>On 12/1/95 Brent Diamond Writes: > > >First of all, due to the sufficiency rider, logging is now >taking place in Wilderness Areas. (the Kalmiopsis is 50 miles from my >house) Dear Brent: I believe we have a problem with terminology. When I said that 17% of the USFS lands are designated as Wilderness Areas, this was a narrow definition of Wilderness Areas. For example, only areas like the 179,655 acre Kalimiopsis Wilderness Area are included in this figure. As far as I know, there are no logging roads in the Kalimiopsis Wilderness Area and therefore how can logging companies be using the sufficiency rider to log in this "official" Wilderness Area? (As far as I know, no helicopters are being used to extract logs from the Kalimiopsis). There are 153 miles of hiking trails in the area so verification of any logging in the Kalimiopsis Wilderness Area should be relatively easy. Elevations within this wilderness range from 2,000 to 4,600 feet. However, many also call wilderness areas any old-growth forests outside "official" Wilderness Areas. One estimate is there are nearly 5 million acres of old growth on public lands in western Washington and Oregon. I understand about 2.9 million acres of old growth (58%) on public lands have been categorized as unavailable for harvest. I assume your concern with logging occurs on part of the 42% which are not in "official" Wilderness areas. Sorry for any confusion. If one includes both "unofficial" wilderness areas managed by the Forest Service (like Sugarloaf) with the "official" areas such as the Kalimiopsis Wilderness Area, the total will no doubt exceed 17% of the USFS lands. David South School of Forestry Auburn University, AL 36849-5418 USA dsouth@forestry.auburn.edu 334-844-1022 334-844-1084 (FAX) http://www.forestry.auburn.edu/coops/sfnmc/sfnmc.html ========================================================================= "Here was my chance. Biltmore could be made to prove what America did not yet understand, that trees could be cut and the forest preserved at one and the same time." Gifford Pinchot Consulting Forester Biltmore Estate 1892-1895 =========================================================================
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