Parts of GWNF May Be Closed

We're in... We can't drive to Harrisonburg but anything else we can do?

This was my post over there and here's a link to the proposal: http://www.harrisonburgva.gov/…s/plans/HBGFORMGTPLAN.pdf

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As a member of DEJA, we go up there usually twice a year. We do not want to see the roads we use closed.
They are proposing in 2009 to "close off & reclaim unnecessary roads, install gates on all open roads."

That would be cheaper for them as they do not have the manpower to patrol those lands.

It may be a long-shot to stop the closings of those roads but with enough emails they may make provisions for those of us that are responsible.

Would you suggest emailing the consultant who prepared the plan?
Mark L. Brashears, Consulting Forester. PO Box 531. Buena Vista VA 24416. Phone 540-261-2874. E-mail mlbrash@intelos.net.

Does anyone have the name still of the ranger we spoke to and pics of when we cleaned up, etc?
Maybe we can forward some of that information along with it.

I think we have to go higher than the rangers. But I will email them & see if they have anyone we can email or write to.

I know, but a good word is a good word.

Copy of email I sent to the ranger station

Hello Rangers,

I've written to you before about our Jeep Club camping at the Brandywine Rec area. We've talked to Terry and another ranger while we were there.

I'm writing now because we have read the Forest Management proposal 10 year plan for the area and we are concerned that all the roads that we use will be closed to us. I know we are not the only Jeepers that visit but combined with other clubs we are a large group. Many of us have cleaned up the roads we use and hauled out trash that we collected.

We would like to know if there is anyone you can recommend we contact regarding this matter. I have the name & address & email address of the Forester Consultant, Mark Brashears, who wrote the plan but I'm not sure if that is the place to start.

Thanks for your time.

Patricia Cochran
Delaware Jeep Associaion

Thanks Patti!

Excerpt from the proposal:

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1) Protect all forests from wild fires, insects and diseases. Severely damaged and
diseased trees should be removed from the stand during silvicultural treatments.

-History has repeatedly shown that years of preventing forest fires only leads to larger, more destructive and completely uncontrollable forest fires.

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6) Deer browsing can be extremely detrimental to a forest system and can potentially
eliminate all the understory and regeneration. Research has shown that hardwood
forests can not sustain a deer population above eighteen per square mile without
doing damage to the forest and other wildlife species. Populations should be
monitored and control measures, primarily hunting pressure, implemented to keep
levels in balance with the capacity of the habitat.

-So after you've closed off all the access to the roads, how exactly do you propose the hunters get their game from the kill zone to their vehicle? Because if you think I'm dragging a 90lb hunk of dead meat up and down a f#@king mountain, you need to be shot to "thin the herd."

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7) Construct and maintain a good system of forest roads on the property to provide
ready access for future forest management work and to serve as firebreaks. Properly
located roads will help provide increased dispersed recreational opportunities and if
seeded with the proper seed mixture and routinely maintained will greatly benefit
many species of wildlife.

-"increased dispersed recreational opportunities" Yeah, dispersed all the way to farther away parks. So your proposal is to close down existing roads and cut new roads? And that helps the forest how? It probably doesn't. But I'm absolutely sure it'll help foresters like Mark L. Brashears when they're looking for a forestry consultant to come in and help select the new road locations.

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13) Consult with a forester whenever questions arise regarding the management of the
forests on the property.

-Might I recommend, MARK L. BRASHEARS, for that consultation whenever you've got a wad of cash you want to throw away?

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2009 - 1) Close off & reclaim unnecessary roads, install gates on all open roads

-Well hell, let's go into one of the most redneck, anti-authoritarian places in the whole country and start closing off roads these people have been using for generations. Then we can get Homeland Security funding when they start tearing down the gates and we blame it on illicit narcotics rings growing marijuana on park lands.

I'm taking my truck and trailer with Creepers in March. Trying to grab some other Buddies in the meantime with our trailers.

Quote from Keith_C

Not to rain on anyones parade.

But realistically if the local government wants to close something down, chances are no one is going to stop it from happening.

and certainly not a few dozen people who are hundreds of miles away and who visit once a year (if that)

Quote from altierior

and certainly not a few dozen people who are hundreds of miles away and who visit once a year (if that)

Actually, that may have more bearing on the matter than you think. I was just reading a recent survey the Adirondacks did on how many millions of people live within a days drive. They were looking at the potential revenue from promoting the park to weekenders.

