This Week's Feature
A Vision for the George Washington
National Forest
George Washington National Forest
The George Washington National Forest is revising its forest plan, which will shape the course of forest management for the next 10 to 15 years. SELC and a broad coalition of citizen groups are calling for the agency to emphasize conservation and sound ecological restoration over timbering and other resource extraction.
The George Washington National Forest
- At almost 1.1 million acres, the GW is the largest national forest in the East.
- Established in 1913, the GW has attracted generations of outdoor enthusiasts, from hunters and hikers to birdwatchers and mountain bikers.
- In the 1970s and ’80s, the forest was subjected to extensive commercial logging, including clearcuts that devastated wildlife habitat, damaged watersheds, and destroyed scenic vistas.
- Timber harvesting dropped in the 1990s, but it has still averaged 17.1 million board feet annually in recent years. Under the preliminary draft revised plan, that figure could grow to 21 million board feet a year.
Shaping the GW Forest Plan
As the Forest Service revises the GW’s management plan, SELC and its coalition partners have submitted a “citizens vision” that urges the agency to give thorough and ongoing protection to
- Clean water, especially drinking water sources and brook trout streams
- Prime spots for fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, and other outdoor recreation
- Old-growth forests
- Remote, wild areas
- Large tracts of undisturbed habitat for wildlife.
These precious resources must not be jeopardized by logging, road construction, drilling, unnecessarily large prescribed burns, or other destructive practices. The first round of public meetings on the plan will be held over the next couple of weeks, and written comments are due August 8.
>>Read more about the GW Forest Plan Revision on the Forest Service website
>>Read more about the GW Forest Plan
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