Group criticizes proposal for Monongahela forest

[davidinalameda]

http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2005081213/

Conservation groups say a proposed management plan for the Monongahela National Forest would open thousands of acres of previously protected roadless areas to logging, while recommending only a small fraction of the forest's remaining wild areas for wilderness protections.

The West Virginia Wilderness Coalition issued a statement Thursday asking people to join its efforts to protect existing roadless areas, safeguard remote wildlife habitat and recommend wilderness designations.

"The new draft plan is a major step backward from our current management plan, a plan which we West Virginians fought very hard to get the last time around, and one that has been very well-received over the past 19 years," said Mary Wimmer, a volunteer with the West Virginia Sierra Club.

[mongo]

1. Thanks for posting this

Here's a link to the FR website about the plan - including how to make comments to the forest service. I haven't had time to look into it.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/plan_revision/plan_revision.htm

[hollowdweller]

2. Yeah I love The Mon

Been in backpacking in Dolly Sods and Spruce Knob/Seneca Creek this summer already.

[mongo]

3. What are some good places to go in the spurce knob/seneca creek

area? We are finally at a place in the store where Daisy and I can get away for a few days every now and then.

In July, we went to the Gandy Creek disbursed camping area (since that is the type of camping we crave), which is next to the Seneca Creek backcountry. We did the more tourist type sights since we have never explored the area.

But I'd love to know where some really good places to day pack in the area are.

Here's some pics from our trip http://www.daisywreath.net/mongo/camping7-05/July%202005%20Camping%20trip.htm

I used to spend all my spare weekends in the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah Natl forest when I was younger and living in Charlotte, NC. I miss the mountains - just foothills around here.

[hollowdweller]

4. Depends on how many miles you can go.

On our last trip we left on a Saturday evening and hiked about six miles on a combination of Lumberjack, Huckleberry, and Seneca Creek trails and camped right by Seneca Creek Falls. I brought a daypack as well as my regular backpack and on Sunday we hiked about a 6 mile loop incorporating High Meadows(awesome) Lumberjack and Huckleberry trails. Monday we hiked back out on Seneca Creek trail, stopped and ate lunch at the long defunct Judy Springs campground. I guess it was a campground before the area was gated off and then hiked out to the road and to our car.

You could probaby hike out Seneca Creek Trail and lunch at Judy Springs, but the best part with all the cool falls is toward the end.

Several good hikes are described at my friend Mike's site. He's a super nice guy (but a Republican amazingly) and leads hikes.

www.midatlantichikes.com

[mongo]

5. Thanks!

Lots to digest on that site. I hope we get back to the area one more time before winter.

[Lasher]

6. Judge restores Clinton's 'Roadless Rule'

There might be some hope here.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Wednesday reinstated the "Roadless Rule," a Clinton-era ban on road construction in nearly a third of national forests.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte ruled that the Bush administration failed to conduct necessary environmental studies before making changes that allowed states to decide how to manage individual national forests.

The 2001 rule prohibits logging, mining and other development on 58.5 million acres in 38 states and Puerto Rico, but the Bush administration replaced it in May 2005 with a process that required governors to petition the federal government to protect national forests in their states.

Laporte sided with 20 environmental groups and four states _ California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington _ that sued the U.S. Forest Service over the changes.

"This is fantastic news for millions of Americans who have consistently told the Forest Service that they wanted these last wild areas of public land protected," said Kristen Boyles, an attorney for Earthjustice, one of the plaintiffs.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4201842.html