April 30, 2009

Stop Medicine Bow Clearcuts
Spruce Gulch Logging
~ Objection Period Now Open ~

Medicine Bow National Forest's Canada lynx, American marten, northern goshawk and other wildlife need your help!

Everyone who commented on the Medicine Bow's Spruce Gulch Logging Project NOW has an opportunity to object to backcountry clearcutting and to support sensible protection of private structures.

Ask the Forest Service why it wants to clearcut in backcountry at the expense of protecting private property from wildfire!

OBJECTION DEADLINE
MAY 18, 2009

Tell the Forest Service:

• it has failed to offer a "Reasonable Range of Alternatives" to address the project's primary purpose, which is to protect homes and private structures from wildfire. Thinning trees up to one-quarter mile around structures provides ideal protection if owners do their part to fireproof their property. This should be an alternative.
• its "Forest Health" alternative calls for almost twice the acreage of clearcuts and three times the miles of roads called for in its "Fuels Management" alternative. This makes no sense. More roads and clearcuts do not improve forest health.
• studies show backcountry clearcuts do not reliably help firefighters control fires.
• clearcuts and roads damage soil, water quality, aquatic and other wildlife habitat. Recovery can require decades or centuries.
• standing dead trees (snags) provide essential shelter, hunting perches, and nesting opportunities for birds and mammals. Fallen trees (nursery logs) provide essential soil enriching nutrients and support many plants and animals.
• allow understory vegetation and deadfall to naturally slow erosion and prevent stream sedimentation.
• do not log in backcountry, old growth, spruce/fir stands or Canada lynx corridors.

Mail Written Objections to:

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest
Objection Reviewing Officer
Attn: Mary H. Peterson, Forest Supervisor
2468 Jackson Street
Laramie, WY 82070

Submit by FAX: 307-745-2398

Submit Objections Online at:
appeals-rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-routt@fs.fed.us

To read or download Spruce Gulch Project documents go to:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr/projects/foresthealth/index.shtml

For more information contact Duane at:
duane@voiceforthewild.org
(307) 742-7978

Thank You for Using Your Voice for the Wild!