ALLIANCE
FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS
ALLIANCE
FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS
A REPORT FROM A PUBLIC HEARING
the U. S. Forestry Service is making plans!
by Don Casey
The US Forest Service held its public comment meeting on the "Draft Environmental Impact Statement" April 8th at the Birmingham Hilton, I-459 and US280. The meeting began with a thirty-minute presentation by Staff Officer Rick Morgan, followed by a one-hour open question and answer period. Mr. Morgan frequently directed questions to one of the numerous Wildlife officials scattered throughout the room. The following summarizes the question and answer period.
Question: Mr. Morgan, in your presentation you stated that the program being initiated is open for comment until July. At the close of this period the plan will go into effect and will standardize "ecosystem management" for all of National Forest in Alabama. Will this management concept include social, environmental, and economic aspects, the three aspects of "sustainable development?"
Mr. Morgan replied: yes, all of the National Forest in Alabama would come under this new management direction called "ecosystem management" which would include social, economic and environmental.
Question: Central to the concept are the protected areas referred to in the plan as "wilderness areas." Land with this designation is legally established and will give long-term protection to the landscape, ecosystem and species it contains. The descriptions also describes the "core area" in the United Nations Biosphere program and the "Wildlands Project" which calls for 50% of the land in the United States to be set aside for animal habitation only, with no human intrusion; 10% buffer zone; and the remaining 40% is to be set aside for human population. 1
Mr. Morgan replied: yes, that is correct.
Question: Normally when you see land designated as "wilderness" or by the more commonly used phrase "core area" there will be land surrounding the "core" designated as a "buffer zone." This area is designed to protect the environment of the "core area" from the effects of man, and in this case that land designation is missing, but the definition of a "buffer zone," i.e. land which is clearly delineated and which surrounds and is contiguous to the core, may accommodate education, training, tourism and recreation facilities is the same. In this case the land surrounding the "core area," or as you put it "wilderness area," is designated as recreation which will allow camping and picnicking -would this provide the same protection as a "buffer zone" - regulating the activities of man to insure that his harmful actions are not detrimental to other species?
Mr. Morgan referred the question to a fellow Forest Service employee and the answer was: yes.
Question: The DEIS establishes a "Scenic Byway Corridor" that is 29 miles long beginning at the north side of the Cheaha "core area/wilderness area" and ends at Adams Gap on the south end. Will regulations prevent the destruction of viewshed and would you explain what a viewshed is? In other locations across the country "viewshed committees" have been set up to protect the viewshed for this and future generations. Do you have such a committee and if not how long will it take to establish one?
The responding government employee replied: a viewshed is determined by how well an individual can see - some individuals have the ability to see for a long distance so for them the viewshed is a long view, on the other hand those with glasses can’t see quite as far so their viewshed is limited in distance. This response is inconsistent with the DEIS’s glossary definition of a viewshed: "The total landscape seen, or potentially seen from all or a logical part of a travel route, use area, or water body." (Page 6-49 Emphasis added) Acting on this broad definition a committee once formed will have immense powers over a vast portion of the lower Talladega National Forest. "Special Interest Areas" may be assigned to a viewshed committee. The location of "Special Interest Areas" is not known because: "Special interest areas may be designated administratively or may receive designation by law." 2
Question: Isn’t it true that all predator animals that inhabited the core/wilderness area prior to Columbus discovering American will be reintroduced and some of the species are bear, wolves and mountain lions?
Answer: No, we have no knowledge of such plans.
