionals who manage the forest. If the ADP really cares about protecting the national forest, they should be less confrontational and more constructive in any criticism they may have of the professional foresters, fish and wildlife biologists, ecologists, and other scientists at the Forest Service who have years of experience managing healthy forests.”-###-
Posted by jkleissler at 03:43 PM | Comments (2)
May 01, 2004
July 2003 Salvage Timber Sale Continues
The next in the phase of July 2003 salvage CEs has been released. The South of Kane Experimental Forest Windthrow Salvage is apparently not to be confused with the Kane Experimental Forest Windthrow Salvage and apparently we are not to confuse either of these with the FR 191 Salvage which includes salvage logging within the Kane Experimental Forest. We're also not supposed to draw any conclusions about the fact that all three are in response to the same wind event on July 21, 2003. And we're not supposed to conclude this even though they are all being planned at the same time, with the same end result, with the same goals, and even the same scoping language! And I'm sure none of this has anything to do with the benefits to the timber industry gained from having shorter public comment periods and not having to release actual environmental impact statements publicly for actual comment and review (and god forbid that the public may not like they idea!). I'm sure none of this is an attempt to evade public scrutiny over the obviously superb management of the Allegheny National Forest.
Add thick sarcastic drawl to the above and click on the extended text link for the most recent press release. And don't bother trying to find the documents on the Forest Service website because yes, yet again, the Forest Service has issued a press release telling people to download documents from their website that aren't on their website!
MARIENVILLE RANGER DISTRICT PROPOSES TO SALVAGE 18 ACRES OF BLOWN DOWN WOOD SOUTH OF THE KANE EXPERIMENTAL FOREST IN ELK COUNTY Kane, Pa. -- The Marienville Ranger District of the Allegheny National Forest (NF) is proposing to salvage harvest approximately 18 acres of down and damaged trees in Warrants 2686 and 3220, Jones Township, Elk County, Pennsylvania. This area is called the South of KEF Project Area, and the harvest areas are located south of the Kane Experimental Forest (KEF) and east of Forest Road 185. These trees were damaged in a severe storm that occurred last July. No new road construction or reconstruction will be needed to salvage these trees.This proposal will achieve the following Forest Plan objectives related to salvage: 1) complete a specific environmental analysis as soon as possible, 2) initiate timely salvage of damaged and downed trees where economically feasible, and 3) provide wood to help meet people's demand for wood products and to contribute to the economic viability of local communities.
The public comments are requested as part of the scoping process for public involvement under the National Environmental Policy Act. The decisions to be made are what mitigation measures will be required, if this project were implemented. The District Ranger plans to document this environmental analysis using a limited timber harvest categorical exclusion. This categorical exclusion allows salvage harvest in areas where trees have been damaged by forces such as fire, wind, ice, insects, or disease, and have some economic value as a forest product. Categorical exclusions can be used in areas where no significant adverse effects are anticipated based on past experience with this type of work.
Please provide comments specific to the proposed action, or have a direct relationship to the proposed action, and include your supporting reasons for the Responsible Official to consider. Please provide comments relating to these issues or concerns: threatened or endangered species or their critical habitats; Forest Service sensitive species; floodplains; wetlands; municipal watersheds; congressionally designated areas; and Native American religious or cultural sites, historic properties or areas. Comments must be received or postmarked by May 14, 2004.
Posted by jkleissler at 11:17 AM | Comments (2)
April 30, 2004
Healthy Forests
Click on the image above to check out our photo-based comments on the Forest Road 395 Salvage (one of the many illegal logging projects in response to the July 2003 windstorm). This is how it was submitted to the Forest Service but one thing I didn't explain in the comment is why the stumps in the salvage cut area are not sideways. This is because the Forest Service had the timber operator place them vertical for "scenic" reasons. Scenic what?
Posted by jkleissler at 05:28 PM | Comments (1)
April 29, 2004
Bush's Idea of a Healthy Forest
Today for the first time I walked the logging done at the Timberline ATV Trailhead and it was outrageous. The soil damage was pervasive everywhere and despite bright sun and a warm afternoon the soils were very soft and there was a lot of standing water in ruts as deep as two feet in places. For those who need a reference this is the same site that USDA Secretary Anne Veneman took a "tour" of last week.
By the end of my hike which started with a visit to the proposed salvage sites for the Forest Road 395 Salvage. I know this area fairly well and almost all of the salvage sites fall within East Side cutting units (which means one more entry by a skidder to rip up the forest soils). The stark contrast between the excessive soil compaction at the salvage site (cut by Collins-Pine by the way) and the soil conditions at the windthrow sites was as expected.
The Forest Service pays no heed to soils in this forest and this is more evidence of this. I'll post more details tomorrow as I pull this stuff together for our comments.
