Range after range Ancient Mountain Sentinel of mountains. Shenandoah Year after year Ecosystems after year. Defense I am still in love. Group -Gary Snyder Vol V, No. 1 ACTION for the wild Shenandoah and central Blue Ridge Bioregions Spring, 2003 ative ideas. (The “stapler chasing around the trees” skit originated here, and was later used in places as far away as Oregon). Our success STAPLES VICTORY demonstrates the power of a creative, driven, and well thought-out By Mike Kruse grassroots movement. You may have joined us when we protested outside of Staples TAKE ACTION! office supply store to demand that they carry more recycled paper and not use paper fibers that come from our national forests. If you were Please remember that recycling is not complete unless you there, if you were one of almost one hundred people who came to one BUY recycled products. It is especially important to buy of the three protests we had here in Charlottesville, or if you buy recycled paper products to bolster the market for such goods recycled paper, then you have reason to celebrate a personal victory. and increase industry production. For a list of resources on In November, Staples announced that they would meet most recycled paper please visit: www.thepapercampaign.com of our demands. Staples agreed to achieve an average of 30%, post- and click on “alternatives.” consumer waste, recycled content for all paper in their stores (up from an estimated 3%). Staples has also agreed to phase out paper that Mike Kruse is a long-time activist and supporter of comes from our national forests, old growth forests, and certain en- SEDG dangered southern forests. SEDG HIRES CONSERVATION DIRECTOR In the spring of 2002, SEDG hired its first staff person. Through a generous grant from The Agua Fund, SEDG was able to hire Steve Krichbaum, a native of Staunton, to be its first Conserva- tion Director on a part-time basis. Steve has a degree in zoology from the University of Florida and has worked on for- est and wildlife conser- vation issues for over fourteen years. He is a passionate, outspoken Charlottesville activists pose for a photo during a demonstration in front of Staples advocate for wilderness. on Rt. 29 North in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo: Alex Davis He is the author of the 2000 Shenandoah Moun- This is an enormous victory. This will send a clear message tain National Monument to the paper industry without creating new government regulations. Proposal, an attempt to Staples has created a model for other office supply stores to follow. influence Bill Clinton to The weight now falls on Office Depot and Office Max, the new tar- bestow national recogni- gets of the Paper Campaign, to change their paper purchasing poli- tion and special protec- cies. tions on public lands in Thanks to the Dogwood Alliance and Forest Ethics for lead- the Shenandoah Moun- ing the Paper Campaign and to the thousands of people around the tain area. country who participated Steve is responsible for Table of Contents: in the days of action. monitoring timber sales Thanks particularly to the on the George Washing- Staples Victory...... 1 people who joined us here ton National Forest with Killing an Oak Tree...... 2-3 in Charlottesville and the special emphasis placed Protecting Your Favorite Places...... 4 Students for Environmen- on the Shenandoah river watershed. Only 2% of the George Wash- Progress on High Knob NRA...... 5 tal Action at the Univer- ington National Forests is protected as Wilderness but it is our hope Bush and Forest Policy...... 6 sity of Virginia. SEDG that with Steve and a growing army of SEDG volunteers we can Abuse on VA's Old Growth...... 6-7 consistently had some of increase that number to 12% or more. Steve works mostly out of his Assault on Potomac Watersheds.....7-9 the largest turnouts in the home in Staunton as much of his work is in the field. Calendar of Events...... 10 nation with great, cre- 1 Killing an Oak Tree moving shade, changing character all the time Ancient Mountain Sentinel as the light filtering through the leaves changes. Volume V, Number I - Spring 2003 A Gratuitous Death The cycle of light we’ve grown used to here has ______By Bruce Jackson, appeared in the January 25, 2003 been determined by the annual cycle of that issue of CounterPunch oak tree. The Ancient Mountain Sentinel is And its cycle of sounds, too: light rain published by Shenandoah Ecosys- My neighbor is killing his oak tree. It’s and heavy rain, different in spring, summer and tems Defense Group taking a long time. fall. Light breezes and strong winds, different . He’s not doing it himself. It’s too big a job Jennifer L. Creasy, Editor when they’re going through leaves of spring, for him to do by himself, even if he knew how to do summer or fall, or across bare winter wood. The it, which he doesn’t. He’s hired a tree company to For subscriptions, inquiries or chattering and singing and calling of the birds do it for him. Their two-man crew has been work- submissions, contact: and squirrels hanging out there, living there, ing since a little after dawn. finding meals there. A lively place,, my Shenandoah Ecosystems Defense It’s a white oak, maybe ninety feet tall in neighbor’s two-hundred-year-old oak tree. Group the trunk, plumb-straight from the small branch at There’s always been a lot of life in that PO Box 1891 the top to the ground. It measures forty-three inches ninety-foot-high trunk with all those limbs and Charlottesville, VA 22903 in diameter at eye-level, eleven feet and four inches branches and leaves. Squirrels use it as their (804) 971-1553 in circumference. The two men cutting it down fig- [email protected] main aboveground thoroughfare getting from ure it’s about two hundred years old. ______the garages behind our houses to the street be- All day long I’ve been listening to the in- fore their quick dash across the street into the termittent howl of the chain saw biting into wood, Contributors this Issue: park and back again. Sometimes, standing in Susan Curry, Alex Davis, Arthur then the saw falling quiet for a while as the two- my driveway, I’ve seen them come across from a Evans, Jason Halbert, Bruce Jackson, man crew lowers the severed branch or limb to the far neighbor’s house, scamper across my garage, Steve Krichbaum, Greg Lipscomb & yellow steel truck parked below. Then the chainsaw leap to the oak tree owner’s garage, leap from Christina Wulf man in the cherrypicker attaches his rope to an- his garage to the oak tree, negotiate all the way other limb or branch, his saw starts up again, howls across and through its huge web, leap to a maple Submissions again as it bites into another piece of the tree, falls We will gladly print most anything you at the curb and scamper down and out of sight silent