Houston Regional Group - News

Forestry Notes, October 2002

Brandt Mannchen

1) Victory! The U.S. Forest Service (FS), on August 1, 2002, signed a Decision Memo which allows the restoration of black-land prairies found in Compartments 2, 58, 60, and 62 of Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF). The FS plans to restore these prairies by cutting shrubs and trees and then prescribe burning the areas. The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) in January 2002 visited several of these prairies and then wrote a letter to the FS suggesting prairie restoration. We appreciate the FS’s efforts in restoring a unique native ecosystem in SHNF.

2) Victory! On July 30, 2002, the HSC won its administrative appeal over the right to obtain 300 pages of documents about the sell-off of 57 acres of SHNF to the Gulf Coast Trades Center (GCTC). Chief’s Office in Washington, D.C. overruled the Regional Forester in Atlanta, Georgia and sent the documents to the HSC. The HSC has continued to press the FS for an explanation of why it worked secretly with the GCTC and Congressman Jim Turner to pass a bill in Congress for the sell-off with no public notice or input. This was especially questionable since an endangered species, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, would be affected by the sell-off. We appreciate that the Chief’s Office provided with the requested records but believe the Regional Supervisors’ Offices need to be re-educated about the public’s right to public information under the Freedom of Information Act.

3) On August 8, 2002, the FS has proposed burning 7,488 acres (Compartments 1-3, 9-11, and 117) in Sabine National Forest. An undisclosed number of these acres would be sensitive streamside zones (riparian areas). The HSC protested this proposal because streamside zones do not normally burn due to the fire inhibiting hardwood leaf litter and the additional moisture found in the soil. The HSC commented that little information was provided the public in the scoping notice for this proposal. The skimpy information makes it difficult for the public to respond knowledgeably with comments about the burning.

4) The FS does not seem to be able to leave those streamside zones alone. In Angelina National Forest on July 22, 2002, the FS proposed logging and burning along streams. The HSC pointed out that streamside zones in Compartments 52 and 53 are important for wildlife. Streamside zones have dead trees, standing and downed, which provide food and shelter for wildlife. Streamside zones also provide the greatest tree, shrub, and vine species diversity, protect water quality, and create great fish, amphibian, reptile, insect, and aquatic species habitat. Leave those streams alone, Forest Service.

Brandt Mannchen, Forestry Chair, Houston Sierra Club, September 1, 2002

October 2002

Last updated:  10/02/2005.   Content © 1999-2002 by the Sierra Club.