Alternative G: Not a compromise for the proposed plan for forest service roads

As the Progress reported in the Thursday, Aug. 15 edition, the U.S. Forest Service recently announced their final plan for the Buck Project, a controversial timber project set to occur in Nantahala National Forest in eastern Clay County. While the forest service calls their plan a balanced compromise, it’s barely changed from their first preferred plan for the project and MountainTrue plans to officially object to it.

First, a brief recap: in April, USFS showed preference for a proposal for the Buck Project called Alternative B. The agency opened the proposal up to public comments and more than 650 people wrote in to express their concerns. In August USFS then released its final proposal, Alternative G, which still fails to address public concerns about excessive road construction, threats to native brook trout populations, logging in old-growth forests and more.

There are already more than 2,200 miles of roads in Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, yet Alternative G would build 8.9 miles of new roads — only a 0.14-mile decrease from Alternative B. These new roads would cross extremely steep slopes, increasing erosion and the risk of landslides. Roads would also be built in one of the wildest places in North Carolina — the Chunky Gal area. At more than 7,000 acres, Chunky Gal is the largest potential addition to any existing wilderness in the state. The area is supported for a wilderness designation by the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Partnership, a collaborative of 30 or more organizations representing diverse interests including recreation, economic development, forest products, wildlife, conservation and clean water. However, one of the rules used to determine if land qualifies as wilderness or backcountry is “apparent naturalness.” The project as planned is almost guaranteed to keep thousands of acres of Chunky Gal from qualifying as wilderness or backcountry.

Alternative G would likely harm Buck Creek, a fragile, pristine native brook trout stream that is classified as an Outstanding Resource Water. The ORW designation is meant to give unique waters extra protection and there are only nine of them in all of western North Carolina. Alternative G would build a 14-16 foot-wide “temporary” road paralleling an unnamed tributary of Buck Creek, further jeopardizing this fragile brook trout population.

As for a real compromise: MountainTrue continues to push for a modified Alternative D, which the forest service has even acknowledged would meet the overall purpose of the Buck Project. More than 400 acres of timber harvest could be attained in the Buck Project Area without cutting any existing old-growth, harming the habitat of rare species or building new roads into areas that are candidates for wilderness or backcountry management. A similar amount could be harvested from the developed footprint of the area every 10-20 years in perpetuity without complaint from us. Any project that jeopardizes the health of the land and water is not considered an acceptable compromise by MountainTrue.