again, and that limb or branch in its turn is supply--articles, op-ed, poetry, car- for the run across the street. lowered to the truck. All day long. First the outer toons, photos, drawings, etc... so please The rookery of crows that inhabits the branches, then the limbs, then more branches and send it in. Our next issue will be com- nearby cemetery a few weeks every year fills ing out in Summer 2003, so please sub- another limb. the tree twice a day as they circuit the neigh- mit by June 1st. Thanks! Today the two men amputated all the borhood. Every now and then a woodpecker goes ______branches and limbs on the side of the tree facing to work somewhere in it. Robins nest in it. Over my house. Tomorrow they’ll start amputating all the years I’ve spotted black-headed grosbeaks, Donations to SEDG are gratefully ac- the branches and limbs on my neighbor’s side. I cerulean warblers, orchard orioles, white- cepted, and much appreciated. assume that will be slower work, since the branches Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) breasted nuthatches nesting in its branches or and limbs on my side were over our adjoining drive- serves as our fiscal sponsor. Please just loafing there for a while. Three years ago ways, while most of the branches on limbs on his make checks payable to VOP and mail two red-tailed hawks lurked on its topmost side are over his roof. them to SEDG at the above address. branches for nearly a week. Thank you! Sometime later in the week, they’ll take “It’s the straightest and tallest white down the trunk. Then there will be nothing except oak I’ve ever seen,” Pete Seeger said when he a stump in the ground, and maybe not even that. first saw it fifteen years ago. “It’s so rare, a When we have bad ice storms here— healthy straight white oak like that. It would maybe once or twice a year—a few of the old trees make a wonderful keel for another Clearwater.” in the park across the street go down. When they’re Clearwater is the sloop Pete helped build to en- down and broken you can see where those trees are courage people to clean up the Hudson River. “If rotted and dying on the inside. It’s sad to see those the owner ever wants to part with it,” Pete said, big trees in the park suddenly nothing but litter, “tell him to call me.” Pete looked at the tree but you can always see the rot, see that they were some more, then said, “But it shouldn’t ever hap- ready to go. pen: that’s a grand tree.” My neighbor’s oak isn’t like that. The ends And a grand tree it was, until this morn- of the branches and limbs the two workers are load- ing when the two-man crew arrived not long ing into their truck are clear from center to bark all after dawn and began sawing off its branches around, and the wounds on the trunk where the and its limbs. limbs had been attached are clear from edge to cen- “Those limbs you’ve cut there look ter as well. Left alone, this tree had maybe another pretty healthy,” I said to one of the men taking hundred years. down the tree. My family has lived in our house for 27 “They are,” he said. years and we’ve had a relationship with that oak “What about the rest of the tree?” tree. It sprouts leaves later than the maples that are “It’s fine,” he said. “Some dead more common around here, and in fall it outlasts branches at the top. The rest of it is okay.” them. It shades our house all summer long. It’s not a static shade, like you get from a wall; it’s a floating 2 “So why are you cutting it down?” It is a world in which an American A Tree-Huggers Prayer “The owner wants it cut down.” president is passionate to wage a war none The other man in the crew said, of us understands and almost none of our Peace. “Makes you sick, to cut down a tree like that. foreign allies endorses, his administration Feel it in your feet, your hands. But people have their reasons, I guess.” fights at home to open the last great wild Let them sink into the earth. The present owner of the house has regions of Alaska to oil drillers and to re- Feel it in your bones, let them become been there three or four years. Not long after duce the risk of forest fires by clearcutting tap root and heartwood. he moved in we were talking and I told him national forests, and his environmental agen- Grow, move, twist, enjoy the deep what Pete Seeger had said. I wasn’t telling cies set about reducing the amount of envi- eternity of soil with your whole him so he’d do it; I was telling him to compli- ronmental crime by relaxing the rules that ment him on his tree. define environmental crime. More than a soul. “Give me his number,” he said, “and million American men and women are in With the roots, entwine across all I’ll give him a call. I’ve been thinking of get- prison. The catalog of horrors and the mani- distance – joining this continent ting rid of that tree. If he’ll pay for cutting it festations of madness are without end. and all continents. down, I’ll let him have the trunk if he can What does the gratuitous death of Taste the flavor of root & mineral, kiss figure a way to get it out of here.” one ninety-foot-high plumbbob-straight of worm, bliss of water. “Why?” I said. “It’s a beautiful tree. two-hundred-year-old healthy oak tree mat- Gather all of this – all that knows of It shades your house and mine, your drive- ter in comparison to all that? sky and sun, soil and rain — into way and mine. It’s in great shape.” Honestly, I don’t know. I just know one being. “Some of those upper branches that I’m sad and outraged and sick to see it Soak up, gather, hold to you – this aren’t so healthy,” he said, “and it’s close to killed, to know that this small part of my my house and I’m worried that its roots will world will be diminished by the gratuitous peace of the trees and let that clog up my drains.” destruction of that grand oak tree. I also wonder flow, a glowing river. a “So you call the Roto-Rooter guy and know that I’m not really capable of thinking living message. he clears them out. Everybody with trees does in terms of millions of acres of the Alaskan Send it out, with all peace and love, that.” Native Wildlife Refuge or any of those other with all our huge compassion on “Yeah,” he said, “but then five or areas so facilely being given up, turned over, this day of days, that overwhelms ten years later the roots grow back and you wiped out, sold for a pittance. us and tears the breast of Mother have to do it all over again. And in a storm, But I can think of that tree, which Earth. one of those branches might fall on your roof I’ve taken comfort from and have loved Lay it like a blanket upon the and you’d sue me or on my roof and it would for twenty-seven years. I can see that it is burning cities,lay your shade and cost me a lot of money.” being killed by two men with a chainsaw. I “So have the branches