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Hellbender Journal Summer/Fall 2001 Wilderness Proposal Published ADP Outlines Plans for Tionesta Wilderness By Jim Kleissler The Allegheny Defense Project's proposal for a wilderness surrounding the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas will be published in the October issue of the Natural Areas Journal. The Tionesta areas are found in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest just east of Sheffield, PA. The Natural Areas Journal is a scientific peer-reviewed publication geared towards the preservation of natural diversity. Following up an idea conceived by the Allegheny Defense Project (ADP) in 1996, Kirk Johnson wrote the paper and submitted it to the Natural Areas Journal last year while working for the ADP. The ADP is pursuing the Tionesta Wilderness as part of our Allegheny Wild! Campaign featured in the Summer/Falll 2001 issue of the Hellbender Journal.
The Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas which constitute 4,000 acres of never logged hemlock-beech forest make up the largest old growth forest in all of Pennsylvania. The area currently provides some of the most important "source" areas for breeding birds in the state. One of the states only population of the Yellow bellied-flycatcher nests here and Blackburnian warbler diversity is approximately 40 times greater than in second growth forests. Other wildlife species which have been documented using the forest dominated by 120 feet tall trees include the federally endangered Indiana bat, the sensitive northern water shrew, and the all important indicator of interior forest habitat, the northern goshawk. Unfortunately, this vast treasure is also threatened by an assortment of industrial extraction activities. Oil and gas corporations own the right to drill under much of the Tionesta Scenic Area which makes up half of the old growth forest. Pipelines, roads, and wells currently fragment the old growth forest as well as surrounding second growth woods. In addition, U.S. Forest Service management of the Allegheny National Forest for black cherry timber production threatens to fragment surrounding areas all the way up to the boundary of old growth. The Sierra Club has joined the ADP in litigation geared towards ending plans to log adjacent to the Tionesta Research Natural Area as part of the monstrous East Side logging project - the largest timber sale on any eastern national forest. The Tionesta Wilderness proposal outlines the scientific foundation for protection of the Tionesta old growth through the designation of wilderness. Twenty to thirty thousand acres of surrounding second growth forest would be designated wilderness and restored towards a healthier condition. This would involve obliteration and revegetation of roads used only for oil and gas or timber extraction as well as watershed restoration and replanting of old clearcuts. The Tionesta Wilderness could serve as a role model for wilderness establishment throughout the eastern United States and would help to provide permanent protection to one of the most important forest areas in the country. For more information about the Tionesta Wilderness proposal or the Allegheny Wild! campaign contact the ADP at (814) 223-4996 or info@alleghenydefense.org Download the proposal as published in the Natural Areas Journal (PDF - 700Kb)
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