Wild Forest Protection Plan
How the Roadless Plan Hits Home
by Jenny Coyle
How are forest activists across the country taking the
news of President Clinton's roadless area plan?
Personally, that's how.
To the average citizen, "roadless areas" may sound
vague. But to Club activists like Mark Pearson and Gordon Smith, who
have been fighting to protect some of these wildlands, they are
special treasures.
"Everyone is jazzed by the president's proposal and
we're ready to devote a ton of energy generating a lot of public
comment in favor of it," said Pearson, a Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
Chapter member who has been involved in numerous efforts to protect
wildlands. He's also chair of the Club's national Wildlands Campaign
Committee.
Pearson said Colorado's 150,000-acre Hermosa roadless
area - the largest roadless area in the southern Rockies - is the
perfect example of a wildland that could be protected by the plan.
"Hermosa has the best pockets of old-growth ponderosa
pine in the San Juan Mountains," he said. "It's been a focus of our
attention for 25 years. A greater level of protection might mean we
don't have to keep filing appeals, holding rallies and sending in
postcards to fight off timber sales, new roads, mineral-leasing
proposals and ski-area expansions."
Colorado's highest peak, 14,433-foot Mt. Elbert, is
part of a 19,000-acre roadless area that is not protected from
destructive activities despite its recreation values, said Pearson.
"Most of the mountain is above the timberline, but below that is
lodgepole pine that should be placed off-limits to logging."
Meanwhile, Alaska activists say they'll work hard to
see that the Tongass National Forest is included in the roadless
area study.
"It's great to see the administration and the Forest
Service taking the lead to protect these pristine places. Some of
Alaska's most productive salmon runs are in roadless areas," said
Scott Anaya, a forest activist in the Alaska Chapter and a member of
the national Wildlands Campaign Committee. "But there's no
scientific reason to exclude the Tongass. It's just political."
In Minnesota, where logging for pulp on national
forests has tripled since 1975, activist Clyde Hanson of the North
Star Chapter is hopeful that the plan will create a protective
buffer around the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area.
"Right now they're logging right up to the border of
Boundary Waters, almost as a political statement," said Hanson.
"Some of the logging sites are visible from within the wilderness,
and you can hear the trucks. That really impacts the wilderness
experience, and the wildlife that live there. We've been telling the
Forest Service to stop managing for timber harvest and start
managing for recreation. Maybe with this new proposal we have a
chance."
A similar approach - letting a roadless area serve as
a buffer zone - could also benefit the Linville Gorge Wilderness
Area in North Carolina.
Gordon Smith, the Sierra Club's representative on the
Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, said there are several
roadless areas ranging in size from 3,000 to 7,000 acres that could
enhance the wilderness area if protected under Clinton's plan.
The coalition has made it a priority to educate the
public about these areas.
"Some of the wilderness areas are overused," he said.
"The roadless areas aren't as well known and the Forest Service
doesn't sign them as well or maintain the trails. We've produced
brochures including a trail map and narrative in order to encourage
people to hike in the roadless areas in Pisgah National Forest."
Grizzly bears could benefit if roadless areas in the
Northern Rockies Ecosystem (Montana, Wyoming and Idaho) were given
stronger protections, said Jennifer Ferenstein, a Montana activist
and national Sierra Club Board member.
She said the 100,000-acre Great Burn roadless area
links the Northern Rockies to the Salmon-Selway Ecosystem, providing
a migratory corridor for the bears. "But it's threatened by
proposals for logging and off-road vehicle use," said Ferenstein.
"The plan must protect this key grizzly bear habitat."
Mark Lawler, National Forest Committee chair for the
Cascade (Washington) Chapter, said the plan would also aid wildlife
in Washington's 150,000-acre Meadows Roadless Area, home of the
largest lynx population in the Lower 48.
"It's really something to have this kind of initiative
taken by a sitting president in my lifetime," said Lawler. "We need
to seize this opportunity and push for the strongest possible stance
from the White House."
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