trimmed.” know that it will not be here for the next peace, this peace of the trees. “Maybe,” he said. inhabitant of my house, or for the next in- And into the hearts of the men in suits He never said anything more about habitant of my neighbor’s house, or for any who must make our choices now it and I never gave him Pete’s phone number of the people who own these houses ever, or – with your sly roots, lay this and neither did I tell Pete about the conver- for the animals that have inhabited the tree message, rich with green leaves, sation. My neighbor at the time was com- and visited it season after season, year after and singing in the subterranean plaining mightily about how much Medicare year. echo of planet: and health plans were eating into his income, It’s all those trees, one by one, and “As truly as you love the innocent so I figured he would never pay the five thou- all those lakes and rivers, one by one. One by eyes of every newborn child and sand bucks he said it would cost him to cut one by one by one. Greed and bad taste and every one who died today, do I down the oak tree. More imporantly, I never stupidity. One by one by one by one. believed he would do anything that awful. I If my neighbor asked me what I love the innocent eyes of EVERY was wrong. thought about this, which he wouldn’t, I creature which roams the Earth.” And as I’ve been listening to the saw guess I would say, “Nobody should kill a per- - Christina Wulf start up, cut, fall silent, then start up and cut fectly good tree without a perfectly good rea- 9/11/01 again, and as I’ve seen more and more round son.” I’d say, “Nobody should kill anything circles of naked wood where limbs used to without a perfectly good reason.” meet the trunk, and as it’s been more and more clear that the process is irreversible and the tree will die, I’ve been feeling more and Bruce Jackson is SUNY Distinguished Professor more sick to my stomach. Just plain old sick and Samuel P. Capen Professor of American Cul- to my stomach. Like I need to throw up. ture at University of Buffalo. He edits Buffalo Ours is a world in which countless Report. infants die for lack of food and teenagers wrap their bodies with explosives and nails so they can die and kill for what they think are good political reasons. It is a world in which people drive airplanes into office buildings full of innocent people and convince themselves that God will thank them for their behavior. 3 Protecting Your Favorite Wild lic land unspoiled by roads, “roadless areas,” areas in Virginia was 4% of the total volume. are rare gems in a landscape crisscrossed by In the Final Environmental Impact Statement Places roads. Their value as roadless areas has been (FEIS) on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule By Jason Halbert calculated and it far outstrips the value of (the Rule), no communities were listed as the timber or mineral resources that might “potentially affected communities” for Vir- It’s hard for environmental issues to be extracted. ginia. These two points are critical. get in the news. Newspapers have Style, Only 5% of Virginia’s National For- SEDG is in the process of an inter- Travel, Food, even Used Car sections, but few ests are federally protected as Wilderness esting mapping analysis for the areas listed papers find the natural world worthy of any- areas. About 8% of all public lands in Vir- above that fall within the Shenandoah Wa- thing more than an occasional mention or col- tershed. Thanks to a grant from the Agua umn. Mother Nature, it seems, garners head- Fund of the Tides Foundation, we were able lines when she is creating natural disasters The value of standing, to hire Steve Krichbaum, a Staunton native, or standing in the way of progress. Our cul- roadless blocks of forestland, to actively defend these important wild places ture takes the environment completely for especially in the headwaters from further encroachment from roads and granted. destructive timber sales. Our analysis will The Wall Street Journal recently ran of major streams and rivers is highlight the importance of roadless areas a story about the fairly new concept of “eco- enormous. Who can place a to municipal drinking water supplies (some- system services.” Wall St. is just beginning to monetary value on the feel- thing that Governor Mark Warner is stress- figure out how to put a price tag on all that ing of awe when one sees a ing after last year’s drought), and down- has heretofore been taken for granted. How bear in the wild? stream water quality (something important much is clean air worth? How much is clean to everyone who likes to fish, canoe or swim). water worth? It wasn’t too long ago that the For interesting map images for the concept of selling a quart of bottled water for ginia are protected as Wilderness. Shenandoah Watershed, we encourage you more than the cost of a gallon of gasoline Shenandoah National Park contains the larg- to visit the Canaan Valley Institute’s map- would have been absurd. est designated Wilderness areas in Virginia ping server at: Economists can now calculate the and adds the extra 3% to our total. The table http://canaanvi.org/gis/ value of standing forests, especially in the below lists the existing inventoried roadless mapFrame2.asp headwaters of rivers that supply municipal areas in the George Washington National SEDG submitted official comments drinking water. When New York City com- Forest (this excludes the Jefferson National throughout the more than two-year process pared the cost of building new water treat- Forest and Shenandoah National Park). that led to the final Rule. So did 46,301 other ment facilities against the cost of purchasing The average volume of timber of- Virginians. 98.5% of those Virginians agreed thousands of acres of headwaters forests that fered for sale from 1996-98 from all roadless with SEDG—that roadless areas need full naturally supply clean water in the Catskills, Inventoried Roadless Ranger District Acres the latter was far cheaper. Protecting forests Area Pedlar to provide naturally cleansed water for reser- A6dams Peak 7,07 Warm Springs voirs is not a new idea. B7eards Mt. 7,45 Lee In 1911, the Weeks Act authorized B5ig Schloss 20,75 Deerfield the federal purchase of lands in the eastern C8rawford Mt. 9,86 James River U.S. to create national forest preserves to “pro- D4olly Anne 7,80 Dry River tect the headwaters of navigable streams.” D3ry River 7,31 Deerfield The cutover, burned and eroded slopes of what E6lliott Knob 9,37 Dry River became the Shenandoah National Forest in G5um Run 12,58 Deerfield 1918 (later renamed the George Washing- J8erkemtight 16,66 Pedlar ton) are the headwaters of many important K2elley Mt. 7,63 Warm Springs navigable streams. More importantly, these L8aurel Fork 9,93

