January 12, 2006. Over 700 acres
of ancient forest, some of it never logged, in the Nantahala National Forest near Highlands,
North Carolina will be protected thanks to the hard work of five local conservation groups
and an Asheville resident. In planning the White Bull logging project, the U.S. Forest
Service neglected to recognize and protect significant stands of old growth forest. This
error might have gone unnoticed, leaving the huge, old trees open to logging, if not for
the careful forest watch role played by WildLaw, our conservation group clients and their
members.
Now, local conservation groups, WildLaw and the Forest Service are working together to identify the oldest and most natural parts of
the National Forest so these particular areas won’t be logged. These areas of
natural forests that will be protected will almost certainly include the high
windswept ridges near Devil’s Courthouse and Fodderstack Mountain.
“These quiet, deep, and remote natural forests with huge, old trees are harder and harder to find in the South. They are so
important to wildlife and to all of us in these southern mountains,” said Buzz
Williams, executive director of the Chattooga Conservancy. “We are grateful that
the Forest Service was willing to meet us half-way and work with us to protect
these places.” In the future, the Forest Service agreed to provide better maps
of proposals to the public so such mistakes can be discovered earlier in the
planning process.
In addition to agreeing to add protection of the ancient forests, the Forest Service agreed to increase protection for wildlife
habitat and recreation, including:
- Abandoning plans to log near the Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area along Glade and Ammons Branch Trails;
- Setting back all logging from the other popular hiking trails in the area;
- Working with the conservation groups to identify and preserve the stands surrounding rocky areas that are home to the rare green salamander;
- Gating to prevent illegal and destructive ATV use in areas where the soil is exposed by logging activities;
- Mowing logged areas to help prevent introduction of invasive exotic species;
- Increasing the space between logging activities and a springhead.
Citizens were able to participate in the process and help
identify planning errors and raise wildlife and recreation concerns because
of the National Environmental Policy Act. “This is a good example of why this
law, which is under attack at the national level, is so important to local
citizen groups who work with federal agencies to protect our shared public
lands,” said WildLaw attorney Rachel Doughty, who handled the appeal for the
Chattooga Conservancy, Georgia ForestWatch, Southern Appalachian Biodiversity
Project, Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, and Wild South, as well as for
Asheville resident David Schenck.
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