National Forest Legal News Blog

North Carolina - Earth First! and its members protested the Globe Forest Timber sale, aimed at providing much needed timber and long overdue early successional habitat.  The group's position is that the forest must remain untouched.  You can read their press release below.

Earth First! says Forest Service Is Furthering Climate Change

USFS tries to sell off ancient trees in the Globe Forest

Asheville, North Carolina – Today protesters gathered outside of the U.S. Forest Service Supervisor’s Office to demand the cancellation of the planned Globe Forest Timber Sale. The timber sale, which is part of the Pisgah National Forest, is planned for as early as June and will result in cutting over 200 acres of mature forests. About 1800 people from the Blowing Rock community appealed to the Forest Service to cancel the timber sale, but their requests were disregarded last year. Forty acres of the Globe Management Project Area has been documented as old growth, and some trees have been determined to be up to 300 years-old by conservation groups.

Activists from Earth First!, say the sale will negatively impact water and soil quality, harm fish populations, further climate change, and destroy nesting and breeding sites for migratory songbirds. Earth First! wants a hands-off policy of all old growth forests in North Carolina, because so little of it remains intact. “Mature forests are vital to slowing the process of climate change by consuming the carbon dioxide emitted by millions of cars,” says one Earth First! demonstrator. “Unfortunately, most of the South’s forests have been destroyed or converted to pine plantations, which are 95% less biologically diverse than mature forests.” “In a time where ecosystems are being threatened with mass extinctions of plants an animals, it is more important now than ever to preserve any old growth forests that still exist,” said protester Jennifer Simms.

Ironically, the Forest Service uses the excuse of creating wildlife habitat to justify cutting down healthy, mature forests, claiming that they are creating habitat for game species such as turkey, deer, and bear. Environmentalists say the majority of North Carolina’s forests are already “early successional habitat” (or young forests), and that on private lands surrounding the Pisgah, game species do flourish. Environmental experts have also disagreed with the Forest Service’s claims, saying that what many animals need, such as bears and songbirds, are mature forests which have already become increasingly rare. The forest service expects to make a profit of $100,000 by carrying out this sale. The next Earth First! demonstration is planned for Friday March 19th at 1 p.m., also outside the USFS office, they encourage the public to attend and get involved in the campaign to save Globe Forest. For more information see www.savetheglobe.wordpress.com.

Where: US Forest Service Supervisor’s Office

160 A Zillicoa St. Asheville, NC 28801

When: 1 p.m. on Friday March 5 2010

http://savetheglobe.wordpress.com/