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North Carolina Open Thread: Final Forest Plan and its impact [1]

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Date: 2023-02-26

Blue Ridge Public Radio, Lily Knoepp, 2/17/2023

The Forest Service released the long-awaited plan for the million acres of forest in Western North Carolina. The plan has been in the works for more than a decade. Last January, the final draft plan was released, and stakeholders submitted their objections.

“The forest plan is a framework to address incredibly complex challenges like climate change and invasive species, impacts from development on adjacent private lands, and high levels of visitor use,” James Melonas, forest supervisor of the National Forests in North Carolina, said in a press release.

The plan centers around four themes, according to the release: connecting people to the land, sustaining healthy ecosystems, providing clean and abundant water, and partnering with others.

It identifies 49,000 acres for newly recommended wilderness, adding to the 66,000 acres of designated wilderness already found on the forest, the release said.

“The revised plan has been developed with extensive input over many years,” Melonas said. “We appreciate the passion, creativity, and patience of all our partners and communities working with us to build a plan that reflects multiple values while ensuring our national forests are sustained for generations to come.”

Citizen-Times, Andrew Jones, /17/2023

The long-awaited approved final version of a plan that will define the future for a huge swath of Western North Carolina forests is not good news for conservation advocates, but it’s also not a surprise.

The U.S. Forest Service Feb. 17 announced the revised version of a management plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah forests has been finalized and is live on its website.

The 361-page plan “is a framework to address incredibly complex challenges like climate change and invasive species, impacts from development on adjacent private lands, and high levels of visitor use,” according to James Melonas, forest supervisor of the National Forests in North Carolina.

Previous coverage:

The Forest Service in a news release noted the working relationships it had with “representatives of other agencies, local government, tribes, partner and collaborative groups and individuals to consider the best available science and various approaches to managing the forests.”

McDowell News, 2/22/2023

The USDA Forest Service released the final revised Nantahala Pisgah Forest plan that will guide future management of the national forests in western North Carolina.

“The forest plan is a framework to address incredibly complex challenges like climate change and invasive species, impacts from development on adjacent private lands, and high levels of visitor use,” said James Melonas, forest supervisor of the National Forests in North Carolina. “Ensuring our forest ecosystems are healthy and resilient is critical to long-term sustainability of all the habitats and ecosystem benefits on which we all depend.” For a USDA video, click here.

Because a third of McDowell County is national forest land, the plan will have a big impact on how land within the county is protected and used. The planning team developed a balanced plan that supports the multiple uses and benefits of national forests, including recreation, water, wilderness and wildlife habitat, healthy and resilient forests, and sustainable management, according to the forest service.

The new plan specifically emphasizes the ways people use the forest and the places that are important to them.

In developing the plan, the Forest worked with representatives of other agencies, local government, tribes, partner and collaborative groups and individuals to consider the best available science and various approaches to managing the forests.

“The revised plan has been developed with extensive input over many years,” said Melonas. “We appreciate the passion, creativity, and patience of all our partners and communities working with us to build a plan that reflects multiple values while ensuring our national forests are sustained for generations to come.”

here. Carolina Public Press has been following the process for years. To read that organization's take on the plan, click

Center for Biological Diversity, Will Harlan, 2/17/2023

Federal Plan Will Quadruple Logging in Most Popular U.S. National

The Center — along with a coalition of more than 100 businesses and organizations — published a report card summarizing and evaluating the plan’s most important topics, including old growth, recreation, water quality, biological diversity and climate. The report card issues the plan failing grades in most categories. It acknowledges that the final plan made marginal improvements, including the addition of one Wild and Scenic River and the protection of 700 additional acres, but they are overshadowed by colossal failures with long-term impacts, including:

Failing to protect more than 101,000 acres of biological and recreational hotspots.

Placing 44,000 acres of old-growth forests in its highest priority logging designations.

Allowing logging along the Appalachian Trail, Mountains to Sea Trail, and Trail of Tears National Historic Trail corridors.

Allowing logging on steep slopes with weakened protections for streams and rivers.

Authorizing more than 300 miles of new logging roads and unlimited use of herbicides.

Failing to evaluate the role of mature and old-growth forests in storing carbon and addressing the climate crisis.

Failing to protect Natural Heritage Areas — the most biologically diverse forests that shelter 70% of the Pisgah-Nantahala’s rare and endangered species.

Failing to recommend the Craggy National Scenic Area, which has unanimous bipartisan political, public, stakeholder, and community support. Instead, the plan places 3,000 acres in its highest priority logging designations.

The report card echoes the concerns expressed by an unprecedented 14,000 objections filed against the plan last year. Objectors included the city of Asheville and Buncombe County — the largest and most populous city and county in the Pisgah-Nantahala footprint, with the most forest users.

“The Forest Service could have chosen widely supported compromises and solutions that even the timber industry and hunting organizations supported,” said Harlan. “Instead, the agency decided to reject cooperation, collaboration, and public input. For more than a decade, the public has been sending a clear and consistent message: Protect more of the Pisgah-Nantahala. The Forest Service didn’t listen.”

U.S. Forest Service, USDA

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