Warm Springs forests, now beginning to recover, provide L9ittle Alleghany Mt. 10,10

Dry River dozens of communities with clean drinking L8ittle River 27,24

Warm Springs/J.R. water, wonderful recreational opportunities, M6ill Mt 10,82

Pedlar and millions in tourism dollars. Three of M5ount Pleasant 8,90

Lee Charlottesville’s reservoirs are partialy sur- N0orthern Massanutten 9,41

Dry River rounded by publicly owned forested areas; O6ak Knob 10,86 the Sugar Hollow reservoir water originates James River O1liver Mt 13,08 in Shenandoah National Park. Dry River/Deerfield R1amsey's Draft Addition 12,77

All of the watersheds in Virginia that Warm Springs R1ough Mt. Addition 1,13 contain roadless areas are sources of drink- Pedlar S1t. Mary's Addition 1,44 ing water to varying degrees. Dry River S5kidmore 5,63

The last century has seen an explo- Lee sion in the construction of roads—paved, un- S9outhern Massanutten 11,91 Pedlar paved, mapped and unmapped. There are more T0he Friars 2,02 Pedlar than 410,000 miles of roads on national for- T0hree Sisters 8,15 est lands alone. The US Forest Service has T4OTAL (25) 249,98 built more road miles than any other entity in the world history. The few areas left on pub- 4 protection. That is a fairly clear statement of Progress Made on High Knob back and wagon trains, hiking and biking, support from Virginia. Still, Congressmen cabins and cottages for visitors. Goodlatte and Goode both oppose this rule National Recreation Area Congressman Boucher has called and Congressmen Boucher and Wolf support By Jen Creasy the concept of a National Recreation Area, it. On August 24, 2002, the Clinch “The best idea I have heard this year.” He The Bush administration has said Coalition, representing 5,000 citizens in also stated that he feels establishment of the repeatedly in the press and in court that this southwestern Virginia, unveiled an ambi- recreation area would complement the area's rule did not allow for sufficient public com- tious proposal for a High Knob National Con- culture and scenic value. And, the scenic ment. That is outrageous. This rule garnered servation and Recreation Area in Lee, Scott, and cultural value of this area is unquestion- the most official comments of any US Gov- and Wise counties, Virginia. able. The Nature Conservancy has identified ernment action in our nation’s history. Over On Friday, February 7, 2003, the the Clinch River and its High Knob headwa- 1.75 million comments were sent to the For- proposal took a large step forward when U.S. ters as the most precious and vulnerable eco- est Service. Every state except Idaho showed Rep. Rick Boucher convened a special advi- system in the eastern United States. It is also a majority supported the protection of roadless sory committee to look at the possibility of home to thousands of people who need more areas from new roads, logging, and mining. forming a High Knob National Recreation secure economic opportunities. Congressman Idaho joined with timber giant Boise Cas- Area. The committee is comprised of 18 mem- Boucher states that he is in favor of estab- cade to sue to stop the Rule. In December the bers from local governments, tourism agen- lishing the area as a way to increase tourism, 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled in favor cies, environmental groups and the timber which in turn will create new jobs. of the forests and said the Rule process was industry. Opposition to the national recreation indeed more than adequate and to argue oth- Congressman Boucher modeled the area designation has been steep, especially erwise was absurd. The court sent the deci- committee after the Stoney Creek Advisory in Scott County. Many locals fear that if Con- sion back to Idaho for review by the original Committee, assembled in the wake of the dev- gress passed legislation for a national recre- Judge who ruled against it. So, for now, the astating flooding on Stoney Creek in Scott ation area designation, it would mean losing Rule is law and it protects 58.1 million acres County in July of 2001. This committee rec- private land holdings and mineral rights, by of your National Forests. The Ninth Circuit ommended that the U.S. Forest Service and condemnation, inside or surrounding na- stated in their ruling, other interested parties pursue the feasibil- tional forest land in High Knob. The Scott “[R]oadless areas contribute to ity of the recreation area proposal. The new County Board of Supervisors voiced the con- the health of the public because they committee will do just that as well as recom- cerns of their citizens on March 5, 2003, help preserve the forest system’s wa- mend boundaries for the recreation area, and when they dopted a resolution opposing the tersheds, the rivers, streams, lakes, determine what, if any, recreational facili- designation of a federal national recreational and wetlands that are ‘the circulatory ties it should include. area in their county. Shortly thereafter, Sena- system of ecosystems, and water is the As the Clinch Coalition envisions it, tor Allen announced that he shares the vital fluid for inhabitants of these eco- the proposed area would be bounded by the county's opposition to designation. systems, including people.” Clinch River and the Guest River on the south These latest announcements have If the Bush Administration has their and east, and by US routes 23 and 58A on the not deterred the advisory committee, how- way, it will be scrapped. Assistant Secretary west and north. Public lands within this area ever, from their mission. After many meet- of Agriculture Mark Rey, a former timber in- would be managed for watershed protection ings, the committee reached some consensus dustry lobbyist, is now in charge of the US and ecological diversity. New recreational on key points at their last gathering, a field Forest Service. He is busy drafting new regu- opportunities and facilities would be devel- trip to High Knob. It is apparent, however, lations to gut the Rule or simply end public oped. Hunting and fishing would be encour- that there is still much friction, frustration and environmental review of destructive aged. There would be no commercial tim- and mistrust between members of the com- projects on federal land. For more informa- bering on public lands. mittee. Some members want to make sure tion on the court case, please see here: There would be a special restora- environmental protection does not come at http://www.earthjustice.org/urgent/ tion effort for the Stoney Creek watershed, the expense of logging, hunting and all types display.html?ID=97 badly damaged by mudslides and flooding in of recreation on public lands. Other mem- The value of standing, roadless July 2001 and March 2002. There would be bers are not sure about the details of the pro- blocks of forestland, especially in the head- no new restrictions on the use of private lands. posal, but know designation as a national rec- waters of major streams and rivers is enor- Indeed, the proposal would: stimulate ando reation area would literally put High Knob mous. Who can place a monetary value on coordinate government developmental assis- on the map, thus increasing tourism pros- the feeling of awe when one sees a bear in tance for compatible projects. Along the US pects. While still others feel that the desig- the wild? When a child laughs after skip- 23 & 58A corridor there would be incentives nation will have an adverse affect on their ping a stone on a clear pool or chasing a but- for the development of tourism facilities and county's economy.Boucher continues to la- terfly in the forest, what is the value? services such as motels, restaurants, outfit- ment that the committee has not seen enough Roadless areas represent the last unspoiled ters, and entertainment. of or the right economic data to determine wild areas of Virginia, they are important for In the Clinch River valley, Hunters’ whether a national recreation area makes their own sake and for future generations. Valley, and the