|   Help! Calling all Bikers! Trails in trouble! | Bike Lover
Apr 28, 2003 2:32 PM | | Listen Up everyone! We (hikers, bikers, hunters, forest lovers, Horse riders etc.) need some help.
The forestry service has purposed 2 plan's (A/B) that has been made public (yeah! but on a website that nobody knows about, in other words they didn't release it in the papers or on the news.)
They have favored the plan that will destroy the best trails in Bent Creek! (located in Asheville, NC.) It will also clear-cut almost 200 Acres of natural forest (for the greed machine). I say this because we loose a lot of Hardwoods etc. every year and they only replant PINE! (You got it ...they don't replant what they cut.) We may become like Greensboro and other HOTBOX cities that loose all their natural beauty. This not only makes our environment hotter but we also loose the quality of air and natural wild life.
Even if you don't walk, hike, bike, ride horses, hunt, please help us with this situation, these are things that we as taxpayers should have the ability to take advantage of if we so choose.
Bent Creek is known all over, from NC, TN, GA, SC, FL, and more. It's one of our city's greatest places to get away and be part of the land (with only a 10 minute drive).
I personally never speak up against anything, so this is very new to me, but I think we must try to help our community on this subject.
The local bike shops have posted this in their stores, but I'm going a step further.
Please visit the site below and read the PDF documentation. (If you don't have acrobat reader, I provided a link below
Then PLEASE write a letter to stop this change of our wonderful area Bent Creek!
WE ONLY HAVE TIL' MAY-12th SO PLEASE ACT! Now!
Acrobat Reader:
http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/acrobatreader/win/5.x/5.1/AcroReader51_ENU.exe
Forestry Service Site:
http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/
Then scroll down and find the link "New" Bent Creek Demonstration Forest EA Available (4/8/03) (1.8 mb pdf)
Or just cut and past this direct link into your browser.
http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/nepa/Pisgah/bent_creek_complex_ea.pdf
Thanks! |
| Did you stop to think that there may be a reason? | Pat T.®
Apr 28, 2003 3:21 PM | | There are quite a few reasons why an area would be logged, and they are probably going to replant pine because that is what the forest sevice feels would be better suited for reforestation. Much better than a junk wood like alder, oak takes way too long to regrow. |
| Much better than a junk wood like alder, oak takes way too long | RLinNH
Apr 28, 2003 4:46 PM | | "Much better than a junk wood like alder, oak takes way too long to regrow."
Oak sustains wildlife a lot more then Pine does though. Granted, it may take longer to grow. When it does get to the right age though, it produces acorns for wildlife. All pine is good for is shelter during the winter. Even at that, wildlife uses Hemlock more then pine. I'd rather see a logging agency plant Oak over Pine any day. |
| OK | Pat T.®
Apr 28, 2003 7:30 PM | | But what is to stop you guys from going back in and rebuilding the trails after the cut? We have done that before. I know it sucks, but you might be able to keep some trails that way. Look at St. Helens, there is some sweet single track there. Heck you might even be able to add some singletrack and just say, "Oh yea that was there before". |
| You should read your link | radair
Apr 28, 2003 5:02 PM | | "I say this because we loose (I think you mean LOSE) a lot of Hardwoods etc. every year and they only replant PINE! (You got it ...they don't replant what they cut.)
I only skimmed the document, but it clearly says in section 2.0.1.1 (& others) that they will be planting "northern red oak, black cherry, and white ash..."
The 200 acres you refer to appears to be removal of invasive species and Paulownia.
Personally, I'd be more concerned with the loss of 5 miles of technical trail being converted to permanent road (see section 3.7.2.1).
We also have an Experimental Forest here in NH. They march to their own beat and don't care much about what anyone has to say. Good luck! |
| You should read your link | Pat T.®
Apr 28, 2003 7:49 PM | | Our big thing up here right now is Cotton Wood and Poplars, they grind them into pulp for computer paper, but those are usually planted in really wet farm land that is unusable. Firs and Pine are the usual select logging replant, and we have bettle problems too. Not too sure of anyplace around here that has had oak replanted, and alder of course just grows back like a weed.
No Downville this year, with a layoff looming not sure about any vacation time this year :o( |
| the problem with pine... | mtpisgah
Apr 28, 2003 5:11 PM | | is that we already have a problem with the southern pine beetle. When the beetles infest a tree, they can kill within a week. It will then stand there while they continue to eat it from the inside out until it falls over. Large parts of Tsali have been cut over the last two years along with sections of Issaqueena. I am sure there have been others. If they are cutting hardwoods, it is only for the money. |
| hmmm | NateHawk
Apr 29, 2003 4:40 AM | | It definitely doesn't make sense to me to replace a stand of hardwoods with a stand of pine. Hardwood and pine forests support pretty different wildlife communities (not more or less wildlife) so the entire structure of the forest will change if they go ahead with that plan. |
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