Posted by jkleissler at 10:24 PM | Comments (2)
April 24, 2004
FR 191 Salvage Comments
Thanks to all of those who wrote in to protest the U.S. Forest Service's illegal attempts to avoid meaningful public participation and environmental analysis in pushing through thousands of acres of salvage logging in response to the July 2003 Windstorm. We have posted our comments here in Rich Text Format: Download file
Posted by jkleissler at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2004
Send Secretary Veneman an Earth Day Message
Action Alert
Help Stop the Bush Administration from Using Earth Day to Exploit the Allegheny National Forest
The Forest Service is leading a tour with US Congressman John Peterson and Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman in order to promote illegal logging using the Bush Administration's Healthy Forests Initiative as cover. You can help fight this illegal logging today. Here is what you can do:
1) Protest these illegal logging proposals directly to the U.S. Forest Service
Two illegal salvage logging sales are currently up for public comment. The FR 191 Salvage and FR 395/396 Salvage would propose 63 acres of salvage logging in the Allegheny National Forest including along the Twin Lakes Recreation Area. These are only part of the Forest Service's effort to move forward with the salvage logging of up to 10,000 acres of downed trees within the Allegheny National Forest. Breaking down this larger effort into smaller projects to avoid more extensive public involvement and environmental analysis is illegal.
Write to:
Subject: FR 191 and FR 395/396 Salvage CEsForest Supervisor Kevin Elliott
Allegheny National Forest
PO Box 847
Warren, PA 16365
E-mail Supervisor Elliott
or use the ADP's Action Center to send comments immediately!
2) Support the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act
Enough is enough! Call you congressperson and ask them to permanently end this kind of abuse by signing the National Forest Protection And Restoration Act.
Help support efforts to end the abuse of our national forests and push for their restoration through the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act. The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act would help by ending the commercial logging program and replacing it with a national forest restoration program.
Help by getting your Congressional Representative to Co-sponsor this vital national legislation. Write your Congressional Representative and ask that they co-sponsor the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act.
3) Set Secretary Veneman Straight
No doubt that Secretary Ann Veneman's head was filled with all kinds of nonsense about how essential forest resources such as dead and downed trees are just "waste" or as US Congressman Peterson said in March.
What was once a magestic hard wood forest will simply be rotting wood on the forest floor." Help set Secretary Veneman straight on the vital role these dead and downed trees play in providing ecosystem roles in the forest.
Contact Anne Veneman:
202-720-3631
E-mail her
Share your messages to Venneman. Post them in the comments link below!
And look here for her press release
Update: While you are at it you might want to ask Secretary Veneman why a conservationist was threatened with arrest for trying to attend a media tour on public lands while special interest groups including the timber-industry funded Ruffed Grouse Society and the Pheasant Society are permitted.
Posted by jkleissler at 03:18 PM | Comments (1)
Sec. of Agriculture Tours Illegal Logging
April 22, 2004
For Immediate Release
Ryan Talbott or Jim Kleissler, Allegheny Defense Project, (814) 223-4996
Andrew George, National Forest Protection Alliance, (919) 933-3073
Jim Bensman, Heartwood, (618) 259-3642.
Secretary of Agriculture Tours Illegal Logging Projects, Shuts Out Public
Bush Administration’s Pro-Logging Agenda Threatening Endangered Forests
Kane, PA – Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman and U.S. Congressman John Peterson used Earth Day as a platform to promote increased logging during a tour in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest today. The tour was geared toward promoting the Bush Administration’s “Healthy Forests Initiative”, which decreases opportunities for public participation and weakens environmental impact considerations in commercial logging projects in our national forests.
Conservation groups objected to the tour today noting that the highlighted projects were not legal even under the Bush Administration’s Healthy Forest Initiative. Ryan Talbott, a resident of Forest County and organizer with the conservation group Allegheny Defense Project was prohibited from joining the tour and threatened with arrest for trying to observe this tour of public lands areas. The tour highlighted commercial logging proposed as a response to natural wind-storm events that felled trees last summer.
"A Forest Service law enforcement officer told me that if I did not leave immediately I would be arrested," said Talbott. "I was told that this tour on public land by public officials was by invite only and any attempt to join the tour with Congressman Peterson and Secretary Veneman would result in my arrest."
“Congressman Peterson and Secretary Veneman are touring a series of illegal salvage logging projects proposed for the Allegheny National Forest,” explained Jim Bensman from Heartwood, a national forest conservation organization that has successfully challenged the use of Categorical Exclusions such as those being promoted to push logging in the Allegheny. "The Forest Service is trying to break down timber sales into several small projects instead of doing the detailed analysis that is normally required for a logging project of this size."
Allegheny National Forest projects which are being used to "Categorically Exclude" salvage logging from more detailed public involvement and environmental analysis include Martin Run, FR191 Salvage, and FR 395/396 Salvage. Attempts to Categorically Exclude salvage logging within the Martin Run project were withdrawn after it was pointed out that the activities were illegal. Public comment is currently being accepted on the FR 191 Salvage until April 23 and the FR 395/396 Salvage until April 30th. The Categorical Exclusion allows the Forest Service to hold shorter public comment periods, limit comment opportunities to a single time-frame, and avoid detailed environmental assessments.