Guest River Gorge, develop- sense for High Knob. Therefore, Committee The debate is over, Americans want roadless ments would include an Area Headquarters members will be reviewing additional eco- areas protected. and Museum, along with environmental re- nomic data at the next meeting. search and educational facilities. Private In the meantime, you can find maps landowners and businesses would be assisted and more information at: to develop base camps for canoeing, horse- www.ClinchCoalition.org. Jason Halbert is the Treasurer of SEDG 5 Jen Creasy is the President of SEDG agency which implements it – the U.S. Fish Forest Service Continues Bush and Forest Policy and Wildlife Service — is also on the Bush/ Abuse of Virginia’s Old- By Christina Wulf Rey chopping block. While Republicans in Congress look for ways to re-write this noble Growth There seems to be a common theme By Christina Wulf, Steve Krichbaum to the Bush administration – disabling pub- law completely out of existence, the Bush/ & Greg Lipsomb lic oversight of the government’s environ- Rey team is proposing exemptions to allow mental activities. That theme has an excep- harmful logging projects to proceed. While many National Forests in the tion, however, if the “public” in question is a Bush/Rey’s spin doctors are pre- Southeast are enjoying some repreive from wealthy corporation, like the lead players in senting all of these changes in environmen- logging after successful forest-protection the timber industry. tal law as necessary “streamlining” in order lawsuits, Virginia’s George Washington and The Bush administration’s plans for to prevent “catastrophic wildlfire”. The re- Jefferson continue to be pummeled with in- America’s National Forests make a fine ex- ality is that these changes in law will give creasing numbers of timber sale proposals. ample of this situation. The timber industry Of particular concern is the visible trend of has plenty of oversight and input into U.S. Since the American public would the Forest Service to target older-aged trees; forest policy, because the man in charge of not stand for the total repeal of to continue justifying logging based on the trumped-up need to “salvage” injured trees; the U.S. Forest Service, Undersecretary of Ag- these laws, the Bush administra- riculture Mark Rey, was the chief lobbyist in to “restore forest health” by cutting old trees Congress for the timber industry’s American tion is targeting the implement- that are in “decline”; and to perpetually ig- Forest and Paper Association for 18 years. ing regulations of the laws to nore the needs of all native biodiversity ex- Later, as a staffer for Idaho Republican Sena- make piecemeal changes. cept “commercial tree species” and “game” tor Larry Craig, Rey wrote the 1995 Salvage animals (or the relative handful of nongame Logging Rider which allowed a year and a the Forest Service free reign to open our Na- Appalachian species that might require fab- half of rampant logging on National Forests tional Forests to timber industry chainsaws, ricated early successional habitat). In other without environmental review. with very little opportunity for public over- words, the situation in Virginia remains Bush and Rey are taking every op- sight. The industry profits enormously; the troubling. portunity to permanently reproduce those public and the wildlife lose the beautiful and A serious hurdle faced by forest- conditions by changing existing laws pro- irreplaceable benefit of undisturbed forests protection advocates in the Old Dominion tecting National Forests — particularly the and undefiled streams. is our state’s location in the federal court National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), At this point, most of these Bush/ system. Unlike most of the Southeast, Vir- th the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Rey changes are proposals open for public ginia is part of the 4 circuit court of ap- National Forest Management Act (NFMA) – comment. Strong opposition from the public peals, headquartered in Richmond. In re- all keystone environmental laws, critical for could stop or change these drastic measures. sponse to citizen lawsuits, Virginia judges forest habitat protection. have consistently ruled that the Forest Since the American public would RESORCES: Service’s agency discretion overrules al- not stand for the total repeal of these laws, leged illegalities, deceptions, and inad- http://www.defenders.org/forests/ the Bush administration is targeting the equacies in Forest Service timber sale deci- forest/regulations.html implementing regulations of the laws to make sions. - great information on the NFMA reg changes, piecemeal changes. Indeed, we need stron- A particularly troubling recent includes link to the regulations themselves ger laws to save our forests from over-cut- example is the Hoover Creek timber (there is a comment period on these regs un- ting, acid rain, development, invasive pests, sale, proposed for Little Mountain in Al- til March 6th - we’ll have Action Alerts out and other immediate threats. Instead, the legheny County, James River Ranger Dis- in the new year.) timber industry use the government to dic- trict. This is the largest sale of eastern old- tate that the public be deprived of a healthy growth in Virginia since the deplorable http://www.defenders.org/forests/ environment, without access to legal redress. Hematite sale of 1997, on the very same dis- forest/nepa2.pdf (Adobe Acrobat Proposed changes to NFMA regula- trict. Little Mountain supports a ridgeline needed) tions further limit opportunities for scien- complex of old-growth Dry-Mesic Oak For- - great summary of the piecemeal NEPA ex- tific review and public involvement in de- est which could exceed 100 acres (personal emptions already in force since Bush/Rey. signing Forest Plans for each National Forest. letter, Aubrey Neas, M.S. – Biologist/Natu- Bush/Rey also want to remove requirements ralist). The slopes in these areas are rocky http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/ntf/ that the Forest Service protect the viability of and steep, likely providing protection for - Bush/Rey people also have a “NEPA Task wildlife species and take way the right of the trees during the last deforestation of Force” reviewing the entire law - their pro- citizens to appeal Forest Service decisions. these mountains a century ago. The crowns posals have not yet been released, but this is NEPA, which applies to all federal are huge and spreading, the trees widely their homepage. They are reviewing NEPA actions, not just on National Forests, currently spaced, the trunks massively satisfying to implementation to make it more “efficient” requires citizen involvement and public dis- embrace. (read “ineffective”, or “industry-friendly”). closure of environmental impacts. Bush/Rey Some areas of old growth display are focusing on ways to limit scientific study more mesophytic species composition. In http://www.savenationalforests.org/ of environmental impacts, and public access fact, cove forests make up only 2% of the stands in this project area, and the Forest to information and legal challenge. Christina Wulf is the outreach coordinator for Vir- The Endangered Species Act, al- ginia Forest Watch. Service is proposing to cut them all to the ready weakened by lack of funding for the ground. The old-growth here provides habi- 6 tat suitable for rare species such as the Coal growth oak will be logged in the Cove West and western Virginia - Skink and Cerulean Warbler. However, as is Mountain timber sale on the Lee RD. The the norm, proper surveys, inventories, and Sugar Tree timber sale on the Deerfield US Forest Service assaults monitoring of these species and others have District, Bark Camp timber sale on the Potomac watersheds not been performed by the agency. Clinch, Putt and McJennings timber By Steve Krichbaum After visiting Little Mountain, Bi- sales on the Glenwood/Pedlar, Canbe tim- ologist Aubrey Neas recommended that a ber sale on