Carolyn Finney, Author of Black Faces, White Spaces to Speak at UNC Asheville Sept. 29

**Carolyn Finney, Author of Black Faces, White Spaces to Speak at UNC Asheville Sept. 29**

Developing cultural competency within the discussion of public lands and conservation is an important aspect for promoting the use and care of public lands among all populations. MountainTrue values collaboration among diverse constituencies to achieve more effective success in protecting our public lands and forests. Carolyn Finney brings a unique voice to this dialogue, and considers factors that contribute to how individuals build a relationship with their environment.

Carolyn Finney, author of Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors (UNC Press, 2014), will speak at UNC Asheville at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29 in the Humanities Lecture Hall. This event is free and open to everyone.

Finney, now assistant professor of geography at the University of Kentucky, pursued an acting career for eleven years, but a backpacking trip around the world and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Returning to school in the U.S. as a student and now as a professor and cultural geographer, Finney explores how difference, identity, representation, and power play a significant role in determining how people negotiate their daily lives in relation to the environment. As a Fulbright fellow, Finney also has researched the impact of tourism and modernization on Nepalese women and the environment.

Finney serves on the U.S. National Parks Advisory Board working to assist the National Park Service in engaging relations of reciprocity with diverse communities. Her talk is part of UNC Asheville’s celebration of the National Park Service Centennial.

Finney says the aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets on their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action. By engaging art, science and popular culture, she works to create new frameworks of engagement where diverse communities and individuals, environmental organizations, government agencies and academic institutions can establish and nurture healthy human/environment relationships.

For more information, contact Deborah Miles, director of UNC Asheville’s Center for Diversity Education, at dmiles@unca.edu or 828.232.5024.

Join us for Pisgah Pride Day on September 24!

MountainTrue is proud to be an official partner of the The Pisgah Conservancy’s first annual Pisgah Pride Day! Pride Day, on September 24, falls on National Public Lands Day, and is a broad volunteer opportunity for community members to contribute to the success of the Pisgah. The name of the event stems from The Pisgah Conservancy’s desire to instill pride in the maintenance of the Pisgah, and to encourage all members to a part in enjoying the forest.

The Pisgah Conservancy, the Forest Service and its established partners are teaming up with local business, schools, nonprofit organizations and other local forest users to make this event a success! Volunteers will participate on teams to work on a variety of projects all over the Pisgah! MountainTrue’s own Bob Gale will be working in Pisgah Pride Day to inventory nonnative, invasive species on Avery’s Creek Trail, Clawhammer Trail, and Perry Cove Trail. With the help of volunteers, he’ll be mapping out the location and density of these nonnative plants.

Show your pride for the Pisgah Forest and lend a hand on projects and maintenance vital to the well-being of the forest and its diverse ecosystem. Plus, after finishing the work day, volunteers can head to Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard, where a percentage of all proceeds will be donated to The Pisgah Conservancy. All are welcome. Sign up through The Pisgah Conservancy’s website to volunteer. Come out and show your pride!

Public And Scientists Document Diversity Of Bluff Mountain During Bioblitz

By Josh Kelly, MountainTrue Public Lands Field Biologist

On June 4 and 5, MountainTrue Staff and 43 volunteers documented the astonishing diversity of Bluff Mountain in Madison County, NC. Bluff Mountain has long been an iconic place to local residents who have hunted and gathered food and medicinal herbs on its slopes for generations. The music festival of the same name was started to celebrate the mountain and protect it from a legislative order in 1994 by former Congressman Charles Taylor that mandated two million board feet of timber be cut from the Mountain.

A coalition of local residents prevailed over Congressman Taylor so that only sustainable timber harvests occurred; much of Bluff Mountain, including several miles of the Appalachian Trail, remains a remote and wild place. The Bluff Mountain Timber Sale resulted in the Catpen Stewardship Project and the construction of two loop trails: The Betty Place Loop and The Bluff Mountain Loop. These trails provided good access to the north side of the mountain for bioblitzers.

The Bluff Bioblitz included participation by 11 professional biologists from Mars Hill University, UNC-Asheville, Catawba Valley Community College, the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, and MountainTrue. Professional biologists acted as group leaders and were assisted by citizen scientists of all levels of knowledge. The result was a great learning environment and the documentation of over 400 species, including over 270 vascular plants, a dozen mosses and liverworts, more than 30 birds, over 40 lichen, five mammals, six amphibians, and more than 50 invertebrate animals in just two days! Following Saturday’s activities, there was a lively social hosted by Elmer Hall and the Sunnybank Inn, longtime supporters of conservation in Western North Carolina.

