George Washington National Forest Planning

Forest Planning for the GWNF

Forest Planning for the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) resumed earlier this year.  With publication of a Notice of Intent on March 10, 2010, the U.S. Forest Service restarted the process which had been “on hold” since July, 2009, and had been halted twice due to flawed planning regulations. (Scroll down to the “RECENT HISTORY” section for more details.) The Forest Plan is now being developed using the original 1982 planning regulations.

Five public meetings were held in April 2010 to re-initiate the process. Since those meetings, an Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) of Forest Service employees has continued to work on the plan. A draft Forest Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) should be released in late 2010 or early 2011. The plan is the responsibility of the Regional Forester in Atlanta, Liz Agpaoa, who will review the plan and EIS that GWNF staff submits to her.

Among the tasks of the IDT is to develop a range of alternative plans for analysis and consideration. To date, six alternatives have been identified. One of the alternatives is “No Change”, or simply continuing the current plan, which was completed in 1993. A second alternative is a “Need for Change” plan. This plan is based on internal analysis by GWNF staff with some input from public meetings. It addresses issues that the Forest Service identified in the Notice of Intent to resume planning. 

More work and analysis has been completed on the “Need for Change” alternative than any others at this point. Though other alternatives are now being developed, and additional alternatives could be added, the Forest Service seems invested in the “Need for Change” alternative. That is unfortunate, as it currently includes many undesirable characteristics. For instance, the number of acres identified as suitable for timber production would increase to 500,000 from the current amount of 350,000. Only four areas and about 20,000 acres would be recommended for wilderness consideration, a woefully inadequate proposal. About 8,000 acres in some inventoried roadless areas would be actively managed, salvage logging would be permitted in some proposed backcountry areas, and some areas of old growth would also be open to harvesting.

There needs to be more analysis and development of alternatives that emphasize an “easy on the land” approach and minimize active management and resource extraction. To that end, the “Conservation Alternative” that Heartwood and Wild Virginia submitted to the Forest Service is being used as the basis for one of the plan alternatives. This is a positive step, as a strong conservation plan must be seriously considered and fully analyzed along with all other alternatives. We and our partners continue to work on the Forest Plan with the IDT, and will continue to push for appropriate and sound forest management.

Please remain informed and engaged as the process continues, particularly when comment period for the draft Forest Plan and EIS begins. 

Click here to view some of the comments that Wild Virginia has submitted on the Forest Plan.

 

 

RECENT HISTORY of FOREST PLANNING on the GWNF

 

March, 2010 - Forest Planning Resumes

A schedule of public meetings has been announced for April 2010. Forest Plans dictate how national forests are managed for 10 to 15 years at a time, so it is extremely important to make your opinions known about how the GWNF should be managed. The current GWNF plan was finalized in 1993. Comments on the Plan via letters, emails, phone calls and faxes are critical. Contact information is below.

 

Click here to view talking points for possible use in your comments.

 

Many localities and organizations have adopted resolutions calling on stronger management of drinking water resources in the GWNF.  Click here to view and read more about the resolutions.

More planning information and background documents are available by clicking here for the GWNF Planning web page.

 

Contact information for submitting comments:

Mailing address:

Maureen Hyzer, Forest Supervisor

George Washington National Forest

5162 Valleypointe Parkway

Roanoke, VA 24019-3050

Email address: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us.

(Please write “Comment on George Washington Plan Revision” in the subject line of your post.)

Fax numbers:  (540) 265-5145, (540) 265-5109

Phone numbers:  (888) 265-0019, (540) 265-5100

 

Wild Virginia is among the many groups that are 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. 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!

 

Wild Virginia will continue to work to promote a “Citizen’s Vision” for the GWNF. To get involved please email the Conservation Director David Hannah. More details of our efforts will be posted in the coming weeks, stay tuned.

July, 2009 – the 2008 Forest Planning Rules are Tossed Out.

On June 30, 2009, Judge Claudia Wilken in California’s northern district of the U.S. District Court ruled that the most current forest planning rules, issued by the Bush administration on April 21, 2008, do not comply with federal law.  All national forests, including the George Washington National Forest (GWNF), are enjoined from working on forest plans.

Click here to read the court decision, and click here to read a news story published by the N.Y. Times.

 

 

It is unclear how the GWNF will proceed at this point.  The planning process is “in limbo”, again, until Obama administration officials determine how they want to move forward.  The Forest Service continues to accept public comment for the revised Forest Plan though.  The narrative below describes how forest planning on the GWNF has transpired until this point.

June, 2009.

The process of revising the Forest Plan for the GWNF continues, with a draft plan likely to be completed in July or August, 2009. Five public meetings were held in July, 2008. Two public meetings focusing on potential wilderness areas and roadless areas were held in September, 2008. Two meetings on vegetation management were held in the fall of 2008.  Two wrap-up meetings were held in early 2009.

 

The Forest Service will continue accepting comments until a draft of the Forest Plan is released, which is expected in July, 2009.  Comments should be sent to the George Washington-Jefferson National Forests Headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia.

 

June, 2008.

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 a new President having taken office, the Forest Service wants to move forward with planning on the GWNF and other national forests.

 

April, 2007 – VICTORY – 2005 Forest Planning Rules are Tossed Out.

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. Read the ruling here. We will post more information 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.