And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 13:57:47 -0700 >To: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Wild Rockies InfoNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Wyoming: Coon Creek roadless area alert >Sender: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >USFS & STATE OF WYOMING WANT TO CLEARCUT IN COON CREEK ROADLESS AREA >YOUR COMMENTS NEEDED BY MARCH 1, 1999 > >The US Forest Service and the State of Wyoming want to have another >timber sale in the Coon Creek Roadless Area in the Medicine Bow National >Forest along the Wyoming-Colorado border. The Damfino timber sale is >directly adjacent to Tie Camp, a timber sale that citizens have been >protesting for several years. Damfino and Tie Camp are located within >Coon Creek Roadless Area, which is an area that should remain in its >natural state. The Damfino timber sale would occur on state land and >would require the USFS's permission to use Forest Service roads to >access the area. > >If the Forest Service permits the State to use National Forest roads, >the Damfino timber sale would: > >* clearcut 156 acres, or 1.75 million board feet of wood, including; >lodgepole pine that are over 150 years old, englemann spruce, subalpine >fir and destroy huckleberry that serves as ground cover > >* build between 4-6 miles of new roads in the Coon Creek Roadless Area > >* cut and fragment key remaining forested areas on the Medicine Bow >National Forest > >WHAT'S AT STAKE > >The Coon Creek Roadless Area is located south of Saratoga, WY, and >northwest of Walden, CO. This roadless area previously encompassed more >than 12,000 acres of wild country, but a dozen timber sales have >whittled the roadless area down to about half that size. Even at 6,000 >acres, the roadless area is still one of the larger uncut areas on the >Med Bow. Right now Coon Creek Roadless Area would still qualify for >Wilderness designation, but the proposed Damfino sale would reduce Coon >Creek significantly, changing its Wilderness possibilities. Through >repeated assault, the Forest Service is working to block any sort of >protection for this important part of natural forest. According to the >Forest Service the pattern of cutting in the Damfino Creek timber sale >would continue the pattern of fragmentation created by the Coon Creek >timber sale. > >Special values of the roadless area include: > >WILDLIFE HABITAT- sensitive species needing undisturbed areas and old >growth interior forest live here. These include Boreal Owl, Pine >Marten, Three toed Woodpecker, Boreal Toad, Northern Goshawk and >perhaps Lynx. Important habitat needed by these species is targeted for >cutting. > >LINKS BETWEEN THE MED BOW AND ROUTT NATIONAL FOREST- Due to numerous >timber sales in the past, there are now few remaining links between the >Med Bow and Routt National Forest; Coon Creek Area is one such link. >The remaining links must be protected if wildlife are going to continue >to disperse between the two forests, which were formerly connected over >a wide area. If the Damfino timber sale takes place, an important >forested connection would be severed. > >WHAT YOU CAN DO > >Managing the Coon Creek Roadless Area as wilderness is far more >beneficial than managing the area for timber production. Bring this to >the attention of Traute Parrie, Acting District Ranger, and demand that >the USFS protect Coon Creek Roadless Area. > >Write, call, fax or email the USFS before the March 1st deadline, >demanding that the Forest Service prepares a full Environmental Impact >Statement (EIS) for the Damfino timber sale and deny the State of >Wyoming a permit. Tell them to Just Say No to the Damfino timber sale >because you want to see the Coon Creek Roadless area protected and >remain roadless. Points you may want to make include: > >* The USFS should deny the State of Wyoming a permit for use. A permit >from the USFS to the State of Wyoming is not necessary. If the State of >Wyoming and Louisiana-Pacific Corp. want access to this area, they >should use helicopters and conduct helicopter logging. The USFS has >said this is feasible in an area just south of Damfino in the "Routt >Blowdown." A permit for more roadbuilding and road use should NOT be >granted. > >* Encourage the USFS and the State to exchange the Damfino land. This >section of State land, located within the National Forest boundaries, >should be added to the NFS. > >* Tell the USFS granting a permit is tantamount to authorizing the State >timber sale. Therefore, the EIS must analyze the impacts of logging >just as if the USFS were proposing the sale. > >* The sale would violate State Water Quality rules and Clean Water Act >by discharging sediment into a tributary of A "Class 1 Water," the >Encampment River. > >* There's already too much fragmentation and too many clearcuts in the >Med-Bow and Routt. Tell the USFS and the State: No More Clearcutting! > >* The Forest Service has promised to stay out of roadless areas until >after the new Forest Plan has been completed. What's left of the Coon >Creek Roadless Area should be allowed to remain in its natural state. > >* Tell the USFS and the State it must consult with U.S. Fish and >Wildlife Service about impacts to Lynx and Boreal Toad. > >* Tell the USFS the State of Wyoming and Louisiana-Pacific should pay >for the EIS and any permitting costs associated with this project. >Taxpayers should not have to pay for L-P's profits or the State's >boondoggles. > >* Tell the USFS if they want to issue the permit to the State, the State >must pay for the impact logging trucks cause to National Forest roads. > > >SEND COMMENTS BY MARCH 1, 1999 TO: > >Traute Parrie, Acting District Ranger >Bush Creek/Hayden Ranger District >Medicine Bow National Forest >P.O. Box 249 >Saratoga, WY 82331 >phone: (307) 326-5258, fax: (307) 326-5250 >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >For more information contact: > >Jeff Kessler >Biodiversity Associates >P.O. Box 6032 >Laramie, WY 82073 >307.742.7978 >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >************************************************************************ >List-Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >News Submissions or Problems: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >This list is a public service provided by WIN: http://www.wildrockies.org > &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&