the Dry River – the timber sales moratorium be placed on Forest Service log- keep adding up, removing more and more of Drainages of the Shenandoah River ging of old-growth. Although the agency the oldest trees still alive in Virginia. And occupy much of the Dry River and Lee Ranger has a “Guidance for Conserving and Restor- selling them to private timber corporations Districts of the George Washington National ing Old-growth Forest Communities on Na- at taxpayer-subsidized discounts. Forest (GWNF). These watersheds originate tional Forests in the Southern Region”, these It is well known that Virginia and high on the lofty slopes of Shenandoah and policies are not being followed by the much of the East was denuded of Ancient Great North Mountains, ridges that form the GWJNFs. For example, the Forest Service Forest, first slowly as European settlers political boundary of the two Virginias. SEDG ecologists have chosen not to classify the moved west, and then very quickly as indus- is concentrating its public forestland con- ridgeline Dry-Mesic Oak and Mixed Meso- trial timber harvest boomed in the South fol- servation efforts in these northernmost of the phytic Forest on Little Mountain as old- lowing the Civil War. We cannot sit by and Forest’s districts. Here can be found tracts of growth. Their reason? Sporadic signs of hu- watch Virginia’s recovering, diversifying old-growth, roadless areas, special biologi- man disturbance, including the remains of an old-growth forests be destroyed once more cal areas, and populations of rare and sensi- old logging road and several stumps. by greed. tive species. Not mentioned however is that The mission of the Forest Service Unfortunately, the US Forest Service these signs of disturbance are at the very must evolve with our understanding of for- often views these lands not as invaluable and edge of the old forest stands, on the lower est ecology and of the human need for what irreplaceable parts of our natural heritage, slopes, outside the old-growth complex. Un- is wild and ancient. It is time to make that but as places ripe for logging and road build- fortunately, a 4th Circuit judge would be un- change by taking a stand for Little ing. likely to be swayed by this argument – the Mountain’s old-growth and stopping the The Slate project area lies in a Forest Service’s ‘agency discretion’ includes Hoover Creek timber sale. portion of Great North Mountain that was the power of defining old-growth, even with- part of the Big Schloss Roadless Area inven- out valid ecological reason. Yet it is clear toried at 36,526 acres during the RARE II pro- that if the sites at Little Mountain are not old- cess in 1978. Its size in the latest inventory growth, then the term has no meaning in Vir- “Our life is shorter than flowers. for the GWNF FEIS has been whittled down by 40% to 20,755 acres. Even the 1991 draft ginia. Then shall we mourn? Likewise the GWJNFs have failed EIS for the GWNF Plan included this Great thus far to follow through on the Guidance’s North Mountain area as part of the Roadless charge: to design a network of old-growth No, we shall dance Area; it was inexplicably dropped when the areas, and “as an additional safeguard, the Plant gardens Final EIS and Plan were released. This por- guidance provides for identifying small-sized Dress in colors tion of Great North Mountain east of Forest areas to improve the distribution of a particu- Road (FR) 1018, west of FRs 93 and 371, and And teach our children south of US 55 is a large de facto roadless lar forest community type and to provide a To make the world more beautiful. ‘stepping stone’ effect between large-sized area around 5,000 acres in size that is pres- and medium-sized patches (p. 18).” This iden- ently uninventoried by the FS. It may even be tification of old-growth areas is supposed to Because our life contiguous with the presently inventoried Big occur at both the forest plan level an at the Is shorter than flowers.” Schloss RA; the status of some of the trails/ roads in the area is unclear (a great volun- site specific level of analysis. The failure to Toltec poem accomplish this is not unique to this sale; it teer opportunity!). Cutting unit 4 is lo- is systematic across the Forests. cated in this large uninventoried roadless In addition to the ridgeline complex area. The Comment period on the pre-deci- on Little Mountain, many more recent Forest sional Environmental Assesment ends on April Service timber sale proposals plan to log old- 11, 2003. growth ‘stepping stones’ on the GWJNFs. The Lee ranger district is also plan- Several acres of 125+ year old trees are slated ning more cutting in this roadless area. Just to be logged in the proposed Cedar Bridge across the state line in Virginia, on the east- timber sale on the Glenwood/Pedlar ern slopes of Great North Mountain and the Ranger District. Botanist Greg Lipscomb de- western slopes of Paddy Mountain, lies the scribes the forest as “an ideal area to be in- project area for the proposed Paddy timber corporated into old-growth forest manage- sale. The 2,827-acre Paddy timber sale, an- ment plans for the George Washington and other management area 15 site, is in Jefferson National Forest.” The Fishy Road Shenandoah and Frederick counties and forms timber sale on the New Castle Ranger Dis- upper drainages of the Shenandoah River. trict will destroy a grove of old-growth for- Cutting units 5 and 6 of the Paddy project are est, removing 140+ year old trees to build a part of the uninventoried Great North Moun- new road. Several good-sized pockets of old- tain roadless area, while other proposed cut- 7 ting units are in other unroaded lands that are contiguous with the Big Schloss Roadless tial genetic contribution to developing blight State Park. A block of National Forest almost Area. resistant chestnuts. 400,000 acres in size is found here in Vir- The state threatened Wood Turtle The same basic issues apply to the ginia and West Virginia. (Clemmys insculpta) is known to occur in 3,153-acre Bonnet Hill timber sale area Unfortunately, the Coyote and Dice this project area. A petition to list the turtles on the east slopes of Paddy Mountain south- Run logging are not the only depredations under the federal Endangered Species Act east of Three High Heads peak in Shenandoah the Forest Service plans for Shenandoah was submitted in 1994 to the US Fish and County, Virginia. Mountain. About ten miles northeast of the Wildlife Service, but the agency turned it South of the Lee, the Dry River dis- Dry River Roadless Area, a few miles east of down. This is the very southern margin of trict also contains significant acreage in West the state-line in Virginia’s Rockingham their global range. According to experts Carl Virginia. The Coyote timber sale, which County, is the proposed Canbe timber sale. Ernst and John McBreen, “All known colo- has been decided, is located on the west On June 5, 2002, the Dry River ranger dis- nies should be protected” (p. 457 of slopes of Shenandoah Mountain in upper trict issued the decision to log 163 acres in “Virginia’s Endangered Species”). This spe- drainages of the South Fork South Branch eight cutting units in the Kretchie Mountain cies may be harmed by this timber sale. Potomac River watershed northeast of Sugar area. These stands are upland mixed-oak for- Grove. Some of the acreage lies in unroaded est types with CISC ages of 91-109 years, lands contiguous to the 7,313-acre invento- again in Management Area 15. The sites are The Dry River and Lee ranger ried Dry River Roadless Area, a prime candi- all found in drainages of Little Dry River, a districts of the GWNF are the date for Wilderness designation in Pendleton tributary of the North Fork of the only place in the entire South- County. Shenandoah. ern Region of the Forest Service There Forest Service has further de- The five units on the southside of where the Wood turtle is signs on Pendleton County. The Dice Run the River are on north-facing slopes and are timber sale is located