Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 4, 1994 TAG: 9407270002
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: JUSTIN ASKINS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Presently, there are 58,276 acres spread out through 11 wilderness areas in the 710,000-acre forest. That may seen like a reasonable figure, but anyone who looks closely at a map of the Jefferson - a long and fragmented forest with innumerable access points, and almost 1,200 miles of forest-service roads - quickly realizes that the wilderness areas are much too small and new ones need to be created.
Congressman Rick Boucher agrees. In 1991, I served on a Boucher-sponsored committee that came up with a list of possible additions and new tracts. We forwarded the information to his office. In early 1992, he began negotiations with various parties, including environmentalists, logging representatives and state officials. While Boucher had hoped to introduce legislation this year, a spokesperson in his office noted that discussions have hit some sticking points - mainly about which areas will be preserved - and that drafting the bill continues.
Based on my involvement with Jefferson for five years - the last three as part of the annual-conference planning committee - the forest's supervisor, Joy Berg, and her staff are sensitive to environmental concerns. The conference two years ago focused on ecosystems management. It included a speaker from SouthPAW, a radical environmental group of which I'm a member. While I think that conference - and last year's on the beginning of the revision plan - was useful, we need to go much further in protecting the biological diversity of the Jefferson.
Forests have existed for millions of years, and would manage very well without the Forest Service. For instance, if all of the Jefferson was declared a wilderness area, and natural processes including fire were allowed to exert their forces, in 50 years it would be an amazing place indeed, rich with a diverse and stable fauna and flora. I realize that is improbable, at least for now. But in my conversations with various forest-service employees, I sense an awareness that the old concept of ``multiple use'' - which all too often is used to justify destructive logging practices that are often below cost - is coming to an end.
For instance, Jefferson's use of clear-cutting - the most harmful method of cutting the forest - has increasingly gone down. From 1984-1989, more than 2,000 acres were clear-cut annually; from 1990-1993, a little more than 800 acres. Total timber sales have decreased. Road-building, which recent studies have indicated is particularly damaging to bear populations and other road-sensitive creatures, has also declined, from 134 miles (1984-1988) to 32 miles (1989-1993). These reductions signal a significant change in Jefferson policy, one that must be formally incorporated into the new plan. The easier way to do that is to extend the wilderness system quickly and substantially.
Presently, Jefferson has a roadless inventory (actually, it may include areas with one-half mile of road per 1,000 acres) of about 160,000 acres divided into more than 20 areas. What possibilities! And now is the time to act.
As Nancy Ross, forest planner for Jefferson, noted, ``When people come in here and point out a specific area that they are interested in, it has a real impact on our planning.'' I have found that relatively few people get involved in the activities and direction of the forest. But it's fairly easy to do so. Talking with the district staff about the district's roadless inventory would take perhaps a half hour, and visiting a couple of the areas could be done in an afternoon. With enough pressure, wilderness will increase significantly in the Jefferson. And with that increase, our psychic and spiritual dimensions will garner strength.
Thoreau said, ``In wildness is the preservation of the world.'' At no time has that been more true than today.
Justin Askins is on a sabbatical from his teaching position at Radford University.
by CNB