After Years Of Work, Forest Plan Released | News – The Transylvania Times

After nearly a decade-long revision process, National Forests in North Carolina released the Nantahala Pisgah National Forest plan Friday, a 360 page document with several appendices and maps that will guide the vision for how the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests will be managed for the next 20 years.

The plans draft was released in February 2020 after years of planning, and with the release of the final plan, the Forest Service has entered into the final 60-day objection period for parties who submitted substantive comments during the plans development, according to a press release.

The plan includes desired outcomes, goals and objectives the Forest Service hopes to achieve in the coming decades as forest visitation numbers and the threats of climate change increase, while Forest Service budgetary and personal resources are expected to remain stagnant.

Nearly half of Transylvania County is occupied by Pisgah National Forest, and the sections of Pisgah National Forest within Transylvania County are the most visited areas of Forest Service land in North Carolina.

The original Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest plan was created in 1987 and received a significant amendment in 1994. In the past 35 years, however, Nantahala and Pisgah have undergone rapid change with outdoor recreation booming in the past decade while the impacts of climate change, invasive species and disease, and overuse have drastically changed the management needs throughout the forests.

The forest plan creates the framework for us to work with partners into the future to successfully address major challenges like climate resilience and sustainable recreation, said James Melonas, forest supervisor of the National Forests in North Carolina. Ultimately we are focused on the opportunities. We have to keep these national forests healthy, so they can continue to supply clean water to communities, contribute to the regions economy, and be a place of respite and recreation.

According to a Forest Service press release, the revised plan reflects changes in economic, social and ecological conditions, as well as changes in resource demands that have occurred since the previous forest plan was signed and amended.

Part of the reason why the revision process was several years in the making is due to the unprecedented level of collaboration the Forest Service invited from stakeholders from the beginning.

For years, representatives from groups interested in forest resources and management have provided input in the planning process to inform the Forest Service about what was most important to preserve and improve, according to users.

Forest resource specialists worked with representatives from state and local governments, Tribes, interest groups and the public to consider alternative approaches to managing the forest, the press release said.

The Forest Service said the final plan balances tradeoffs among the multiple uses of national forests, including recreation, timber, water, wilderness and wildlife habitat.

David Whitmire, a local stakeholder and representative with the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission, said he was excited to see the final plan after a massive effort to gather input from a wide variety of user groups.

Just having the product out there is an accomplishment, Whitmire said. I think a lot of the work and a lot of the benefits of that plan are going to be in the sausage making it went to get it there the eight years of work that it took. I think the building of relationships and getting peoples values are going to be as valuable probably as the plan itself.

The Forest Service crafted the plan with four main themes in mind: connecting people to the land,; sustaining healthy ecosystems, providing clean and abundant water; and partnering with others.

The Forest Service has also implemented a tiered objective system, with Tier 1, for example, as objectives the Forest Service can achieve by itself and Tier 2 as loftier objectives the Forest Service hopes to achieve with the help of others.

The plan does not outline what projects exactly the Forest Service is planning to take on within the next 20 years, but is more of the forestry equivalent of an urban plan.

It outlines management zones, where certain types of activities are allowed to happen, such as timber harvest, trail building and concentrated recreation, and identifies the highly important areas, species, watersheds and cultural resources that need to be preserved.

Key Takeaways

The Forest Service has gone to lengths to document the plans impacts on every species and important community in the forests.

The Forest Service has also prioritized involvement from tribal members in managing forest resources and maintaining tribal access to culturally important areas and plants. Additionally, the Forest Service has acknowledged the importance of tribal ecological knowledge and forest management, and has committed to making sure traditionally used tribal resources are not depleted and are available for future generations. When it comes to recreation, sustainability is number one, both ecologically and financially.

The plan says the development of new infrastructure is unlikely and that unsustainable sites may be closed in the future.

To help achieve sustainability, the plan prioritizes reducing the deferred maintenance backlog and modifying existing facilities and services.

One strategy to help achieve this is creating new loop trails, which would connect existing trails or graded roads to each other and allow for new routes to be created in the trail networks, while minimizing new trail construction.

Another strategy is relying on volunteer and partner organizations to help provide trail maintenance for any new trail construction and requiring any new trail construction be built with modern sustainability practices.

The plan also outlines the need for a climbing management plan, created with collaboration from the climbing community, to identify opportunities to educate climbers, add climbing routes to the system, improve the climbing experience and identify protection measures for important ecological communities near climbing sites.

Sustaining healthy ecosystems and wildlife populations is another key component. The plan doubles the annual young forest creation practices from 650 to 1,200 acres (up to 3,200 acres annually with the help of partners), emphasizes using fire and timber harvest to restore open forest conditions, increases the designated old growth network by more than 50,000 acres and increases prescribed fire significantly to 20,0000 acres annual under Tier 1, and 50,000 acres annually with Tier 2.

Rare habitats, including Southern Appalachian bogs, wetlands, Carolina Hemlock bluffs, grassy balds and spruce fir populations, are also protected under the plan. In Transylvania County, several rivers are recommended for Wild and Scenic River eligibility, including portions of the Davidson, French Broad, Thompson and Whitewater rivers, which would protects a river sections free flowing status. Until designation decisions are made, which have to occur at the congressional level, management projects and activities under the plan will not reduce characteristics of the rivers or adjacent lands, meaning these rivers will have a higher level of protection from human interference for the time being.

The plan will also have a focus on sustaining oak species across a range of age classes, reducing the abundance of white pine in the Davidson River watershed while enhancing oak regeneration and hunting opportunities, continue supporting conservation and protection of peregrine falcons and providing more young forest habitat for ruffed grouse, deer and turkey in the Transylvania County sections of Pisgah.

With these goals and objectives, the Forest Service hopes to take a whole ecosystem focus using a science-based approach to address shortages in the forest, old growth forest and open forest conditions, and to control nonnative invasive species, the press release said. Additionally, the Forest Service said for every ecological community, the plan has an identified set of desired conditions, a vision for what it will become once the goals are fully achieved.

By using ecological communities, we will consider the work that needs to be done across a broader landscape, improving restoration efforts for ecosystems and the wildlife that depend on them, said Michelle Aldridge, planning team lead.

Whitmire said he is confident the plan will help with future projects on the forests by providing a clear outline for forest management and habitat restoration. On Friday morning, he said he sat in on a phone call with Melonas and stakeholders when the plan was finally released to the public.

I liked the enthusiasm that the Forest Service had, Whitmire said. They felt they had done a great job. I feel like theyve done a great job. Im just excited that folks maybe can see things appear on paper, so they dont have fears that people will be working in sensitive areas and things like that. Those were addressed, and I think thats a positive thing.

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After Years Of Work, Forest Plan Released | News - The Transylvania Times