on the west slopes of particularly rich and mesic in character. found. Yet it is not on the Re- Shenandoah Mountain in upper drainages of These stands are also lower elevation sites gional Forester’s “Sensitive Spe- the South Fork South Branch Potomac River with much of their acreage being riparian. cies” list. watershed northeast of US route 33 and Just about the entirety of units 2 and 4 are southeast of Fort Seybert. Twenty-five acres coves. Some sites express old-growth char- While the FS says “[t]he proposed proposed for intensive logging here are over acteristics; unit 5 is nothing less than spec- action is needed to meet the direction set in 111 years in stand age by CISC measure. tacular, with numerous trees 24”–30” in di- the . . . Plan,” according to the 1993 Forest “In general, we recommend that ameter, pits and mounds, and large snags and Plan, management area 15 lands are “Mosa- most stands with pines and oaks that exceed downed boles. ics of Wildlife Habitat . . . that are managed 100 to 125 years and have experienced little Calls of the Wood Thrush to maintain or enhance habitat for wildlife recent human disturbance, be considered to (Hylocichla mustelina) were heard here and favoring a mature forest environment with be in the early stages of old-growth.” (D. L. units 1-5 certainly contain suitable habitat both temporary and permanent clearings, and White and F. T. Lloyd, 1998, “An Old-Growth for the Wood turtle. The Dry River and Lee freedom from disturbance during nesting, Definition for Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak-Pine ranger districts of the GWNF are the only brood-rearing seasons.” Natural clearings Forests”, USDA General Technical Report place in the entire Southern Region of the and canopy openings are not monitored or SRS-23 at pg. 29) The 1,100-acre site con- Forest Service where the turtle is found. Yet inventoried by the FS; the only gaps that count tains oak, hemlock and white pine. This im- it is not on the Regional Forester’s “Sensitive are those fabricated by humans. This type of portant consideration is additionally signifi- Species” list. logic leads one to the question: how can wild- cant given that in the entire Valley and Ridge life possibly survive without help from physiographic province of the Appalachian chainsaws and dozers? Mountains “[n]o documented examples of In fact it is probably the larg- This specific project site has sev- old-growth oak-pine exist to our knowledge.” est contiguous tract of public eral noteworthy aspects. The FS stand age da- (ibid at 13) land between Great Smoky tabase shows thirty acres to be over 130 years The section of the National Forest Mountains National Park and old. And a stand adjacent to units 5 and 6 is containing this project area is a large (around over 160 years old. According to the Forest 5,500 acres) uninventoried roadless area the Adirondack State Park. Service, 130 years is the minimum age that centered around Dunkle Knob. It is stands of these forest types “will begin to downslope from the Plan-designated To their credit the agency is pro- develop attributes characteristic of old- Shenandoah Mountain Special Interest Area posing to “close” (with gates) one mile of growth conditions.” And it must be remem- - Biological and contains habitat suitable for permanent road to the public in order to move bered that the CISC (continuous inventory of the globally rare Cow Knob Salamander toward meeting the Plan standard (leaving stand conditions) data that the Forest Service (Plethodon punctatus) (mature deciduous around nine miles more to be closed). Of compiles and relies upon is notoriously un- forest over 2400’ in elevation). course, the roads are still there, just gated, reliable, particularly regarding the presence The Coyote and Dice Run project and they are proposing to make an already of old-growth. areas and Dry River Roadless Area are all undesirable condition even worse with more Some very large, apparently healthy found on Shenandoah Mountain. The major- road construction. SEDG appealed this tim- American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata) are ity of this massif exists as part of the GWNF. ber sale and it was recently rejected by the growing in unit 2. In my experience wan- In fact it is probably the largest contiguous Forest Service. dering the woods, such sizable and thriving tract of public land between Great Smoky Then on July 9 of 2002 the Lee dis- chestnuts are very rare. They should be pre- Mountains National Park and the Adirondack trict issued a scoping letter for the Sours served for their scientific value and poten- Supin proposed logging. This 3,098 acre 8 project area is situated on Supin Lick and rious technical reasons, and not judged on its Little North Mountains in western As in many other areas in merits. Unless we decide to sue, this sale will Rockingham county about ten miles north- the National Forests of Vir- go forward. The remaining sales are at various east of the Canbe area. These slopes drain ginia and West Virginia, the stages in process. into Sours Run and Mill Creek, other tribu- Ecosystems have no formal political taries of the North Fork of the Shenandoah. Forest Service has not estab- status. Streams, photosynthesis, turtles, fungi They do not disclose to the public how many lished a valid “need” for log- and salamanders don’t vote. So it is up to each miles of road they want to push through the ging. of us reading this to never forget the others who forest. The stands proposed for cutting have are not officially represented. By all means visit CISC ages of 81-130 years. Wood turtles are “management indicator species.” How can these wonderful places, but even if you can not, known to inhabit the Shoemaker River hy- they establish a reasonable rationale to in- please contact the Forest Service and tell them drologic unit where the project lies. Amaz- tensively log this specific area? The answer, what you think about their proposals. ingly, even before environmental analysis of course, is that they cannot. has commenced, the agency already states The maturing eastern National For- CONTACTS:an citizens “there are no controversial or unusual as- ests do not need any more destabilizing in- 1. Dry River Ranger District pects to this project.” terference from mankind, not even those District Ranger Anthony Martoglio As in many other areas in the Na- hundreds of so-called “insignificant” acts 112 North River Rd. tional Forests of Virginia and West Virginia, the agency signs-off-on daily. As regards re- Bridgewater, VA 22812 the Forest Service has not established a valid sponsible management philosophy, we credit 540-828-2591 “need” for logging. Management Area 16, the U.S. Forest Service as they are way out 2. Lee Ranger District - GWNF along with MA 14 and MA 15, is one of the ahead of the forestry profession in general. District Ranger James Smalls Forest’s “wildlife management areas”, so The agency has great potential. Still, viola- 109 Molineu Rd. wildlife is supposedly the priority here. Rea- tions of the National Forest Management Act Edinburg, VA 22824 sonable management activities must be and National Environmental Policy Act are 540-984-4101 based upon the actual needs of wildlife, not business as usual in the National Forests of 3. George Washington National Forest just the desire of timber managers to “bal- Virginia and West Virginia. Supervisor William Damon ance age classes” of stands (a condition that SEDG is engaged in each of the tim- 5162 Valleypointe Parkway does not occur naturally). Yet the agency does ber sales mentioned above save two, the Roanoke, VA 24019 not have the most basic monitoring and popu- Bonnett Hill and Coyote sales have been de- 1-888-265-0019 lation inventory numbers for the wildlife cided and will move forward. Our appeal on Steve Krichbaum is the Conservation Director for species found here, not even for their own the Canbe timber sale was rejected for spu- SEDG and also works with Virginia Forest Watch

