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Residents join environmentalists to fight planned USFS timber sale
By Derek Hodges
Some local citizens have joined with conservation groups to fight a proposed timber sale in the Tilley Creek area.
The sale is part of a larger project that U.S. Forest Service officials say will lead to improved forest health. It is the by-product of a study of potential management of 15,400 acres in the Nantahala National Forest.
Called the Welch Project, the work will include 433 acres of commercial logging, Wayah District Ranger Michael Wilkins said. It will also include the creation and/or expansion of open areas, creation of several seasonal ponds, reseeding of old road beds, burning of overgrown brush and work to enhance the trout population in East Fork and Dix creeks.
Tilley Creek resident Don Guise, above, and his wife, Vera, are among those protesting a proposed timber sale in the Nantahala National Forest that would include portions of Savannah Ridge. Some Jackson County residents feel the sale would endanger older trees like this one on Kirby Knob. U.S. Forest Service officials say the planned work is necessary to help create and improve animal habitat and that old-growth areas will not be cut.
The work is necessary to improve habitat for animals like deer, turkey, bears, grouse and some species on the edge of endangerment, Wilkins said. While plans include logging, none of the impacted area will be clear-cut and old-growth timber stands will not be cut, he said.
Some area residents are concerned that the project could change the face of local forested areas, including Kirby Knob. The knob is part of Savannah Ridge, which divides the Tilley Creek and East Fork watersheds and forms a short portion of the Jackson/Macon county line. It includes several other peaks, with Kirby Knob being the highest.
The groups filing the appeal – which include the Southern Environmental Law Center, Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, Western North Carolina Alliance, the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and several local residents – point to the ridge’s recent state designation as a Natural Heritage Area as a reason it should be preserved.
“What’s really disturbing is that local citizens and Kirby descendents have been working to save that mountain,” Tilley Creek resident Vera Guise said. “It’s a travesty to learn that the Forest Service is determined to desecrate Kirby under the thin facade of ‘wildlife management.’”
Wilkins said that the trees in the area don’t hold the historical significance some have given them.
“When you look at the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests, 90 percent was cut in the last century,” Wilkins said. “Very few of the stands in the forests exhibit old-growth characteristics. Most of the oldest trees are only around 80 years old.”
North Carolina’s Natural Heritage Area designation was made without consultation with the Forest Service, Wilkins said. Because of the somewhat unwanted distinction, the Forest Service has set aside 266 acres on and around Kirby Knob that will not be logged. Also, no work will be done on the eastern slopes of the ridge, while the western slopes will see only minimal logging, Wilkins said.
“They won’t be able to see any difference unless they’re actually standing up there at the project site,” Wilkins said.
Still, some project opponents contend the Forest Service plan will have far-reaching negative effects on the area’s ecosystem.
“We were prepared to drop our appeal if the Forest Service dropped the project – it’s that bad,” said Tracy Davids, Executive Director of the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. “We’ve seen some intense logging of the Nantahala over the past five years, but the Welch timber sale stands out as one of the most destructive.”
Dan Pittillo, retired Western Carolina University biology professor, agrees that some important habitat could be lost in the work.
“Kirby Knob represents one of the more diverse peaks in the Cowee Range. The quality of habitats, ranging from rock outcrops and rich wooded slopes to the drier oak and heath woods, are rarely found in this (area),” Pittillo said.
Wilkins said the planned project will have positive environmental effects, creating new habitat for animals that depend on early successional tree growth, and opening areas for those creatures who need that space.
“It is a restoration effort,” Wilkins said. “We’re trying to have a healthy ecosystem out there and have a variety of tree stands.”
The appeal will be processed in the coming months, Wilkins said.
For more information on the project, call the Wayah Ranger Station at (828) 524-6441. Maps of the proposed Welch Project are available at the Forest Service’s Wayah District Office, located at 90 Sloan Rd. in Franklin.
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