For Immediate Release July 23, 2004 Contact: Hope Taylor-Guevara or Gracia O’Neill, Clean Water for NC, 251-1291
Hugh Irwin, Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, 252-9223
Bob Gale, Western North Carolina Alliance, 258-8737
Ben Prater, Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, 258-2667

SEVEN REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SAY
ASHEVILLE MUST DISAPPROVE WATERSHED FOREST “PLAN"
Asheville, NC - Seven environmental groups today issued an urgent call to the Asheville City Council not to approve a proposal next Tuesday to log Asheville’s watershed, but instead to get the public involved in developing a proposal that will be protective of the public’s water and other natural resources.

“This doesn’t even deserve to be called a ‘Plan,’” said Hugh Irwin of the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition. “The so-called “Forest Management Plan” doesn’t include any cost-benefit analysis whatsoever for the practices it recommends, and there was no involvement of the public in development of the proposal.”

The groups pointed out that the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, which holds a conservation easement for the city’s watershed, knew little about the proposal before it was presented. For example, the 5 to 10 acre clearcuts recommended are clearly at odds with the requirement for “uneven aged” management in the easement, but still appeared in the document.

Bob Gale of the Western North Carolina Alliance criticized the hasty effort by city officials to amend the plan in order to bring it to a vote at next Tuesday’s City Council Meeting as, “Just a symptom of how premature and inadequate this proposal is. I wouldn’t even try to manage a five acre private forest with this. And contrary to the requirements of the conservation easement, the proposed logging along roads and small clearcuts could disrupt our beautiful views from the Blue Ridge Parkway.”

The document includes:

· A recommendation for logging to improve habitat for only a few abundant wildlife species, while sacrificing habitat for others
· A recommendation for logging to manage for catastrophic fires, yet catastrophic fires don't naturally occur in Southern Appalachia mountains
· The recognition of invasive species problems, yet recommending logging that will cause invasive species to spread.

“There hasn’t been any biological surveying for wildlife and plant diversity, so we don’t even know what resources we’re working with here,” says Ben Prater, staff ecologist for Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project.

Lislott Harberts of the Southern Forestry Foundation, who did some demonstration forest improvements in the Asheville watershed over 15 years ago, said that previous logging practices had damaged the biodiversity and water quality characteristics of the watershed.

Hope Taylor of Clean Water for North Carolina said, “There’s absolutely nothing here to ensure the public that its water quality is being protected from degradation by sediment from logging practices or even that the ability of the forested watershed to filter and capture water will not be damaged for generations.”

Mayor Charles Worley has repeatedly said that it’s not a logging plan that’s under consideration. The environmentalists say if that’s the case then why not go ahead and strengthen conservation easement to prohibit commercial logging completely as Greenville, SC has done for its 27,000 acre watershed.

“Why does the plan recommend that 50 foot strips be logged along an unspecified number of miles of roads in the watershed?” asks Monroe Gilmour of the Swannanoa Valley Alliance for Beauty and Prosperity. “Why do all of the habitat recommendations involve logging? This plan is really just a Trojan Horse for logging in our watershed.”

The groups, as well as activists from nearby water supply watersheds expect that the public will make its concerns known next Tuesday, July 27th at the 5 PM City Council meeting in Council Chambers.

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Clean Water for North Carolina ∙ Dogwood Alliance ∙ Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project ∙ Southern Appalachian Forests Coalition ∙ Swannanoa Valley Alliance for Beauty and Prosperity ∙ Western North Carolina Alliance ∙ Wildlaw Sustainable Forests Program