"These windstorm events serve a valuable function, as they provide downed woody debris otherwise missing throughout much of the Allegheny National Forest," said Rachel Martin, a naturalist with the Allegheny Defense Project. "Ecologically, dead and downed wood is as important to a healthy forest as live trees. Dead and downed trees provide important habitat for birds, salamanders, and small mammals, and are a vital source of nutrients for tree seedlings."
Conservation Groups pointed out that "salvage logging" is an economic, not an ecological term. Salvage logging is performed to "salvage" the economic value of trees before it is lost. The term salvage logging has no direct relationship to forest health.
"The Bush Administration's publicity stunt makes a mockery of Earth Day by encouraging more industrial logging in US National Forests ," said Andrew George, campaign coordinator for the National Forest Protection Alliance who identified the Allegheny National Forest as the most endangered national forest in a report released three years ago. "If the Bush Administration celebrates clearcutting on Earth Day, it tells you something about their logging agenda for the rest of the year. They honor Earth Day by pushing more logging in public lands and removing citizen rights over those lands."
Nationally, conservationists are urging President Bush to announce on Earth Day an end to old growth logging and support for protecting the nation’s remaining wild forest heritage. For a complete review of administration policies that threaten forests, please see The Wilderness Society report "Bush Administration Record on America's National Forests."
###
Posted by jkleissler at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)
Peterson Leads Anti-Forest Tour
Congressman John Peterson is leading an anti-forest tour including the Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and the news media today to promote salvage logging in the Allegheny National Forest. This is our apparent Earth Day 2004 treat - as the Congressman's reported comments include complaints about those dead trees "rotting" and being "wasted" in the forest. That is right, for Earth Day 2004 Congressman John Peterson is advocating that we remove downed trees vital to forest health. At least you know where he stands I guess...
Oh, and I should mention that ADP Hellbender Ryan Talbott is on the case! At least he is trying/hoping to catch up with the "tour". It would be nice to have someone explain forest ecology to Peterson.
Update: Ok, we were forwarded the press release. Here is the goods:
VENEMAN HIGHLIGHTS HEALTHY FOREST INITIATIVE DURING EARTH DAY TOUR OF ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FORESTSAnnounces Funding for Continued Research
KANE, Pa., April 22, 2004—Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today toured forest health projects on the Allegheny National Forest and visited a state-of-the-art local mill processing some of the forest’s world-class black cherry wood to view first hand implementation efforts of President Bush’s Health Forest Initiative.
Veneman also announced the allocation of an additional $55,000 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service’s Kane Experiment Station for continued research implementing the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.
“The Bush Administration is working hard every day, not just on Earth Day, to enhance our natural resources, including protecting forest health,” Veneman said. “By working to ensure healthier forests, we are providing future generations with cleaner air and water, improved wildlife and fish habitat, healthier watersheds and wetlands and places for recreation. These efforts also benefit local economies.”
Veneman, joined by U.S. Congressman John Peterson and other community leaders, visited several timber salvage and regeneration projects in areas of the Allegheny blown down by a severe windstorm last July that are also experiencing mortality from insects and diseases and prolonged and repeated drought. The forest, which comprises of 513,000 acres, used the new limited timber harvest categorical exclusion under the Healthy Forest Initiative to help the priority projects move forward more quickly. The group also toured the high-tech Kane Hardwood mill, which is using scanners, optimizers and computer-operated saws to maximize products from raw logs.
The Forest Service’s Kane Experimental Forest (Warren, Penn.), in collaboration with scientists from several universities, will use the additional funds announced by Secretary Veneman to study the economic and ecological problems created by the windstorm and to develop a long-term salvage strategy for future disturbances in northeast forests. The windstorm affected about 300 acres of the Kane Experimental Forest making them at risk for insects and disease.
In August 2002, President Bush announced the Healthy Forests Initiative
(http://www.fs.fed.us/projects/hfi/) pledge to care for America’s forests and rangelands, reduce the risk of catastrophic fire to communities, help save the lives of firefighters and citizens and protect threatened and endangered species while upholding environmental standards and encouraging early public input during review and planning processes. President Bush signed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act http://www.fs.fed.us/projects/hfi/field-guide/web/ into law in December 2003, granting the USDA Forest Service and Interior Department agencies new authority to address the forest health crisis across 20 million acres of federal land. The Act is the first major forest-management legislation in a quarter century.
Well, thankfully they are allowing the research to be done by the same unbiased research station that has brought us 30 years of studies on how to best farm the forest for black cherry!
Update 2: Question: What exactly can you do when your Secretary of Agriculture is completed dissected from reality?
