Problem: All five Forest Management Plans have inadequate Wilderness recommendations for both stand-alone and Wilderness additions .
Wilderness offers the highest degree of Forest protection - maintaining soil and water quality, ecological stability and plant and animal gene pools, and provides habitat for wildlife and unsurpassed recreational opportunities.
Solution: Tell the Forest Service to recommend Wilderness for all of the areas that qualify as defined by the local Forest watch group or wilderness campaign: (Wild Alabama, Georgia Forest Watch, Cherokee Forest Voices, Virginia Wilderness Campaign, or South Carolina Forest Watch).
At the very least they should include:
Alabama : Oakey Mountain, Blue Mountain, Brushy Fork, Rebecca Mountain, Mayfield Creek, and Bear Bay. Expansions to the Sipsey Wilderness and the Cheaha Wilderness
Chattahoochee: Kelly Ridge, Mountaintown, Patterson Gap, Rock Gorge, Rabun Bald, and Three Forks and extensions to Raven Cliffs, Rich Mountain, Cohutta, Blood Mountain, Tray Mountain, Mark Trail, and S. Nantahala.
Cherokee : Flint Mill, Rogers Ridge, Bald Mountain, Devils Backbone, Iron Mountain and Slide Hollow.
Jefferson : Brush Mountain,Brush Mountain East, Little walker Mountain, Raccoon Branch, Long Spur, Horse Heaven, Brushy Mountain, Panther Knob, Stone Mountain and additions to Lewis Fork and Little Wilson Creek.
Sumter : Rock Gorge
Be sure to support the wilderness recommendations that are already included in the plans:
Alabama
: Cheaha Addition (partial) (540 acres)
Chattahoochee : Wilderness Additions: Ben Gap, Cedar Mountain, Duck Branch, Ellicott Rock Addition, Foster Branch, Helton Creek, Ken Mountain, Shoal Branch, Tripp Branch, and Wilson Cove (total 8,864 acres)
Cherokee : Upper Bald River, Big Frog Addition, Big Laurel Branch Addition, Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Addition, Little Frog Addition, and Sampson Mountain Addition (20,500 acres).
Jefferson: Garden Mountain (partial), Hunting Camp/Little Wolf Creek, James River Addition, Kimberling Creek Additions (partial), Little Wilson Creek Additions (partial), Mountain Lake Additions (partial), Peters Mountain Additions (partial), Shawver’s Run Addition (partial) (28,500 acres).
Sumter: Ellicott Rock extension (1,982 acres)
Substantiating arguments:
• Demand for Wilderness is increasing . The USFS Southern Forests Resource Assessment (2001) states there is a trend toward increasing demand of recreation opportunities, and one of the Forest Service’s own Management Plans says that “participation rates and trends in Wilderness indicate a continued increase in visitation, climbing an estimated 117%”.
• The Forest Service inconsistently considered demand. Some Forest Plans don’t mention demand, others inadequately, and still others erroneously. This flies in the face of what the Regional Headquarters called for.
• Citizens want more Wilderness! The National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (2001) found that 69.8% of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with designating more federal lands in their state as wilderness, and over 96% agreed or strongly agreed with knowing that future generations will be able to visit and experience wilderness areas.
• The Forest Service used a willy-nilly approach for designating Wilderness . They used inadequate roadless evaluations and inadequate and inconsistent reasons for NOT recommending some qualifying areas.
• Many of the Forests didn’t follow their own rules. Some Plans recognized the need for more Wildernesses but then did not recommend any additional areas.
