Guest Post by our partners at the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA) A response to objections raised to the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) Draft Record of Decision (ROD) about whether the proposed amendments to the Forest Plans of the Monongahela and George Washington National Forests to accommodate the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) has been issued by the… Read more
The House yesterday passed The “Resilient Federal Forests Act,” H.R. 2936 encouraging and allowing more logging on national forests framed as a way to curtail wildfires. The vote was 232-188. The Virginia delegation voted in a straight party line with all Republicans (Whitman, Taylor, Garrett, Goodlatte, Griffith, Brat and Comstock) voting in favor of the… Read more
by Susannah Gilmore The H.R. 2936 “Westerman Bill” has just entered the process of amendment and discussion in Congress. Proposed last June, it seeks to “improve forest management” by essentially allowing industry to bypass environmental assessment as mandated in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 in order to expedite industrial progress. The bill… Read more
We are very disappointed in yesterday’s decision by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) to decline to defend easements on 13 Virginia properties and approve a conversion that will allow the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines to violate standing conservation easement agreements with VOF. We cannot emphasize how important conservation and trust agreements are in protecting… Read more
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Despite recent bad news, the future remains uncertain for two huge, destructive natural gas pipelines proposed to mar our precious mountains and forests. Approvals for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline issued on Friday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are just one step in a continuing battle to determine the fates of these pipelines. The outcome… Read more
The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through Aug. 22, 2017. Comments for ACP should be submitted to: comment-acp@deq.virginia.gov See ACP Public Notice Comments for MVP should be submitted to: comment-mvp@deq.virginia.gov See MVP Public Notice Describe ways you use waterbodies that would be directly affected by pipeline work or are downstream of those areas…. Read more
-The MVP will result in permanent forest fragmentation, impacts to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail Scenic Corridor, and harm to Endangered Species -The Record of Decision (ROD) includes 11 exceptions to the existing Jefferson National Forest Plan that would allow: —-destruction of 51 acres of national forest for creation of the pipeline corridor and access roads… Read more
– The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will destroy 214 acres of National Forests and construction will eliminate a total of 4,892 acres of critical interior forest habitat. -The Pipeline will cross 2.4 miles of porous and unstable karst areas on Forest Service lands and two cave systems of high significance:… Read more
