Southern US: Top 10 List of Endangered Places 2009
The Globe Forest near Blowing Rock is one of 10 sites in the South
that the Southern Environmental Law Center regards as most endangered.
The group’s “Top 10 List of Endangered Places 2009” released this
month identifies 10 places that are facing immediate, potentially
irreversible threats today, according to the SELC’s Web site.
According to the group’s Web site, the Forest Service’s plan to log
212 acres in the area would wipe out old growth, degrade recreational
opportunities, and hurt the local tourism economy The agency’s
decision to log in the area in the Pisgah National Forest was released
in October 2007 and has caused much public outcry, with some local
governments passing resolutions opposing the timber sale. In November
2007, the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing
Asheville-based groups Wild South, the Southern Appalachian Forest
Coalition and the Western North Carolina Alliance, filed an
administrative appeal of the agency’s decision to log 212 acres in the
Pisgah National Forest.
Upholding its original decision in January
2008, the Forest Service said it would work with the appellants to
find a solution that will address their concerns and the community’s
concerns. The list of sites released by the SELC also includes the
Cherokee National Forest in northeast Tennessee, where the Forest
Service is also planning logging operations, and the Pamlico River in
eastern North Carolina, where a phosphate mining company is looking to
expand its operations on the banks of the river.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990105038
— Posted to http://forestpolicyresearch.com via gmail to posterous and
also to forestpolicyresearch@yahoogroups.com