When they realize that it's not just a local issue and that it will affect people coming into that area to vacation, they'll take notice. The locals that use that area don't support any of the hotels or the campgrounds. They don't use the outfitter services. That is a poor area in need of jobs. If they start to realize the potential lost revenue from turning away tourists, then they'll have to answer to their constituents. As eco tourism begins to spread to their neck of the woods, they're gonna have to find ways to compete with Monogahela NF right next door. And then there's the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation area to the south that has revitalized the economy in a lot of former mining towns. In some towns, they've even started eliminating laws against riding ATVs on public roads to encourage riders to come off the trail and eat or stay there. Imagine if laws were changed in our state to permit wheeling in the C&D Canal zone. It aint gonna happen because we're not that strapped for cash here. But those areas are looking at balancing relaxing certain laws to bring in money against increasing unemployment rates, closed businesses, decreased tax revenue and communities destroyed by Oxycontin epidemics. Yeah, Oxycontin. People with no income resorting to faking ailments or injuries to get Oxycontin prescriptions from uscrupulous doctors and then reselling them. I've read stories about entire towns just being overrun with it and people as old as 80 getting arrested for selling their prescriptions.

Look at the demographics by county for West Virginia. Several counties, including Pendleton where Brandywine is, are losing residents. All the young people are joining the millitary or moving to Virginia for better jobs. Average incomes for males below 30k/yr and below 15k/yr for females in many counties. That's $7.20/hr working 40 hours a week. These places are run by politicians who are secure in their situation and see no need for change. You start throwing numbers at them about tourism and dollars spent, and they'll come around.

Think about DeJA going out there with 40 members. Say each member spends an average of $50 out there. Some less, some more. Some bring all their food and only buy a couple tanks of gas. Some buy lots of beer and ice and eat at the local restaraunts. Some ride along and spend little. But between fuel and body fuel, I'm guessing $50 per person. That's $2000 into the local economy. But DeJA goes twice a year...$4000. And this is just one jeep club from a small ass state.

If enough groups like DeJA band together and start hammering away, they're going to eventually arrive at the idea that there's no point in preserving the forrest if no one can come see it and all the locals move away to more prosperous areas. I had never even heard of GWNF until DeJA started going out there. It may sound like a stretch, but imagine how Lewes would look if the City limited access to the beach to preserve it. Well, it'd look a lot like Slaughter Beach or South Bowers. And who the hell in Pa has ever heard of South Bowers Beach?

So I think you, Trey, should be the one to draft the letter we are all going to bomb them with.

Just don't make it too long so they will read it.

The GWNF 15 year plan revision process is in the home stretch.

The USFS has detailed their goals:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/fo…d-conditions20090126r.pdf

The spreadsheet shows that the USFS plans to keep road levels at 0 growth. for OHV, ATV, and general use roads.
We need to support this level and work to increase the OHV roads
The other groups are trying to close roads as fast as they can.

The USFS web site has all the details. Please take a look at it.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml

The next meeting on the Forest plan are:

January

Thursday, January 29
Time: 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Rockbridge Co. High School
143 Greenhouse Rd.
Lexington, VA 24450

February

Thursday, February 5
Time: 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Peter Muhlenberg Middle School
1251 Susan Ave.
Woodstock, VA 22664

I will be attending both of these meetings and I welcome other OCC and VA4WDA members to join me.

Where to email and fax and write letters

It is important to express your ideas to the Forest Service. Comments about the Plan via letters, emails, phone calls and faxes are critical. The Forest Service will continue accepting comments for the remainder of 2008 and possibly beyond. Comments should be sent to the George Washington-Jefferson National Forests Headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia. Please contact the Forest Service Mailing address: Maureen Hyzer, Forest Supervisor, George Washington National Forest,162 Valleypointe Parkway, Roanoke, VA 24019-3050 Email address: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us (Please write "Comment on George Washington Plan Revision" in the subject line of your post.) Fax numbers:(540) 265-5145(540) 265-5109

Some of what we are up against:

http://www.wildvirginia.org

Thye have a slick brochure to hand out at meetings..
http://www.wildvirginia.org/wp…/05/gwnfcitizenvision.pdf

Wild Virginia will continue to work to promote a “Citizen’s Vision” for the George Washington National Forest. To get involved please email the Conservation Director David Hannah.
GWNF is a tremendous resource that must be managed wisely. Issues such as roadless areas, watershed protection, creation of Special Biological Areas, old growth inventories and protection, and more must be fully addressed. Please take part in securing the future of our public lands!

