You may have noticed that we've been sharing quite a few pretty pictures from the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests recently on our social channels. That's because the time is nearing when we'll need you to help us protect the future of these treasured mountain lands.
The U.S. Forest Service has been working for the past three years on a new management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala. This plan will cover everything from road-building, logging and resource extraction to hiking, camping, hunting and fishing on the forests’ combined 1.1 million acres.
A final draft is expected to be released soon, with a 90-day public comment period to follow. At that point, we'll need to make our priorities heard as loudly and clearly as possible.
The USFS has been working with stakeholders and the public during the plan's development, in an effort to gain more input for - and satisfaction with - the final product. The N.C. Sierra Club has been at the table the whole time, represented by current Chapter Vice-Chair David Reid and John Diefenbach and Judy Mattox from the Western North Carolina (WENOCA) Group.
It’s the first time stakeholders have been included in the drafting process for a national forest management plan. The process itself may prove to be a model for future plan development, if all goes well.
Of course, “all goes well” depends on your point of view. The USFS is required to manage national forests under the guiding principle of “multiple use” - and that concept sometimes has been skewed in favor of oil, gas, and timber extraction.
The WENOCA team and other stakeholders have pushed for adequate protection for rare old growth, threatened and endangered species, special habitats recognized by the state, and preservation of backcountry and wilderness lands that aren’t currently protected by law. Wilderness advocates also are pushing for new wilderness recommendations for areas totaling just over 100,000 acres.
We invited our supporters to participate two years ago, when the Forest Service released an earlier draft. We're hoping the next - final - draft gives fair weight to our input. But we can't take that for granted.
So we've created a video series with award-winning photographer/videographer Art Howard to help explain why we support these goals - and why we hope you'll speak up, too, and encourage your friends to do the same when the time comes. We hope it inspires all friends of the national forests to “explore, enjoy and protect” these public lands - YOUR public lands.
We've created a campaign page at sc.org/ncforests where you can sign our petition and get updates on the plan's development - in particular, when the final draft is released and the public comment period is opened.
North Carolina’s national forests encompass critical habitat for a widely diverse range of important, rare and endangered species. They're a haven for humans as well, with some of the most beautiful landscapes in our state and nation. They're a source of clean air and clean water - building blocks of life. And, as we are learning every day, our forests are key to absorbing the carbon that is warming our planet.
Those of us who love these forests and all they contain must speak up for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. Join our campaign - and invite your friends to join, too! Let’s tell the Forest Service loud and clear: Safeguard the wild and beautiful places in our national forests!