Update 3: The Forest Service LEOs threatened to arrest Ryan for showing up at the anti-forest tour - just for being there on public lands! Can someone please remind them of the Constitution!
Update 4: Not sure how I missed the "Fact" Sheet.
Posted by jkleissler at 10:59 AM | Comments (1)
April 19, 2004
Success - CE Withdrawn
Good news folks! The Forest Service has apparently withdrawn attempts to Categorically Exclude from environmental analysis a salvage operation as part of the Martin Run Timber Sale. Instead they will do what is legally required - prepare the environmental impact statement before proceeding. Here is the letter:
Dear Interested Party, You were a recent respondent to our request for comments about the Bradford Fence Salvage Project (our scoping letter dated March 5, 2004). I have reviewed the responses received and have decided not to continue with the analysis of the timber salvage sale portion of this project. However, we will proceed with the repair/reconstruction of the fences to protect developing seedlings. Fence repair/reconstruction can occur without a new decision. The blown down and leaning trees will be removed from the fences prior to repair work to ensure safe operating conditions and to reduce the potential for further impacts to the fences. The salvage of wood from the blown down and/or leaning trees will be addressed in the Martin Run Project EIS. If you have any questions pertaining to this project, please contact O’Dell Tucker of my staff at the above listed address or at (814) 362-4613 ext. 125.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in to comment on the proposed CE.
Posted by jkleissler at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2004
Herbicide & Logging "Study" Info Now Posted
The Forest Service responded pretty promptly to my complaint. The info about the herbicide & logging study (does this "study" even have control sites?) is posted here. Click on the map below to see where the "study" sites are.
And, yes, I've figured out a quick and easy way to post these maps (at least so long as they are already available electronically).
Posted by jkleissler at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
More Illegal Salvage Planned
The Forest Service has basically opened up a systemic categorical exclusion plan for salvage logging to allow continuous salvage without the normally required detailed environmental impact study required by law. This is from their press release:
The Marienville Ranger District of the Allegheny National Forest (NF) is proposing to salvage harvest approximately 17 acres of down and damaged trees along Forest Roads (FR) 138 and 191 in Warrants 3217 and 3252 in Jones Township, Elk County, Pennsylvania. These down and damaged trees will be harvested within 200 feet of the roads. These trees were damaged in a severe storm that occurred last July.
In other words, just like the illegal logging already implemented under various existing timber contracts, the illegal logging proposed in the Martin Run Categorical Exclusion, and the salvage logging (legality to be proven) planned for the Spring Creek project the Forest Service is planning more illegal salvage logging in response to last summer's wind storms.
Click on the map to view a larger version:
To download the Scoping Notice click here.
Posted by jkleissler at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 31, 2004
Painter Run Bid Notice Up
We have posted the Painter Run Timber Sale Bid Notice and Prospectus. This gives details on the Painter Run Timber Sale Contract to be awarded today including stand by stand details on timber sale species and volumes.
Now, maybe you've never seen one of these. But this is the type of notice the Forest Service sends out to timber companies when they want bids for timber. It is key if you want to know how the Forest Service follows through on decisions it makes in environmental impact statements.
We've posted both a pdf version of the Painter Run notice for download and a html index to view images of the document on-line. Please use this thread to let us know what format you prefer. The Forest Service does not post this information so we hope that making this information available will help interested folks.
Update: We've now posted the bid notices for the Dead Horse Windthrow Salvage and Enterprise Timber Sales. Check out the Timber Bids Index.
Posted by jkleissler at 03:01 PM | Comments (3)
March 30, 2004
Forest Service to Hawk Painter Run Timber
Well, tomorrow, the Forest Service is scheduled to open bids for the Painter Run Timber Sale at 1pm in Ridgway. We're having scanning difficulties but will continue working on them so we can get the prospectus posted tomorrow. I thought we had it fixed but we ran into a small niche problem today.
Posted by jkleissler at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2004
Defend Allegheny Wilderness!
Action Alert
Allegheny Wilderness Needs your Help Today!
The U.S. Forest Service is trying to use a loophole to circumvent federal environmental laws and allow logging in the heart of a proposed Wilderness Area next to the Tionesta National Natural Landmark in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest. The Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas are the largest old growth forest in Pennsylvania made up of towering 500-year old Eastern Hemlock and American Beech trees.
The logging was initially proposed as part of the Martin Run Timber Sale. That project will be outlined in a detailed environmental impact statement due out this spring. But the Forest Service doesn’t want to wait and has moved forward plans to log 51 acres in the heart of the proposed Tionesta Wilderness Area now without environmental review and without following requirements to address public comments already submitted in protest! Read a previous action alert on the Martin Run sale here.
The Forest Service is attempting to turn a natural forest event into an opportunity to sidestep environmental laws. A recent wind storm has blown over some trees and left others leaning over 7 miles of deer fencing along proposed logging sites in the Martin Run project. Instead of repairing the fence, modifying its design, removing it, or simply cutting away the trees the Forest Service is trying to use this opportunity to do a commercial timber sale of black cherry trees.