The scientific information documented during the Bioblitz is very valuable. Several populations of rare species were documented, including what is possibly North Carolina’s most extensive population of heart-leaf hedge nettle (Stachys cordata), which is known from just four locations in the state. The rare brown creeper (Certhia americana), a northern disjunct that requires mature, rich forests with large diameter trees was also documented. Continuing the theme of northern disjuncts, Lichenologist Laura Boggess of Mars Hill University discovered a lichen that has not been recorded south of Canada. Despite being so dear to local people, who always knew what a rich place the mountain was, there had been only one study of the biological diversity of Bluff Mountain prior to the Bioblitz, and it focused on the Appalachian Trail corridor back in 1993.

Ecologist Mary Sauls Kelly pointed out that Bluff Mountain is one of the highest peaks in Madison County. “The way it rises up above the French Broad Valley, it’s a lot like a sky island,” said Kelly. Retired Mars Hill University professor Alan Smith said, “These are very nice woods. Bluff Mountain has a lot in common with other biodiversity hotspots in the Blue Ridge Mountains.” The bedrock geology of Bluff weathers to form dark and rich soils. Unlike many areas in these mountains, Rhododendron and mountain laurel don’t dominate the hollows, ridges, and slopes of Bluff. Instead, most of the mountain is carpeted with the emerald green of a dense herbaceous layer that puts on a show during the spring wildflower bloom.

The Hot Springs Mountain Club and MountainTrue have proposed Bluff Mountain for backcountry management in the ongoing Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan Revision. National Forests are required to revise their management plans every 10-20 years and the Nanthala-Pisgah has had the same plan since 1994. A backcountry designation would be compatible with the Appalachian Trail and would continue to provide the habitat needed by bear, brown creepers and rare species that call Bluff Mountain home. Backcountry management for places like Bluff would also prevent a repeat of the conflict seen in the 1990s and allow the Forest Service to increase the pace and scale of restoration on the parts of the Nantahala-Pisgah that need it most.

While the weather could have been drier–It rained on us on Sunday–, everyone agreed that the Bluff Bioblitz was a success. Pairing participants with various areas of expertise and skill levels ensured that everyone learned a lot and also had a good helping of fun. MountainTrue plans to hold an annual bioblitz as part of its Forest Keeper program, and Bluff Mountain is a great place to for people to learn, make friends, and contribute to the scientific knowledge about one of the little-known jewels of the Blue Ridge.

Conservation and Recreation Coalition Announces Recommendations for Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests

(SYLVA, NC)—A coalition of conservation and recreation organizations recommends more trails and better public access as well as backcountry and wild areas for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests, according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) developed by the coalition. The coalition is submitting the MOU to the U.S. Forest Service as part of the ongoing forest plan revision process for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests.

The coalition includes Access Fund, American Alpine Club, American Whitewater, Back Country Horsemen of America, Back Country Horsemen of Blue Ridge, Back Country Horsemen of North Carolina, Back Country Horsemen of Pisgah, Back Country Horsemen of Western North Carolina, Black Dome Mountain Sports, Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, Carolina Adventure Guides, Carolina Climbers Coalition, Franklin Bird Club, Friends of Big Ivy, Ground Up Publishing, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Highlands Plateau Audubon Society, Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition, International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), MountainTrue, Nantahala Area Southern Off-Road Biking Association (SORBA), Nantahala Hiking Club, North Carolina Horse Council, Northwest North Carolina Mountain Bike Alliance, Outdoor 76, Outdoor Alliance, Pisgah Area SORBA, Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventures, Southern Appalachian Plant Society, Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS), Stay and Play in the Smokies, The Wilderness Society, Trout Unlimited – Unaka Chapter, and Wild South.

The idea driving the coalition is simple: Western North Carolina’s national forests are the region’s greatest public asset, and should be protected for their inherent beauty, biodiversity, and their many values. Recognizing that Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest is in the top three most visited national forests in the United States, the proposal acknowledges the economic importance of these forests for recreation and tourism, and recommends management of these assets in a responsible manner that is both environmentally and economically sound. The management and designations proposed by the coalition extend stronger protections to more than 365,000 of the national forest’s nearly 1.1 million acres including two new National Recreation Areas and more than 109,000 acres of recommended wilderness.

