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Ecologists
believe that this proposed increase in logging poses huge threats
to the health of Sierra forest ecosystems and the wildlife that
depend on these ecosystems for survival.
Please write the U.S. Forest Service and submit comments
in favor of keeping the original Framework intact.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Regional Forester Jack Blackwell:
Please do not turn back the clock on Sierra forest protections.
The Sierra Framework keeps the right balance between reducing the
risk of catastrophic fire and protecting wildlife and ecosystems.
California spotted owl, Pacific fisher, and other wildlife are a
part of our heritage. Make sure northern Sierra forest policies
protect wildlife, and retain the Framework protections in that region.
Please submit my official comments in favor of the "S1–No
Action" (Keep the Framework Intact) alternative in the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement. Implement the Framework!
[Add another paragraph or two with your personal comments and concerns.
Other suggested topics to comment on]:
* OLD-GROWTH FORESTS: The proposal will eliminate critical protection
for the Sierra's remaining old-growth forests. Under the existing
Framework, all old-growth stands one acre or larger would be off-limits
to most logging, and 4.25 million acres of land would be managed
as "old forest emphasis areas" to promote old-growth values.
The Bush administration proposal would eliminate protection for
old-growth stands and would allow widespread logging of medium and
large trees from within these areas. Urge the Forest Service
to maintain existing protection for old-growth stands and Old Forest
Emphasis Areas.
• COMMERCIAL LOGGING: The existing Framework plan allows logging
only as a means for reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire and
restricts logging to selective thinning of smaller trees. The Bush
plan would reopen the door to widespread commercial logging throughout
the Sierra Nevada by sanctioning logging to address so-called "forest
health" problems, which ostensibly affect millions of acres
of national forest lands. The new plan is projected by the Forest
Service to triple the volume of logging compared to the existing
plan. Urge the Forest Service to allow commercial logging
only as a tool for reducing the risk to lives and property from
wildfire.
• CALIFORNIA SPOTTED OWL: The California spotted owl is a
sensitive species that inhabits old forests in the Sierra Nevada.
The Bush administration proposal would weaken protection for the
owl's habitat in numerous respects. For example, the proposal would
allow logging of trees up to 30 inches in diameter throughout the
Sierra Nevada, would allow tree canopy cover to be substantially
reduced, and would allow increased logging within the owl's home
range core areas and nest stands. Urge the Forest Service
to maintain existing protection for California spotted owl habitat,
particularly standards that protect medium and large trees, forest
canopy cover, owl home range core areas, and protected activity
centers.
• PACIFIC FISHER: The Pacific fisher is a rare, imperiled
furbearing mammal that is closely associated with dense, old forests
and that once ranged widely in the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific
Northwest. Logging and habitat fragmentation have contributed to
the fisher's extirpation from most of its historic range. The isolated
fisher population in the southern Sierra is unlikely to survive
in the absence of habitat protection and restoration. The proposed
logging plan would allow significant degradation of fisher habitat
and would remove the Framework's specific protection for the southern
Sierra fisher conservation area. Urge the Forest Service to
retain and strengthen the Framework's protection for the southern
Sierra fisher conservation area.
• LIVESTOCK GRAZING: Commercial livestock grazing has numerous
adverse environmental impacts, particularly in sensitive areas like
meadows, streams, and riparian zones. The Framework requires that
grazing be restricted and managed to protect these fragile areas
and to reduce adverse effects on imperiled species like the willow
flycatcher, Yosemite toad, and mountain yellow-legged frog. The
Bush administration proposal would significantly weaken limitations
on grazing, putting these imperiled species at great risk.
Urge the Forest Service to retain and strengthen protection for
the willow flycatcher, Yosemite toad, and other imperiled species
and to maintain protection for meadows and aquatic ecosystems.
• QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP PLAN: The Quincy Library Group (QLG)
plan would devastate national forests in the northern Sierra Nevada
by allowing tens of thousands of acres of small clearcuts and hundreds
of thousands of acres of fuel breaks that will destroy and fragment
forest habitat. The Framework limits the QLG plan because of its
adverse environmental impacts, particularly on the California spotted
owl. The Bush administration proposal would require full implementation
of the QLG plan, without regard to its ill effects. Urge the
Forest Service to maintain the Framework's restrictions on implementation
of the QLG plan.
•
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The Forest Service has truncated the environmental
review process required by law by describing the proposed changes
to the Framework as "non-significant." For this reason,
the Forest Service did not provide a public "scoping"
process prior to releasing the draft plan and environmental impact
statement. Therefore, the public did not have an adequate opportunity
to shape the proposal, the analysis, or the alternatives considered
in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Urge the Forest
Service to follow the full procedures required by law for significant
plan amendments, including providing a scoping process before proceeding
with the EIS.
Sincerely,
________________
(Your name and address)
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Send comments TO ARRIVE NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 12, 2003!
Email: snfpa@fs.fed.us
Fax: (801) 517-1014
U.S. Mail:
Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment SEIS
P. O. Box 221090
Salt Lake City, UT 84122-1090
If
you have time, please send a copy of your letter to Forests Forever,
50 First St. Suite 401, San Francisco, CA 94105. This will help
us keep a record of the correspondence the Forest Service receives
regarding the Framework. Thank you.
For
more information,
visit
http://www.californiawild.org/SierraCampaign.html or http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/envirocalifforests.asp?id=205 |
