Allegheny Forest Defense Project

UPPER MILL SIGN ON LETTER

Please help us to stop the Upper Mill Project By Signing Onto the Letter below

Dear Supervisor Jamie Davidson,

We the undersigned are opposed to the Upper Mill Project on the Marienville Ranger District of the Allegheny National Forest. This project would compromise forest health by:

• Clearcut logging 2,244 acres of forest
• Approving massive clearcuts averaging 124 acres and ranging up to 335 acres in size
• Approving the use of widespread herbicides on 2,832 acres of forest
• Logging, including 143 acres of clearcutting, in areas intended to be managed as old growth
• Clearcutting 258 acres of experimental forest intended for old growth connectivity
• Habitat destruction/damage for endangered species such as the Indiana Bat and Northern Long-Eared Bat
• Sedimentation from logging and road construction threatens to compromise watershed health which would impact newly recovering freshwater mussel populations in Clarion River as well species like the Eastern Hellbender Salamander

The proposed logging, herbicides, and related actions will compromise the diversity of Allegheny National Forest – making as much as 20% of the project area to be less than 20 years old. This includes creating 36% of the Management Area 3.0 as 0 to 20 year age class – far in excess of Forest Plan Management Direction.

Due to the types of forest manipulation proposed in this project, black cherry, which once made up less than 1% of the Allegheny National Forest, now makes up over 25% of the trees in the forest. This is harmful to the native ecosystem especially since the black cherry is a shallow rooted, thin canopied tree species. 

For 30 years, the US Forest Service has argued that it has to promote black cherry over native species such as American Beech and Eastern Hemlock due to health threats to those species. But the health threats to black cherry are more dire today and were not anticipated in the Forest Plan. It is vital that the Forest Plan be updated and revised pursuant to the National Forest Management Act before proceeding with the Upper Mill Project.

The Allegheny was founded for watershed protection. Using the forest for species manipulation for commercial logging purposes is contrary to forest health and the forest’s original purpose.

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• We hereby oppose the Upper Mill Project

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