Monongahela National Forest Proposal Comes Up Short
The U.S. Forest Service wants to triple logging, increase the size of clearcuts from 25 to 40 acres, and protect very little of the wilderness in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest. Citizens have until mid-November to urge the agency to reverse its priorities for this forest, which is an increasingly popular destination for millions of people who enjoy outdoor recreation. It is also an important source of clean drinking water for downstream communities and is vital to wildlife.
Two decades ago conservationists had a similar showdown with the Forest Service. In the end, the 1986 management plan protected 16 of the forest’s wild areas by prohibiting logging and road building. The West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, which includes The Wilderness Society, considers the new Forest Service proposal a major step backwards. All or parts of at least 9 of 16 of the protected backcountry areas would be opened up to logging and road building, including Cranberry Backcountry, Canaan Mountain, Flat Rock/Roaring Plains, and Lower Laurel Fork.
Last year conservationists proposed that 15 areas in the Monongahela be added to the National Wilderness Preservation System—and thus protected forever—but under the agency’s proposal only one of them, and parts of two others, would become wilderness areas, and many would be open for logging. Among those left out were Upper Shavers Fork, the Dolly Sods Expansion, Spice Run, and Seneca Creek, the largest roadless area in the forest.
Please urge the Forest Service not to proceed with its proposal. To learn more, visit . All Wilderness Society members in West Virginia will receive West Virginia’s Wild Mountain Treasure: The Monongahela National Forest, which explains how to help protect this forest. Click here to view the report.
For More Information
- Fran Hunt, Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, The Wilderness Society, 202-429-2657
