Keep the Medicine Bow WILD Alternative
Sample Letter
Map of Area - Satellite Image

Described as a "link" to the forests of Colorado, the forested connections of the Wyoming- Colorado Border Region of the Medicine Bow National Forest are vital to the

Lynx - photo by Wyoming Game and Fish

health of many wildlife species in the Bow, including northern goshawk, pine marten, and others. The forests of the Border Region are important to restoring the natural health of the Medicine Bow, letting wildlife like lynx (pictured below), which is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, migrate to and from Colorado forests and restore their place in the web of life. Recently, four lynx were sighted in the Border Region, emphasizing the importance of this forested connection.

Unfortunately, the Border Region has also been the target of large-scale industrial exploitation for many years. The U.S. Forest Service, charged with protecting the natural values of the Bow, has instead been logging and building roads throughout the Border Region, fragmenting this vital linkage and destroying crucial wildlife habitat. As logging and road building rips whole cloth into threads, many wildlife species face an uncertain future on the Medicine Bow National Forest.

This time targeting the Border Region of the southeastern Sierra Madre Range (Map of Area - Satellite Image), the Forest Service is proposing the Blackhall/McAnulty timber sale. Named for nearby Blackhall Mountain and McAnulty Creek, the timber sale is anything but a celebration of natural values.

If logged, the Blackhall/McAnulty timber sale will leave 234 acres of clearcuts and log an additional 1,949 acres. The Forest Service predicts rare and imperiled wildlife like northern goshawk, pine marten, lynx, and boreal owl will continue to lose habitat. In addition, the Forest Service is proposing salvage logging in an area burned by the Bear Mountain South Fire of 2002, which would reduce habitat for woodpeckers and small mammals and increase soil erosion. The logging could also prevent lynx recovery on the Bow. Nearly 13 miles of road building are also proposed, which the Forest Service predicts will lead to increased sediment pollution in streams. Although there are areas of the Bow where logging may be acceptable, the Blackhall/McAnulty area is definitely not one of them (Map of Area - Satellite Image).

Fortunately, the Forest Service is considering a reasonable and environmentally sound alternative to their proposed logging and road building that will greatly benefit the Blackhall/McAnulty area. Through their Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the Forest Service is considering implementing Alternative 4. Alternative 4 proposes only to close and decommission roads that are damaging natural values and to undertake a modest prescribed burn. Best of all, Alternative 4 proposes no logging, no road building, and no harm to rare and imperiled wildlife.

The Forest Service is asking for public comment on the Blackhall/McAnulty timber sale. We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to save the Medicine Bow National Forest, the Border Region of the southeastern Sierra Madre Range, and the wildlife that depend on these forests. The Forest Service will not select Alternative 4 unless we show our support. For today's and future generations and for the Medicine Bow National Forest, it is imperative that the Forest Service hear our voices now!

Please Write a Letter, E-Mail, Call, or Fax the Forest Service (Sample Letter Below) and Tell them To:

• Select Alternative 4 for the Blackhall/McAnulty area;
• Protect and restore forested connections between Colorado and Wyoming forests;
• Protect habitat for the lynx, a threatened species, to ensure its recovery;
• Protect crucial habitat for sensitive species, especially old growth and burned habitat;
• Protect populations of rare and imperiled wildlife, like pine marten, goshawk, boreal owl, and three-toed woodpecker;
• Prioritize watershed restoration, not watershed degradation.

Terry DeLay
ID Team Leader
PO Box 249
Saratoga, WY 82331
e-mail: comments-rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-routt-brush-creek-hayden@fs.fed.us
phone #: (307) 326-2518
fax #: (307) 326-5250