None of us can recall a time when there was not a Monongahela National Forest whose beauty beckoned us to recreation and renewal. This splendid place has been part of our National Forest System for almost a century, and those years have marked an ecological journey from near-ruin to restored richness. This environmental recovery was no accident. At nearly generational intervals, West Virginians and others have come together to protect the Mon.
The Mon's very creation is owed to citizens who recoiled from the disastrous logging practices of the 1800s and early 1900s in the East. Forestry of that era laid the land bare, and devastating fires and floods followed. In response, conservationists proposed a framework of protection in which these abused lands might recover. Congress responded by passing the Weeks Act in 1911, providing for a new eastern network of national forests. The Monongahela National Forest became an early part of that network.
But the Mon was still far from safe. Clear-cutting in the 1950s threatened the forest and West Virginians rallied successfully again. But they did not just rescue the Mon; they also built a highly visible campaign that changed the face of American forestry and led to the passage of the National Forest Management Act in 1976. This act gave more balanced consideration of the many values we derive from our national forests. Mon advocates also united in the 1970s and 1980s to win congressional protection for our state's beloved wilderness areas-Dolly Sods, Otter Creek, Cranberry, and Laurel Fork North and South-and to craft a protective management plan for the national forest.
The Monongahela Needs West Virginians Once Again
Today, the Mon is at a juncture every bit as perilous as in earlier years. On May 5, 2005, the Bush administration announced the repeal of the popular and scientifically sound Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Put in place by the Forest Service in 2001 with strong nationwide public support, the rule protected 58.5 million acres of important roadless areas, including more than 180,000 acres on the Mon, from logging, drilling, and road construction. Though in September a federal judge found the administration's attempt to set aside the Clinton-era policy to be unlawful, the fate of the Mon's roadless areas is in no way certain.
The Forest Service's recently released management plan for the Mon may set the forest's course for the next 15 to 20 years, and even beyond. The agency's plan emphasizes logging over conservation. In deciding on its plan, the Forest Service essentially ignored much of the input from conservationists and the public, which ran strongly in favor of more wilderness protection for this wonderful place.
The Mon is a rare gift from earlier generations. We see it as an invaluable reservoir of clean drinking water for our communities and a place for families to enjoy. We see it also as an essential element of a thriving state economy. But perhaps even more significantly, we increasingly believe it to be a fragile oasis of calm and peace in a world where those values dwindle daily. If we are wise and determined, we can pass it on safeguarded to our children.
Wilderness Campaign
The Wilderness Society is working closely with a wide range of groups in West Virginia to ensure that the critical wildlands and natural benefits of the Monongahela National Forest endure by championing wilderness designations and balanced forest conservation. More than 20 years have passed since any lands in West Virginia were added to the National Wilderness Preservation System. The West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, of which TWS is a founding member, is working to change that in the near future. After carefully researching and identifying 13 areas deserving new wilderness protection as well as two additions to existing wilderness, the coalition in 2004 offered its formal proposal to the Forest Service. Yet the proposal seems to have had little impact on the Forest Service's latest management plan for the Mon, which fails to adequately protect wilderness acreage, or to take into account the vast public support for more wilderness. Today, less than 9 percent of the forest is part of the Wilderness System. Much more is still wild and deserves protection.
Take a minute to find out more about our wilderness campaign for the Mon. Additional maps and area descriptions can be found at the Coalition's Web site.
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