The loophole involves the use of a new "category" of logging activities, created by the Bush administration, which can go forward without detailed environmental review. The "Categorical Exclusion" however cannot legally be applied for a project where the Forest Service has already acknowledged there may be a significant effect. Furthermore, the federal courts have already determined that logging adjacent to the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas in such a project without detailed consideration in an environmental impact statement prior to logging is illegal (Curry v. US Forest Service).
We need letters of protest sent today, Friday, March 19, 2004. They can be sent by e-mail to Supervisor Kevin Elliott or fax to 814-726-1465. Letters postmarked today are also accepted: Supervisor Kevin B. Elliott, Allegheny National Forest, RE: "Fence and Salvage CE", PO Box 847, Warren, PA 16365.
You can read the Allegheny Defense Project’s public comment letter by clicking on the extended text box.
March 19, 2004
Re: "Fence Salvage"/Martin Run Project
Ranger John Schultz
Bradford Ranger District
Allegheny National Forest
29 Forest Service Drive
Bradford, PA 16701
(814) 362-4613
(814) 362-2761 fax
Dear Ranger Schultz,
I am writing in response to your notice dated March 3, 2004, relating to attempts to categorically exclude certain "Fence Salvage" portions of the Martin Run Project. The following comments are provided on behalf of the Allegheny Defense Project and our Supporters and the National Forest Protection Alliance (NFPA).
1. This is a blatant attempt to circumvent the legally required consideration of environmental impacts and alternatives and is therefore illegal and should be immediately withdrawn as a proposed Categorical Exclusion.
2. The Forest Service has already determined that the activities proposed by the Martin Run Project will have a cumulative significant impact and therefore requires preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. These activities cannot be implemented through a Categorical Exclusion.
3. The public has already provided public comment on the Martin Run Notice of Intent and is anticipating that public comment will be responded to and addressed within the environmental impact statement for that project. Adopting a Categorical Exclusion for this project would allow the Forest Service to circumvent the detailed consideration of public comments required for environmental impact statements by substituting that process for the far less extensive and far more superficial review allowed in Categorical Exclusions.
4. While the Forest Service contends that this is necessary in order to repair the damaged fences, the Forest Service actually intends to carry out portions of the Martin Run Project as a commercial timber sale as evidenced by the scoping letter: "To expedite repair and maintenance of these fences, this small portion of the salvage harvest contained in the Martin Run Notice of Intent needs to be completed at this time."
5. It is one thing to remove trees that have fallen directly on fences. It is another to say that portions of the Martin Run Project need to be salvaged now through a categorical exclusion while they are still being considered in the scoping period for the Martin Run DEIS. Even the map associated with the CE notice is labeled as part of the "Martin Run" project.
6. By attempting to circumvent the EIS process, the Forest Service is bypassing consideration of more reasonable alternatives such as modifications to the fences themselves or simply moving the trees off of the fence lines themselves instead of removal of the trees. Tree fall along fences is persistent across the forest and the granting of this CE would establish a dangerous precedent for commercial timber sales along fenceways across the national forest in violation of the NEPA. 40 CFR § 1508.25. Alternatives looking at modifications to fence construction and design, as well as alternatives to the fence and log management program itself, are much more reasonable responses to the issue of treefall along deer fencing.
7. The decision to proceed with commercial logging as part of the Martin Run Project prior to the issuance of a Record of Decision is specifically prohibited by the NEPA because it prohibits the careful, detailed consideration of alternatives to commercial logging activities. 40 CFR § 1506.1,Until an agency issues a record of decision as provided in § 1502.2 … shall be taken which would limit the choice of reasonable alternatives. Furthermore, there can be no question that the decision to implement commercial logging now will prejudice the ultimate alternatives considered and decision made in the Martin Run Project.
8. Projects can not be segmented and broken up in order to evade more detailed review as required by the National Environmental Protection Act. This is a long-standing principal of the NEPA which would be violated by the implementation of the NEPA. 40 CFR § 1508.27(b)(7), Significance cannot be avoided by terming an action temporary or by breaking it down into small component parts.