(It is possible that the bureaucrats conducting the meeting did not know that predator reintroduction is one stipulation of Article 9c in the United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity. But since the US Forest Service is one of the lead agencies for the reintroduction of the Grizzly in the west, their lack of knowledge seems questionable. Maps showing the areas across the southeast where bears will be reintroduced have been published through a partnership involving the University of Florida, Florida Department of Environmental Management and the EPA. The maps may be viewed on the University’s website. The address is: http://www.geoplan.ufl.edu/epa/results/bear.html. Mr. Morgan acknowledged during the discussion, that the Tallageda National Forest is part of the Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere program. There are over 47 Biospheres in the United States. All land designated under this program falls under the protection of the United Nations Environment Program UNEP and the World Conservation and Monitoring Center WCMC. To view a listing of all parks in Alabama - including State parks - visit the following United Nations website http://www.unep-wcmc.org/cgi-bin/padb.p?search=off&country=usa%3AUnited+States&nat=on&free= click on the United States - click submit and then select Alabama.)
Question: You have stated that the timber harvest will be reduced by 53 million board feet from its 95.5 million board feet to 42.5 million board feet. The Forest Service receives a portion of the revenue from that sale for their operating budget. Would you tell us how the Service plans to make up this shortfall - will you go to Congress and ask for more appropriations, which means more taxes?
Mr. Morgan after several uhs replied: I don’t know.
Question: If all of the comments that are received by the Forest Service were negative, meaning that this program should never be implemented, would the Forest Service cancel this program?
Answer: No, the comments will be taken and duly noted.
Question: Will people be allowed to enter the core/wilderness areas?
Answer: Yes, we have no intention to prevent anyone from entering these areas?
(Mr. Morgan is either guilty of not reading the plan or he chose not to answer the question truthfully. On page 3-363 not only does the plan not allow intrusion in the core/wilderness area but allowing vehicles to enter the core/wilderness area to aid someone in distress may or may not be allowed. The complete quote follows:)
"The existing wilderness areas will be managed to maintain the areas’ natural characteristics. Natural occurrences such as outbreaks of insects or disease are allowed as part of the natural cycle. Man caused intrusions are not allowed. Under emergency conditions, mechanical equipment and motorized transport may be approved for use to control fire which threatens life, property, or the wilderness resource. The wilderness act, with few exceptions, prohibits the use of mechanized equipment and motorized transport for recreational use, search and rescue, resource protection, trail construction, and maintenance." (Emphasis added)
Question: Is the US Forest Service in partnership with organizations such as the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition or the Nature Conservancy?
Mr. Morgan: We are mutually supportive, we attend their meetings and they attend ours.
Mr. Morgan’s presentation exemplifies two aspects of the government’s agenda:
Out west, the partnership between the government and environmental organizations is well documented. The US Fish and Wildlife Service confirms this fact on their website:http://endangered.fws.gov/esb/96/wolves.html - quote: "The Wolf Education and Research Center (an organization in Boise, Idaho), Defenders of Wildlife, and other organizations also contributed to the recovery program by providing nearly $80,000 to this year's wolf reintroduction effort." The mutually supportive role of the US Forest Service and the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition is understood from the Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere conference held in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Nov. 5-7, 2002. Read about the conference at: http://www.samab.org/Conf/Conf02/conf02.html#pres
There is ideological agreement between the well funded environmental organizations and government agencies to use their influence to move an agenda of "ecosystem management" forward.
Mr. Morgan’s public denial of his agencies involvement with the reintroduction of predator animals in the core/wilderness areas (while his Forest Supervisor was in attendance) confirms the government’s active involvement with organizations that support the concept of the Wildlands Project. This partnership will, if allowed to run its course, set aside vast areas of the United States for animal habitation where no human intrusion will be allowed. Science Magazine described this project as: "…the transformation of American… to an archipelago of human inhabited islands surrounded by natural areas." (Copy of the magazine article available upon request.) You should make you opinions know to your local elected representatives - Mayor, County Commission and State Representative. Encourage them to fulfill their oath of office and protect our property rights. Individually we have no chance of stopping or altering this program.
FOOTNOTES
1. Wildlands project review published in the 1993 June issue of Science Magazine page 1868. Copy provided upon request.
2. Page 3-385 of the "Draft Environmental Impact Statement" available at the US Forestry Service website: http://www.southernregion.fs.fed.us/planning/sa_plans/Alabama/welcome.htm
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