Forest Service to Log 1,000 Acres in Wyoming Roadless Area
12/15/98
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Forest Service to Log 1,000 Acres in Wyoming Roadless Area
Source: Biodiversity Associates and Friends of the Bow
Status: Distribute and reprint freely
Date: 12/15/98
MEDICINE BOW WILDLANDS ALERT
SAY NO to Over 1,000 acres of Cutting in Roadless Areas and 35 Miles of
New and Reconstructed Roads
The Forest Service just announced its proposal to log over 1,000 acres
in the Buffalo Peak and Deer Creek roadless areas southwest of Douglas,
Wyoming on the Medicine Bow National Forest. The so-called "Cold
Springs Ecosystem Management Project" is anything but ecosystem
management. (NOTE: Don't confuse this with the timber sale of the same
name on the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming). This damaging project
will carve out dozens of clearcuts and other cuts totaling 1056 acres
inside the roadless areas and 1,261 acres outside the roadless areas,
for a total of 2,317 acres of logging. Some of the proposed clearcuts
are huge--from 57 acres to over 110 acres. To make matters worse, the
project calls for 17 miles of new roads and 19.9 miles of "reconstructed
roads" outside the roadless areas. Many roads will lead right up to the
edge of the roadless area where off road vehicles are sure to create
illegal motorized trails into the roadless areas.
What are the Forest Service "reasons" for all this carnage in two of the
few remaining unprotected wildlands? Bugs and fire. Never mind that
forest insects and fire are two of the natural processes which created
the Medicine Bow in the first place. Never mind that the health of the
Forest ecosystem depends on fire and insects. Never mind that the
ecological reasons for protecting roadless areas are so numerous and
important that 169 scientists concluded in a December 1997 letter to
President Clinton that: "[I]n our view, a scientifically-based policy
should, at a minimum, protect from development all roadless areas larger
than 1,000 acres...." Never mind that roads and clearcuts already carve
up most of the Medicine Bow National Forest. And never mind the
overwhelming public support for leaving roadless areas uncut (90% of the
comments sent last year to the Forest Service about Cold Springs opposed
logging and roads in the Buffalo Peak and Deer Creek roadless areas).
The Medicine Bow is a National Forest, NOT a tree farm. It should be
managed to protect natural values. The Cold Springs timber sale does
just the opposite.
Add Your Voice to the Call for Roadless Area Protection
Citizen action is the ONLY way the Buffalo Peak and Deer Creek roadless
areas will escape the saw. Letters, phone calls, and faxes need to
flood Forest Service offices. The issues aren't complicated. Either
the Forest Service is going to protect the few remaining wild areas on
the Bow or it isn't.
Some Points You May Want to Make
Every acre of the Buffalo Peak and Deer Creek roadless areas should
be protected from road building and logging.
No new roads, either inside or outside the roadless areas, should be
constructed. 3,500+ miles of existing roads on the Forest are already
far too much.
Bugs and fire are completely natural, essential components of the
Forest and are NOT valid reasons for cutting in roadless areas. Many
forest birds and other wildlife actually depend on the effects of fire
and insects to find the food and shelter they need to survive.
To protect recreation, logging is not allowed in this portion of the
Forest (management areas 2A and 3A). The Forest Service should not
waive this restriction for any reason, least of all another huge timber
sale.
Broken Promises: It's time Forest Supervisor Schmidt, President
Clinton and Forest Service Chief Dombeck honor their promises to protect
roadless areas (see additional info below).
Send your letters BY JANUARY 8th, 1999 to:
Malcolm Edwards, District Ranger
Medicine Bow National Forest, Douglas Ranger District
2250 E. Richards Street
Douglas, WY 82633
(307) 358-4690
Please send us a copy of your letter. We will collect them all and
forward the entire bundle to President Clinton and Chief Dombeck in
Washington, D.C.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I. Just More Broken Promises!
Since he assumed leadership of the Medicine Bow NF, Supervisor Jerry
Schmidt has made a number of promises to the public, including:
the promise to protect the roadless areas
the promise to reduce clearcutting
the promise to revise the forest plan
the promise, made in the 1985 forest plan, to NOT cut this part of the
Forest
With the Cold Springs project, Mr. Schmidt is breaking every one of
these promises.
President Clinton and Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck have also
made commitments about protecting roadless areas:
Mr. Clinton said "My administration has moved away from past policies
that primarily emphasized timber cutting at the expense of the
environment and blatantly violated environmental laws..."
Chief Dombeck is on record with "The unfortunate reality is that many
people presently do not trust us [the USFS] to do the right thing.
Until we rebuild that trust and strengthen those relationships, it is
simply common sense that we avoid... old-growth and roadless areas."
What Happened to These Promises?
II. Bogus Forest Health Claims
The Forest Service claims that the main reason for this industrial
logging project is "forest health," primarily because the area is "at
risk" for a mountain pine beetle outbreak. The idea that you can, or
need to, save the forest from itself by cutting is preposterous and
flies in the face of basic ecology. But even if one accepts this faulty
rationale, the proposed logging would not actually prevent a beetle
outbreak. According to the agency's Forest Health Assessment/Biological
Evaluation:
"Although there have been extensive direct control programs in the past,
their efficacy in the long term is now questioned... Even if the
outbreak could be supressed (which is doubtful and would be logistically
substantial), the conditions which spawned the outbreak would still
exist. It is usually just a matter of time before the beetle population
begins to increase once again due to favorable conditions." Forest
Health Management BE, R2-98-02, page 14.
III. Environmental Quality, Wildlife and Plants Get Short End of the
Stick
The Cold Springs area has many wildlife and sensitive plant values.
Sixteen Northern Goshawk nests have been discovered within the area, a
single Merlin has been seen, and Dwarf Shrews are thought to be around.
Seven sensitive bat species may also inhabit this part of the Forest.
Mule deer and elk use the area in all seasons except winter. Sensitive
plants such as the Laramie Columbine and Autumn Willow, along with
numerous mushroom species, are also present. The Forest Service wildlife
and plant analysis repeatedly states that other sensitive species were
were not observed, but that "focused surveys have not been conducted."
No mystery there. Although the Forest Service worked for three field
seasons spread across three years measuring the tree stands to determine
what stands they want to cut, but agency botanists spent only about
about 3 days looking for sensitive plants and less than two weeks
looking for sensitive wildlife.
Impacts to streams and water quality are also a big concern. Nearly
2,060 acres of the proposed cutting is on soils that have a severe
erosion rating, over 1,500 acres are on soils with a "severe" timber
harvest limitation, and 1,439 acres are on soils with BOTH severe
erosion rating and severe timber harvest limitation. This does not bode
well for maintaining water quality in streams. And cutting on private
lands in the vicinity has already caused excessive siltation in E. Fork
Boxelder Creek.
This alert was sent by:
Jeff Kessler
Biodiversity Associates
and Friends of the Bow
PO Box 6032
Laramie, Wy 82073
(307) 742-7978