A Call to Action on Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests

Dear Friends

The US Forest Service is in the midst of revising the plan of how our local national forests will be managed.  As someone who has hiked these trails, swum in these waterfalls and camped on these  grassy  balds, Eagle’s Nest thought you would be interested in voicing your opinion about how these public lands will be used going forward.

Under the current proposed plan, 70% of the forest (700,000 acres) will be open to logging (“suitable for timber.”)   You can read more about it in the  Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests Plan Revision 

Public comment is needed by January 5^th at either of the following addresses: 

Email comments/ submit to: NCPlanRevision@fs.fed.us
Postal mail comments to:  US Forest Service, 160 Zillicoa St, Suite A, Asheville, NC 28801

Pisgah Group, NC Chapter of the Sierra Club recommends:

The following areas are in the “suitable for timber” management areas.  If you are writing, we recommend you choose areas/ trails that you love and ask that they be protected:

Art Loeb trail (south of BRP), Cat Gap, Farlow Gap in the Fish Hatchery area, Black Mountain, and the Black Mountain areas of Lost Cove Ridge ( Black Mt. Campgrond to Green Knob) and Colbert Ridge (Carolina Hemlocks campground, Celo) Couthouse creek & falls, Overmountain Victory Trail (west of Linville Gorge),  Big Ivy (Coleman Boundary), Unaka Mountain, John Rock,  Devil’s Courthouse Creek, Bluff Mt near Max Patch

The following areas should be recommended for Wilderness:

Black Mountains

Craggy Mountains (Big Ivy)

Joyce Kilmer – Slickrock Extensions

Linville Gorge Extensions

Mackey Mountain

Middle Prong Extension

Overflow Creek (Blue Valley)

Shining Rock Extensions;       Snowbird WSA

Southern Nantahala Extensions;     Tusquitee Bald;   Unicoi Mountains

Speak up and let your opinion be known!

Noni Waite-Kucera, Executive Director