[SustainableTompkins] Forest Watch: Oldforest Protection for Fing Lakes Nat'l Forest proposed clearcut

Tue Oct 31 12:00:06 PST 2006

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE FAR AND WIDE

ForestWatch is an already existing organization that can help us defend what
is left of old growth trees in the Finger Lakes Nat'l Forest. I believe that
ForestWatch was very active in the struggle to prevent gas drilling in the
FLNF a few years ago.

There seems to be very little information availiable at my fingertips (online)
about the group except this:

"The Finger Lakes Forest Watch Congress is a grassroots organization made up
of concerned citizens from Ithaca, Hector, and the surrounding areas. We are
dedicated to preserving the Finger Lakes National Forest for wildlife,
non-destructive recreation, and long-term ecological and community benefits.
We believe the Forest belongs to the people; that it is a place of peace and
serenity that, if not preserved now, will be lost forever for the future
generations of our children. We believe it should not have its resources sold
to corporate interests for profit, for what we have is too much to sacrifice
to corporate profits. Therefore, we are fully opposed to any commercial
projects involving drilling, mining, or destructive recreation on the Finger
Lakes National Forest.

"We are associated with the National Forest Protection Alliance (NFPA), a
network of grassroots organizations across the country dedicated to ending all
commercial extraction and exploitation on Public Lands, including National
Forests.

"If you would like to become involved in FLFWC, or would like more
information, please contact us. We greatly appreciate your support and
donations.
                        (from http://www.rso.cornell.edu/snrc/flnf/)

There is no current contact listed on the above website, but Kathy Engel
<wolftree_2001 at yahoo.com>, who sent the message below, would like to hear from
people who can help out.

------------------------------ Original Message ------------------------------
Subject: Forest Watch Oldforest Protection
From:    "kathryn engel" <wolftree_2001 at yahoo.com>
Date:    Tue, October 31, 2006 11:28 am
To:      "Michael Burns" <burns at panix.com>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Thank you for putting this out, there has been a huge response.  Mike DeMunn
and Forest Watch had a meeting with the Forest Service under the white pines
and the agency's main interest was in arguing over the definition of Old
Growth and core boring the trees to establish their age. Core boring is
damaging to trees and should rarely be done, especially on our oldest trees.
Tony Ingram videotaped the meeting and will make it available to public
access televison. District Ranger Mike Liu did not make a decison, but has
acknowledged that the trees have value as "legacy trees".  The Forest
Service ecologist would not conceed that the trees were vital components of
biodiversity on that site and that they were especially important as
wildlife trees. The justification for marking the trees was to "reduce basal
area of the stand as part of the commercial thinning objectives of the
timber sale."

  Can you help us establish some way to collect contacts for people
particuarly interested in oldforest protection?  We are not adept with
computer networking.

  Forest Watch is in the middle of a long negotiation with the Forest Service
about excluding areas of PRIMARY FOREST from timber management objectives.
PRIMARY FOREST is not technically old growth, but is composed of woodlands
that have been continuously forested, never plowed or put into agricultural
production, were probably logged during settlement times but retain remnants
of the ancient forest, especially native plant populations and fungal
associations.  This is in contrast to SECONDARY FOREST, which has succeeded
on oldfields and former cropland.  98% of the Finger Lakes National Forest
is either secondary forest or open land.

  There are less than 400 acres of primary forest on the Finger Lakes National
Forest.  Less than 20 acres of primary forest over 100 years old are
included in the Future Old Forest Mangement areas and less than 90 acres are
included Special Ecological Areas or Research Natural Areas.  The remaining
250-300 acreas of unlogged oldforest are in Oak Hickory/Even Aged Management
areas to be managed for saw timber.  Rotation ages in areas to be managed
for sawtimber are 100 years, and all stands 90-100 years or older are
targeted for timber sales.  The Cotton-Mill timber sale has been the poster
child for the conflict in values between oldforest protection and Forest
Service timber management goals. Forest Watch has appealed the new Forest
plan on the basis that the Plan inadequately addresses oldforest protection.
 This appeal is in process and we need support from the public to
demonstrate how strong the community committment is to preserving these
areas as the final vestiges
 of the presettlement forest and the last refuge of many native plant
communities.

Michael Burns <burns at panix.com> wrote:
  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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