9. Even if these activities were isolated (and not part of a larger project) they cannot be categorically excluded from consideration in an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment.
a. The Categorical Exclusion for timber harvest relied on for this project, which was adopted specifically in order to address fire hazards, provides as follows:
13. Salvage of dead and/or dying trees not to exceed 250 acres, requiring no more than _ mile of temporary road construction. The proposed action may include incidental removal of live or dead trees for landings, skid trails, and road clearing.Examples include but are not limited to:
a. Harvest of a portion of a stand damaged by a wind or ice event and construction of a short temporary road to access the damaged trees.
b. Harvest of fire-damaged trees.This CE, which is illegal to begin with, does not apply to the project at hand. The commercial logging proposed would occur over a 7 mile linear area. While the non-contiguous acreage of logging is quoted as only 51 acres, this does not cover the miles of skid trails and other disturbance activities that would be required to cover this project.
b. The Categorical Exclusion cannot be used for projects where extraordinary circumstances are present. Nearly all of the proposed logging sites abut or are adjacent to the Tionesta Scenic Area – a National Natural Landmark, documented habitat for the federally endangered Indiana bat, and the largest old growth forest in the entire state of Pennsylvania. In fact, in Curry v. US Forest Service, the presence of logging activity adjacent to Tionesta Scenic Area is part of what defines the need for an environmental impact statement. This is not a single extraordinary circumstance but a series of extraordinary circumstances that are impacted. In addition, these logging activities would occur in such close proximity that noise would be evident from the nearby North Country Trail – a National Scenic Trail. Furthermore, noise disturbances would affect recreationists within and near the Tionesta Scenic Area. Finally, the proposed activities all occur within the proposed Tionesta Wilderness Area (See http://www.alleghenywild.org) and the Tionesta Special Area (as outlined in the Act to Save America’s Forests). See 36 CFR § 219.27(b)(4), consideration of adjacent stands and residual trees.
c. The Categorical Exclusion can not be used to cover projects which may have a significant impact on the environment. It has already been determined that the proposed activities will require a preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for which a Notice of Intent has already been issued.
d. The NEPA requires that past, present, and future events be considered when considering whether or not an environmental impact statement is required (or when a categorical exclusion may be considered). The decision to maintain fences for the purposes of initiating future regeneration as part of a commercial logging practice itself sets a precedent for future activities which must be considered within the context of this proposal.
e. The Categorical Exclusion standard which the Forest Service hopes to use on this project itself is illegal. In the scoping notice, it suggests that the standard for consideration of whether a Categorical Exclusion can be used is "whether potentially significant effects would occur to any of the following categories of extraordinary circumstances." This is incorrect. The potential for significant effects is what determines whether or not an Environmental Impact Statement is necessary after preparing an Environmental Assessment. The same standard cannot be applied to Categorical Exclusions because then there would be no part in the NEPA process for Environmental Assessments. The presence of extraordinary circumstances requires the preparation of Environmental Assessment. After an Environmental Assessment is prepared then the potential for significant effects, and not just to extraordinary circumstances, is used to determine whether an EIS is required. The Forest Service proposes to apply an incorrect interpretation of law in pushing through this illegal Categorical Exclusion.
f. The Categorical Exclusion #13 is illegal. According to the Federal Register Notice for its adoption, this category is only applicable where target trees "still have some economic value as a forest product." Therefore it is clear, that economic value of the trees is a primary consideration in all cases where this CE may even be considered. This violates the provisions of the NFMA which strictly prohibit the choice of vegetation manipulation primarily for commercial returns. 36 CFR § 219.27(b)(3).
g. The proposed timber sale would exacerbate the potential for future windthrow damage near these fence areas, which is already exacerbated by past logging activity. This has obviously had a past significant impact and will further increase the likelihood of future tree fall as the result of wind disturbances. 36 CFR § 219.27(b)(4), requiring consideration of impacts of logging on residual trees.
10. The proposed "Fence Salvage" portion of the Martin Run Project would "propose to remove these trees through a commercial timber sale and would include fallen trees within a 25 foot zone on either side of the fence (some leaning trees could be as much as 75-100 feet away from the fence)." Yet, the purported purpose of this Categorical Exclusion is to repair fences. Repairing fences does not require commercial logging and the failure to consider alternatives to commercial logging, or to explain why consideration of such circumstances was not given due consideration in the original environmental analysis, undermines the purpose, intent, and letter of the NEPA.
11. There can be no question that the decision to use commercial logging methods to remove timber in this instance, where non-commercial alternatives are clearly available, violates the National Forest Management Act requirement not to choose logging methods primarily on the greatest commercial return. There is no justification for using commercial logging in this instance other than commercial returns which is a clear violation of this premise.
12. The scoping notice acknowledges that the repair to the fences is meant to protect seedlings grown on the site for commercial logging purposes – further exacerbating the link between this proposal and the NFMA prohibition in selecting logging systems primarily for the greatest commercial return.
13. This project is an insult to those who provided public comment on the Martin Run Notice of Intent with the expectation that their public comments would be responded to within the EIS and would not be prejudiced by illegal logging activities implemented through illegal CEs. These citizens have a right to have their public comments on the Martin Run project addressed through the legally required processes outlined by NEPA for Environmental Impact Statements and not circumvented while we await the preparation of that EIS.
We appreciate your immediate attention to these public comments.