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http://www.virginiaforestwatch.org/revisionplan.html

Key Points to Raise:

1.) ROADS: There are approx. 1,872 miles of roads on the George Washington, and as of 2003, the road maintenance backlog for the combined GW/Jefferson was about $19.34 million. (USFS, Fiscal Year 2004 Forest Service Budget Justification (2003)). The maintenance backlog has undoubtedly gone up since this last report was released, due to continued low levels of agency funding and continued roadbuilding in the interim. This costly roads maintenance backlog should be improved by decommissioning unneeded roads or converting them to non-motorized trails. Roads that are negatively impacting watersheds, soils, native plant diversity, and wildlife should be decommissioned, where appropriate, as well. A reasonably rapid timetable, with benchmarks, should be implemented in order to ensure that the Forest Service substantially reduces unneeded road mileage over the course of the next 10-15 years. When we think of the Appalachians, one of the first things that comes to mind is the black bear. Black bears were nearly wiped out by the early 20th century and were brought back from the brink, with careful efforts, over subsequent decades. Let's not throw away the gains we've made by creating new roads or opening too many areas to vehicle traffic on Forest Service lands without a thoughtful analysis first.

This group is even hold workshops to educate its members how to attend the USFS meeting s and how to work the plan:

Workshops on Road and Trail Access
We have scheduled our two public workshops for October. These workshops will deal with the issues surrounding road and trail access on the forest

http://www.sierraclub.org/dc/s…rginia/our-land-gwnf.html

Major Internal Threats to the Health and Stability
of the George Washington National Forest

-Off-road Vehicles, ATVs and Illegal Trails: Wrecking Creation for Recreation

Both the sales of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) and the number of OHV riders using national forests have increased dramatically in recent years. OHVs, OHV routes, and roaded areas have a serious negative impact on the health of our forests which is disproportionate to their numbers, as one sole reckless OHV rider can cause a great deal of damage in a very short time.

Official Routes: Approximately 80 miles of official ATV areas and 160 miles of “Featured OHV Routes” are open to OHV users in our GWNF. The Forest Service reports that user impacts from these OHV routes are significant and that maintaining OHV routes is a considerable taxpayer expense, at a time when the Forest Service is proposing closing down many other recreational sites across the country because of budget ‘shortfalls.’. Although the Forest Service is required to report on poor route conditions, hazards, and user conflicts, they have consistently failed to do so and have also failed to take effective action to reduce unacceptable impacts.

Some of these routes run through areas with high conservation or recreational value. For example, 37 miles of jeep roads fan out beyond the boundaries of the Rocky Run OHV area (North River RD), crisscrossing areas with “remote highlands” and “remote habitat for wildlife” prescriptions. ATV trails at Tasker’s Gap and Peter’s Mill Run (Lee RD) are harming two special biological areas, and the proposed Archer OHV area (North River RD) is adjacent to another allegedly “remote habitat for wildlife” area. Noise is a particular concern at the South Pedlar OHV trail system (Pedlar RD), which is within earshot of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a campground, and the James River Face Wilderness. Yet another route skirts a special biological area at Potts Mountain Pond, and official routes run through a management area ostensibly protected for the sake of the Cow Knob Salamander. Riders using the Potts Mountain route routinely trespass within the marked boundaries of the adjacent Barbour’s Creek Wilderness Area.

*** Note Potts Mt road, Rocky Run OHV (Second Mt, Old long Run rd) Peter's Mill and Taskers gap (all roads we use and enjoy) are specifically targeted by the Sierra Club.
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These are Our forests and we need to make our voices heard in the new plan!
Alan

"Ask not what your country can do for you.. Ask what you can do for your country"

Alan Jay Staiman

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See our webpage at http://www.mafwda.org

I'll say there's probably not much we could do about the city limiting access to their property. However, the closing of access routes from Rt 33 is a fight worth fighting.

This is an email I received from the rangers office:

Ms. Cochran,

We are in the proces of revising the Forest Plan for the George Washington National Forest. We have a lot of information about the plan revision on our website at
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml

You can send us comments regarding the revision and your ideas on how you would like the forest to be managed, especially in the Brandywine area.
You may email your comments to us at: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us. Please write "Comment on George Washington Plan Revision" in the subject line of your post.

You can also speak to the District Ranger, Elwood Burge in Harrisonburg (540-432-0187).

I am afraid that you may be confusing a couple of different planning efforts, though. Mark Brashears does not work for our agency and did not write our plan.