Background
The Allegheny National Forest (ANF) -- Pennsylvania's only National Forest -- is home to some great wild country including prime hunting and fishing territory and a perfect place for hiking and family outings. Only a small fraction of the Forest -- approximately 9,000 acres -- is now permanently protected in the National Wilderness Preservation System. This acreage equates to less than two percent of the ANF as a whole. Nationally, 18 percent of all Forest Service land is protected as wilderness. In the Forest Service's Eastern Region, of which the ANF is a part, the figure is 11 percent.
In the fall of 2003, Friends of Allegheny Wilderness published "A Citizens' Wilderness Proposal for Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest", which identified eight parcels of the ANF -- a total of 54,460 acres -- as potential new wilderness. The proposal was published to coincide with the beginning of the Forest Service's plan revision process.
The forest plan, once finalized, will govern management on the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) for 10 to 15 years or more. As part of the plan revision, the Forest Service must review and can recommend new areas for wilderness designation. The recommendation is important for a few reasons: while only the Congress can designate wilderness, the agency's finding that an area qualifies for designation carries considerable weight with the Congress. And once the agency makes such a recommendation, it is bound to manage the candidate area in a way that protects its wilderness values.
Update
On May 19, the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Forest Plan revision. While the DEIS recommends four important parcels for wilderness protection, it excludes two previously identified Roadless Areas and three other citizens' proposed wilderness areas from further wilderness consideration at this point. Further, the Forest Service's "preferred" alternative (Alternative C) recommends only two areas as potential wilderness.
Conservationists say the draft plan is a step in the right direction, but they believe more needs to be done. "We recognize that it is not easy to balance the needs and desires of all the users of the ANF, however it is critically important that we all remain vigilant that wilderness not be shortchanged, overlooked, or arbitrarily sifted to the bottom of the barrel during this process," said Kirk Johnson, executive director of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness.
Areas proposed for wilderness under the FAW proposal include the 4,100-acre Tionesta old-growth forest west of Kane, the Clarion River Roadless Area near Ridgway along the National Wild and Scenic portion of the Clarion River, and a popular backcountry area along the Allegheny Reservoir known as Morrison Run, which contains a popular 12-mile hiking trail loop and a 6-mile segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail. These and other areas have been prematurely eliminated from consideration for wilderness designation under the DEIS.
The Forest Service will be accepting public comments on its draft Forest Plan over the next three months. Next week, the agency will begin a series of informational public meetings where they will discuss the contents of their draft forest plan. Click here to view the public meeting schedule.
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