Sincerely,
Jim Kleissler
Forest Watch Director
Posted by jkleissler at 09:22 AM | Comments (1)
December 31, 2003
Public Comment Periods
Filed this this morning with Supervisor Elliott:
Kevin,I am writing to formally request that the public comment period for the Sugar Run Draft Environmental Impact Statement be extended. NEPA regulations require that the EIS and/or Summary of the EIS be mailed out to interested persons/commentors and that those commentors be allowed 45 days to provide public comment. Despite the fact that we commented on the Sugar Run Scoping Notice we did not receive a Summary or EIS and had to request a copy. This is a clear violation of the NEPA and we are writing simply to request that we be provided the full 45 days for comment.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Jim Kleissler
NEPA is short for the National Environmental Policy Act. If anyone else has had problems with receiving documents please let us know.
Posted by jkleissler at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2003
Annual Report
Well, the US Forest Service's Allegheny National Forest 2002 Annual Report is finally out (more than one year after the fiscal year 2002 closed). It has a new format which is shorter which is just as well since the previous Annual Reports were nothing more than an extended volume of propaganda. That said, its not clear why it would take more than a year to put together an eight page report.
Even with eight pages, the Forest Service couldn't resist stretching reality. For example, page 5 claims that "Survey known Indiana bat hibernaculum" is one of the activities that the Forest Service is "doing" in the Allegheny. But we know that this is a stretch for the activities completed in 2002. In addition, the same table suggests that several Conservation Assessments have been completed without explaining why there have been no management changes made to reflect this alleged accomplishment.
This paragraph summarizes the absurdity of this propaganda quite well:
Silviculturists-working together with researchers-have developed promising new strategies for dealing with tree mortality and the decline of hardwood forests. Along with key partners, the Allegheny has launched a new program designed to collect data on forest health to better assess conditions and trends in the health of forest ecosystems.
The only "strategy" that has been proposed in the present is the same one that was proposed in the past - salvage logging through even-aged clearcut management. Painter Run, Forest Wide Windthrow Salvage, and the new proposed Martin Run Timber Sales are all examples of this log first, worry about implications later attitude. As for the "key partners", I believe that they merely are referencing their timber industry partners who have agreed to help the Forest Service reduce deer numbers by increasing hunting (ok, I get that) and the use of even-aged logging (which just happens to increased localized deer populations).
The most useful information that comes out of this report is the logging data. Here is a chart showing the logging levels from 1987 to 2002 in the Allegheny National Forest by timber volume offered in bids, bids awarded, and actual timber cut:
You can download the Annual Report from the Forest Service website (pdf format, 1.9 MB - LARGE FILE!)
Posted by jkleissler at 03:54 PM | Comments (2)
December 28, 2003
Prescribed Fire Project Approved
UPDATE - The appeal deadline for the Prescribed Fire Project is February 10, 2004.
The Forest Service has approved the Prescribed Fire Project (otherwise known as Cut and Burn) for the Allegheny National Forest. District Ranger John Schultz signed the Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) selecting Alternative 2, the most impactive alternative.
Of course there is the possibility of significant impact, particularly considering if this so called experiment produces their desired results. If so, a completely unnatural disturbance regime could be adopted, much like the clearcut/herbicide regime for black cherry. Only this would be clearcut and burn for oak.
Here is a description of Alt. 2 from the Environmental Assessment:
Under this alternative, the administrative study would be implemented on five areas totaling 78 acres that examines the effects of prescribed fire on enhancing oak establishment. Approximately half of each area would be burned, with the other half used as a control to study the response to burning. This activity would be repeated two to three timbes in each area within a span of five years, depending on the seedling establishment. Under this alternative, a fence would be built to minimize deer browsing in one of the strudy areas. To promote and monitor seedling growth, reforestation practices such as site preparation and stocking surveys would occur as well. Once oak seedlings have become established, nearly all of the overstory would be removed from both the control and burned portion of each stand, allowing full sunlight conditions to reach the established seedlings and creating a single age class.
The key here is that last sentence. Where on the Allegheny Plateau does clearcutting and burning mimic nature? Forests in this area are not meant to have a single age class. The bottom line here is, of course, the bottom line. This project is completely designed to promote valuable oak trees for logging projects.
The appeal deadline is February 10, 2004
Posted by Ryan at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2003
Defend Allegheny Wilderness!
The US Forest Service has proposed a very large timber sale immediately adjacent to the largest old growth tract in Pennsylvania in the heart of the Allegheny Defense Project's proposed Tionesta Wilderness Area. Please act today to help protect this National Natural Landmark!
Visit our Action Alert and Send Comments Now
If approved two miles of old growth boundary will be compromised by adjacent commercial logging. In the name of "forest health" the Forest Service would remove downed trees vital to restoring degraded soil health and important wildlife habitat. More than 1,000 acres is planned for the heart of the proposed Tionesta Wilderness Area.
In all, the Martin Run Timber Sale calls for 2,352 acres of commercial logging including more than 1,000 acres of clearcutting. The Forest Service also proposed new road construction, more than 1,000 acres of herbicide spraying, and 900 acres of release cutting (primarily for future timber management).
