[FLPERMACULTURE] Fing Lakes Nat'l Forest to clearcut its last old-growth pines

[Michael Burns]

Urgent Message to All Conservationists

The Finger Lakes National Forest is preparing to put out to bid a timber sale
(the Cotton-Mill sale) which includes cutting all of the last OLD GROWTH white
pine on the Finger Lakes National Forest, despite the fact that they gave
their word that they wouldn't do it!

Call or email the Finger Lakes National Forest and demand that none of the
white pine be cut for this or any future timber sale. Act on this now!

Call: Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, N.Y. Phone: 607-546-4470.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/gmfl/contact/index.htm
Contact Mike DeMunn at 607-546-4902 for further information.

Those who care about the environment need to be alerted to the pending
deplorable action of the U.S. Forest Service in the Finger Lakes National
Forest.

Within a planned timber sale, there are old growth white pine trees marked for
cutting! These trees are very large and awesome to behold and are likely over
200 years old. They are by far the largest and oldest of their species on the
entire 17,000 acres of the Finger Lakes National Forest and perhaps in all of
western Schuyler County and beyond.

The trees are located on the top of Burnt Hill Road in Hector-Logan, N.Y. They
can be seen from miles away towering above the rest of the forest on the
Hector ridge and give the viewer a glimpse of what the ancient virgin forest
looked like centuries ago. These white pines are beyond question the crown
jewels of this national forest and it is unthinkable that ALL of them would be
marked for logging!

The white pine is the sacred tree and symbol of the Iroquois Indian nations.
These trees are survivors from the time the Indians inhabited this area. Old
growth white pine is the rarest of the rare because it was so sought after for
building purposes since settlement times. From a forest management
perspective, there is not a single reason to cut these ancient trees, except
they are big, old, and have at best some minor economic value.

These old white pine trees do not belong to the U.S. Forest Service. They
belong to the American people, to natural history. They are every bit as rare
and important to ecology and human society as any endangered species would be.
The people of the future have a right to see these living trees, and not just
the stumps of where they once stood for centuries.

The U.S. Forest Service was asked to NOT cut these old white pines and they
gave their word that they would leave them alone. Time is now of the essence
and all conservationists must act quickly by contacting the U.S. Forest
Service at 607-546-4470 (Finger Lakes National Forest) and expressing your
outrage at this senseless act. Let us hope there has been "miscommunication"
on their part instead of deliberately breaking their word. ACT NOW on this
matter.
Contact Mike DeMunn at 607-546-4902 for further information.

[Mike is a native of the Finger Lakes area. He has worked in various parts of
the country for both the US Forest Service and the National Park Service, and
he is an expert on old growth forest. He works as a private forestry
consultant, helping landowners manage their woods with sustainable forestry
practices. He is a leader in land conservation in the Finger Lakes area, and
he is an author. He lives in Burdett, N.Y. near the Finger Lakes National
Forest.
I hope to get some photos of these trees soon. Tony Ingraham.]


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Michael Burns
http://www.cayuta.org
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Earn your permaculture design certificate.
The Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
offers affordable local classes.
http://www.fingerlakespermaculture.org
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