The Wilderness Society has produced the most comprehensive set of comments on the Forest Service’s proposed rule on National Forest System planning. Our comments identify many ways in which the rule should be improved to protect and restore wildlife habitat, watersheds, recreational opportunities, wilderness, and other important environmental and economic values of the National Forests and Grasslands.
Since their establishment by President Theodore Roosevelt more than a century ago, our national forests have been a treasured American legacy. They provide vital fish and wildlife habitat, clean drinking water and world-class outdoor recreation opportunities for millions – and they’re one of our best tools for combating climate change.
National forests, national parks and other federally-owned forests in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska hold extraordinary amounts of carbon and therefore play an important role in defending against climate change. According to United States Forest Service data, the ten national forests in the United States that store the most carbon per forested acre are all located in western Oregon, western Washington and southeast Alaska. Moist late-successional forests west of the Cascade Range mountains are among the Earth's greatest carbon storing ecosystems.
Join The Wilderness Society’s forest guru, Mike Anderson, as he takes you to one of the United States’ top carbon storing national forests — the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington state. As one of the most visited national forests in the United States, the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National forest is home to an abundance of recreational opportunities, old growth forests, glacier-covered peaks and spectacular rushing rivers.
This comment letter addresses how our country’s 193 million-acre National Forest System should be managed to meet the challenges and demands of the 21st Century.
The letter was composed specifically in response to a Forest Service request for comment on how the agency should re-write the rules to implement the National Forest Management Act of 1976. The NFMA is one of the most important public land laws that Congress has ever passed. It requires the Forest Service to involve citizens and scientists in designing the management plans for each National Forest and Grassland.
The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act will permanently protect nearly a million acres of spectacular backcountry throughout western Montana, including nearly 700,000 acres as wilderness. This includes some 25 spectacular places conservationists have fought hard to preserve for decades. In addtion, the bill:
The majority of individuals that visit our national forests participate in quiet, nature based forms of recreation such as hiking, camping, bird watching, and fishing. These same quiet recreationists provide a significant source of revenue for local businesses when they spend money during their visit. It’s important that land managers consider the economic consequences of decisions that they make — such as approving a timber harvest or constructing a dirt bike trail — may result in the displacement of quiet recreationists.