This is very important. Please write a letter to Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott in protest of this egregious timber sale.
Write:
Supervisor Kevin B. Elliott
Allegheny National Forest
P.O. Box 847
Warren, PA 16365
kbelliott@fs.fed.us
Visit our Action Alert and Send Comments Now
Posted by jkleissler at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2003
Still Waiting
... for the first real restoration project in the Allegheny National Forest. The Forest Service continues to push illegal logging projects over good sound science. Besides Martin Run the Forest Service is releasing the draft environmental impact statement for the Spring Creek timber sale soon.
As usual the Forest Service is doing their best to discourage the public from actually getting a copy of the EIS to comment on by requiring that the public fill out a form in addition to already having provided public comment in order to get the EIS.
E-mail Leon Blashock now to make sure that they don't try to short-circuit your participation.
Posted by jkleissler at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2003
Martin Run Project
Folks,
The Forest Service will be holding a public tour this Saturday at 11 a.m. for the Martin Run Project.
Date: Saturday, November 11
Time: 11 am
Place: Sheffield Work Station (Route 6 just east of Sheffield)
The Martin Run Project Area contains the largest old-growth forest between the Adirondacks and the Smokeys. This is the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas. The surrounding second-growth forest is maturing and beginning to develop the characteristics that, if left alone, will once again develop into old-growth habitat. The North Country National Scenic Trail, Twin Lakes Trail, and Tionesta Scenic Area Interpretive Trails are within the project area.
Much of this area would be protected through ADP's Allegheny Wild! proposal. Much of the Martin Run Project Area is in the proposed Tionesta Wilderness while the remainder is in the proposed old-growth corridor. With an area of such ecological value, one would think the Forest Service would want to protect this area, right?? Wrong!
Not only does the Martin Run Project call for over 3,000 acres of commercial logging, but a substantial amount of that in the form of clearcutting is planned directly adjacent to the Tionesta Scenic Area and surrounding lands. This is absolutely unacceptable and shows the Forest Service's total contempt for protecting this National Natural Landmark. The Forest Service actually seems intent on damaging the value of the Tionesta Old Growth as Forest Plan revision gets underway -- One can't help but wonder with this area being the core of the proposed Tionesta Wilderness if there is a concerted effort to destroy the Wilderness characteristics of this area in order to make it ineligible for Wilderness consideration.
The Martin Run Project consists of:
- 819 acres of "regeneration harvests" (shelterwoods and clearcuts)
- 613 acres of thinning (pre-commercial and intermediate)
- 316 acres of salvage removal cuts
- 313 acres of salvage intermediate thinning
- 903 acres of release cuts
- 1,220 acres of site prep
- 1,309 acres of reforestation and herbicide spraying
- 771 acres of fence construction and reconstruction
- 39 acres of mechanical scarification
- 18 acres of controlled burning
- 317 acres of supplemental planting
- 280 acres of logging to "enhance late successional forest conditions".
Total --- 3,244 acres of logging
Key talking points for the tour:
1) Why are we not visiting sites that represent the true nature of the project?
Apparently, the Forest Service is planning only 2 stops for this tour (must be the cold weather). One of these stops is to look at an area that is to be or currently is fenced. Not to downplay the effects of fencing but the Forest Service needs to divulge the full aspects of the nature of the proposal.
2) Why is the Forest Service proposing so much logging DIRECTLY ADJACENT TO THE TIONESTA SCENIC AREA?
According to the Martin Run project vegetation map, there is considerable acreage planned for shelterwood removal and thinning next to and in the vicinity of the Tionesta Scenic Area. This is absolutely unacceptable. The Forest Service is well aware of the issues regarding the protection of the Tionesta Old Growth. They are also well aware of the Allegheny Wild! proposal that calls for the designation of a Tionesta Wilderness.
3) Why is the Forest Service logging to enhance late-successional forests?
This is ridiculous.
4) Why does the Martin Run Project area contain many of the lands that would be protected as Wilderness under the ADP's Allegheny Wild! campaign?
If you need directions, please contact us at our office:
(814) 223-4996
Posted by Ryan at 01:23 PM | Comments (1)
September 23, 2003
Peterson Pruning the Forest
Only our staunch cut-it-all-down Congressman John Peterson could argue that a clearcut resembles "pruning" in the Allegheny National Forest:
Turning to another kind of Pennsylvania greenery, Peterson addressed forest management in the state."We have one of the most valuable forests in America," he said, speaking of the Allegheny National Forest. He said the goal of the government is to educate landowners as to forest management and to address the forest management plans of the government itself.
"The future of the forest is about managing it," he said, explaining the process of pruning a tree to help the forest grow.
'nuff said. The article is at the Bradford Era.
Posted by jkleissler at 01:32 AM | Comments (0)