COMMENTS AND APPEALS

Forest Planning Process:

The process of revising the Forest Plan for the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) appears ready to resume.  Though no dates or schedules are yet in place, the GWNF website (www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision) indicates that public meetings will be held in the summer of 2008.  Forest Plans dictate how national forests are managed for 10 to 15 years at a time, so it is extremely important that interested citizens make their opinions known about how the GWNF should be managed.  The current GWNF plan was finalized in 1993.  Attending public meetings is one of the best ways to be heard, and a schedule of meetings will be posted here as soon as it is made public.  Comments via letters, emails, phone calls and faxes will also be critical.

Revising the GWNF Plan began in early 2007, with five public meetings in Virginia plus one in West Virginia.  When planning regulations established by the Forest Service in 2005 were ruled to be in violation of federal law by a federal appeals court judge (see VICTORY! paragraph below), planning was put “on hold.”  Since then, the Forest Service has completed an Environmental Impact Statement for their new planning regulation, and on April 21, 2008 put new regulations back in place.  Two lawsuits have already been filed that challenge these newest regulations.  Despite these challenges and the prospect of additional ones, the Forest Service wants to move forward with planning on the GWNF and other national forests.

Wild Virginia will be among the many groups that will be heavily involved in this process and we encourage everyone to participate. This website and email messages will keep you informed and provide information about public meetings and how to communicate with the Forest Service about the Plan.  A four page Citizens Vision for the forest, Forests for the Future, is available [click here].  Wild Virginia and eight other forest conservation organizations developed the report, which includes management priorities for the GWNF that should be included in the revised Plan.

Please get involved in the management of your national forest.  At more than a million acres in size, a source of drinking water for many thousands of area residents, and home to an incredible diversity of wildlife and natural communities, the GWNF is a tremendous resource that must be managed wisely.  Issues such as roadless areas, watershed protection, creation of Special Biological Areas, old growth inventories and protection, and more must be fully addressed.  Please take part in securing the future of our public lands!

PREVIOUS POSTINGS:

VICTORY! Federal Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled March 30, 2007 that the US Forest Service violated several laws including the Administrative Procedure Act, National Forest Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act when it put forth a rule in 2005 that eliminated the public process and formal consultation to protect wildlife when reviewing Forest Plans for National Forests. To read the ruling click [here] (180k .pdf) We will post more info soon on how this will affect the planning process for the George Washington National Forest.

We congratulate our colleagues at the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, The Lands Council, Center for Biological Diversity, Klamath Siskyou Wildlands Center, and more on their tremendous victory.

Wild Virginia will continue to work to promote a "Citizen's Vision" for the George Washington National Forest. To get involved email David Hannah: dhannah at wildvirginia.org

More details of our efforts will be posted in the coming weeks, stay tuned.

The USFS Planning Process website is here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml

WILD VIRGINIA DOCUMENTS BY RANGER DISTRICT

Lee Ranger District:

Great Little Timber Sale Summary (20k)

Prescribed Burn-Wood Turtle Proposal Summary

North River (formerly Deerfield & Dry River) Ranger District:

Marshall Run Timber Sale Summary

Wild Virginia Scoping Comments on Marshall Run TS

Glenwood/Pedlar Ranger District:

Robinson Hollow Timber Sale Scoping Comments submitted 3-20-2006 [345kb PDF]