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North Carolina Open Thread: Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests logging plan [1]
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Date: 2023-01-15
North Carolina's Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests are among the most visited in the country. The future of roughly half of the combined forests is now in the hands of the U.S. Forest Service after eight years of arguments about its highest and best use.
WRAL, Laura Leslie, 1/15/2023
North Carolina is home to one of the most-visited swaths of national forestland, the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. The future of about 450,000 acres of the combined land — nearly half of it — is now in the hands of the U.S. Forest Service after eight years of arguments about the best use of the forests.
Since 2014, the federal agency has been working on a management plan for the future of the land. The plan could be in place for up to 30 years. The forests, which stretch along the state’s western border and include parts of the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, drive recreational tourism in the 18 counties they touch. But the land is also a key resource for the state’s forestry industry.
, the Forest Service released a draft plan that would open more areas to logging than stakeholders had even asked for. It received more than 22,000 objections to the plan — more than any other in the agency’s history, mostly in support of more protections for the forests. The service is now working on a final version of the plan and was expected to release it before the end of last year. Observers of the process now expect the plan to land early this year. Last year, after many meetings with stakeholder groups , the Forest Service released a draft plan that would open more areas to logging than stakeholders had even asked for. It received more than 22,000 objections to the plan — more than any other in the agency’s history, mostly in support of more protections for the forests. The service is now working on a final version of the plan and was expected to release it before the end of last year. Observers of the process now expect the plan to land early this year.
U.S. Forest Service officials repeatedly declined interview requests from WRAL, citing the ongoing feedback process.
Citizen Times, Andrew Jones, 1/13/2022
ASHEVILLE - In a bizarre twist that may signal the close of a decadelong process to revise a management plan for two of the busiest national forests in the country, questions as to how the U.S. Forest Service ultimately rewrote the book are still a mystery.
A document signaling that a final decision has been made on a long-awaited land management plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests was published online in error and now has been withdrawn.
What happened
Titled “Final Record of Decision for the National Forests in North Carolina,” the U.S. Forest Service on Jan. 10 filed claims the Final Record of Decision for the revised forest plan was signed by North Carolina National Forests Supervisor James Melonas and ready for publication Jan. 11.
Previous coverage:
“The final ROD documents the rationale for approving the revised LMP and is consistent with the Reviewing Officer's responses to objections and instructions,” the document states. “The revised LMP for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests will become effective 30 days after the publication of this notice of approval in the Federal Register (36 CFR 219.17(a)(1)).”
It later noted a written response by a “reviewing officer” would be issued Jan. 17.
The decision document then directed readers to the link www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/nprevision where it said the final ROD and Final Environmental Impact Statements, the revised plan and other documents were posted.
Citizen Times, Jean Franklin, 10/2/2022
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