YOU'RE INVITED TO THE 2003 VIRGINIA BIOBLITZ!

WHAT: The object of the BioBlitz is to list as many plants and animals as possible within a 30 hour period. The Virginia BioBlitz is intended to raise public awareness of the state’s incredible biodiversity. It also provides an opportunity for professional biologists, students, and naturalists to work together in the field. Survey teams include plants (vascular and non-vascular), vertebrates (reptiles, amphibians, fishes, mammals, birds) and invertebrates (spiders and their kin, butterflies and moths, dragonflies and damselflies, and beetles).

WHERE: The 2003 Virginia BioBlitz will be held at Douthat State Park (DSP). Located in Bath County just north of Clifton Forge off Interstate 64, DSP provides a wonderful opportunity to survey the flora and fauna of the Alleghany Mountains in western Virginia.

WHEN: Beginning at 9 AM on Saturday, May 17th and ending at 3 PM on Sunday, May 18th.

HOW: There will be free accommodations for camping in DSP on both Friday and Saturday night. Meals (Friday dinner through Sunday lunch, including an outdoor grill on Saturday night) will be provided at $10 per person.

Want to Volunteer? Enthusiastic volunteers with all levels of expertise are needed to help with the survey. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to join one of the survey teams. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in adding to the knowledge of Virginia’s flora and fauna and working with other biologists and naturalists in the field.

For more information: Visit http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/vnhs/bioblitz.htm.

The 2003 Virginia BioBlitz is co-sponsored by the Virginia Natural History Society, the Entomological Society of Washington, the Richmond Herp and Bug Society, and the Virginia Herpetological Society. Other participating institutions and societies currently include: Smithsonian Institution, USDA-ARS, Virginia Division of State Parks, Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Museum of Natural History, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond, Hampton University, Richmond Audubon Society, and the Virginia Native Plant Society.

9 Action Calendar SEDG Office/Events Hotline: (804) 971-1553, or email SEDG at [email protected] for more information.

April: 19th: Celebrate the 14th annual G.R.E.A.T. Earth Day in central Virginia on Mayo Island in Richmond, VA. 2,500 visitors expected! Food, fun, live music, crafts, and tons of non-profits to learn from! For more information: www.earthdayva.org. 19th: Celebrate Earth Day 2003 with the Blue Ridge Environmental Network in Roanoke, VA. For more information on local activities call Bill Modica at (540)387-2782. 22nd: Earth Day!!!! 22nd: National day of action against weakening forest protection regulations. For more details check the SEDG voicemail. 26th: National day of action against Office Depot and Office Max. Join SEDG at a demonstration outside of Office Max in Charlottesville to encourage the office supply store to better its recycled paper purchasing policies. For more information give us a call or send us an e-mail. 29th-May 1st: "Water Securing Virginia's Future", the 14th annual Environment Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia. Secretary of Natural Resources, Tayloe Murphy, will be special guest. For more information: www.environmentva.org.

May: 3rd: Sustainable Forestry Retreat, presented by Next Generation Woods, at Mountain Lake in Giles County, VA, 9am-5pm. Cost is $30/person. For a registration form, send an e-mail to www.foresters-inc.com. 21st: New River Land Trust presents, "Saving Land: A Road Map to Conservation Easements for Professionals & Landowners", Donaldson Brown Conference Center, Virginia Tech Campus, Blacksburg, VA. For more information: (540) 951-1704. 23rd-26th: Annual Heartwood Forest Council Meeting in Blanton, KY. If you'd like to join us, give us a call and we can arrange a carpool. For more information: www.heartwood.org

June: 1st-6th: Forest Protection Week in D.C. For more information on how to get involved, contact Max Wilson at American Lands, (202)547-5574. 16th-23rd: 2003 Eastern Forest Protection Defense Camp in Southeastern Ohio (near Athens), hosted by the Buckeye Forest Council and Kentucky Heartwood. For more information: [email protected]. 20th: SEDG Party!!! Join us for live music, food and fun. Festivities start at 8pm, refreshments will be provided. Location TBA -- check the SEDG voicemail for details. For more information on any of these events, feel free to call the SEDG office!!

Non Profit Org. Shenandoah Ecosystems Defense Group U.S. POSTAGE PAID P.O. Box 1891 Charlottesville, VA Charlottesville, VA 22903 Permit # 694