Key recommendations within the proposal:

Two new National Recreation Areas for Western North Carolina: a 115,573-acre Pisgah National Recreation Area and a 57,400-acre Grandfather National Recreation Area that will protect these areas from resource extraction and ensure that their unique natural beauty and ecological diversity are maintained for future generations, while recreation use such as hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, kayaking, and climbing is planned and managed for as a long-term priority. National Recreation Areas will formalize recreation access in key points of our forests, and would allow for the establishment of sustainable infrastructure to prevent damage to the areas while preserving recreational opportunities.
Wilderness protection for 109,961 acres in the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests. Hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and hiking are among the many activities that would be welcomed in these areas. While the Forest Service can recommend wilderness, it would have to be approved by Congressional legislation and signed into law by the president.

Those who support the recommendations put forth in the MOU can help by providing public comments to the Forest Service that both endorses a plan that provides more public access and recreation, and protects more of our backcountry and wild places.

Comments can be submitted via email at NCPlanRevision@fs.fed.us or via mail at United States Forest Service Supervisor’s Office, 160 Zillicoa St, Suite A, Asheville, NC 28801.

For more information, contact:

Brent Martin, The Wilderness Society – Southern Appalachian Regional Director
(828) 587-9453 • brent_martin@tws.org

Josh Kelly, MountainTrue – Public Lands Field Biologist
828.258.8737 x 210 • josh@mountaintrue.org

Read Full Text of the MOU

Download PDF

U.S.F.S. proposes opening most of Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest to logging

12/13/2014: “WNC’s National Forests at crossroads” — Editorial by Public Lands Field Biologist Josh Kelly in the Asheville Citizen-Times. (May require login).

Press Release from the Southern Environmental Law Center
For Release: Nov. 12, 2014
Contact: Kathleen Sullivan, SELC, 919-945-7106 or ksullivan@selcnc.org

Forest Service proposes massive logging program in an area bigger than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—In what conservation groups flag as a dramatic shift, the U.S. Forest Service is proposing industrial-scale logging in the vast majority of the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina – about 700,000 acres, or an area bigger than the Great Smoky Mountain National Park – instead of protecting popular backcountry recreation destinations and conserving the Blue Ridge landscapes treasured by residents and tourists from across the United States.

“Under the law and for everyone who enjoys America’s forests, the Forest Service’s first priority should be fixing the mistakes of the past – restoring the parts of the forest already damaged by prior logging,” said DJ Gerken, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “But the misguided logging plan proposed by the agency will repeat those old mistakes, causing more damage and putting the healthiest forests we have left on the chopping block. The people who use and love these forests won’t stand for cutting them down.”

The Forest’s new proposal would inevitably increase logging over the levels of recent years, though the precise amount has not been disclosed. “This increase would come from ramping up logging all over the forest, including backcountry areas like the South Mills River area, home to the popular Black Mountain Trail,” said Hugh Irwin, conservation planner for The Wilderness Society. According to Forest Service documents, such areas would be managed for “timber production,” which it interprets as “the purposeful growing and harvesting of crops of trees to be cut into logs.”

This industrial-style logging would also require cutting new roads for trucks and equipment into sensitive, unspoiled backcountry areas. “Not only is that destructive and disruptive, it’s also fiscally irresponsible,” added Irwin. “The agency shouldn’t be expanding its road system when it can’t even afford to maintain the roads it already has.” Agency reports confirm that the Forest has less than 13 percent of the funds needed to maintain its existing roads, leading to safety and water quality problems. Several popular roads remain closed due to unrepaired washouts.

“This proposal is absolutely the wrong direction for the forest,” said Ben Prater, director of conservation for Wild South. “Times have changed, and our mountain economy doesn’t depend just on logging anymore. We should be capitalizing on our wonderful Blue Ridge forests, not cutting them down. Treating practically the entire Pisgah-Nantahala as a ‘crop’ is simply irresponsible.”

The Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest has become a tourism and recreation destination, and revenue generated by visitors is a major driver of the western North Carolina economy. The National Forests of North Carolina are the third most visited national forest in the country. Industrial logging not only damages scenery and natural features, which are the key draw for half of those visits, but also requires popular areas to be closed to the public for months at a time while trees are being cut. “They’re our public lands,” says Prater. “Where is the balance?”

Josh Kelly, public lands biologist for the Western North Carolina Alliance, calls the proposal a “missed opportunity.” According to Kelly, “the Forest Service could sell more timber, meet game wildlife goals for hunters, and fulfill its ecological responsibilities by focusing its limited budget on restoring degraded areas with existing road access. We have a historic opportunity to care for this forest like it deserves – a real win-win solution – but if the Plan is mired in conflict, none of that work will get done.”

Public participation is important to the planning process underway, in which the U.S. Forest Service will decide how to manage the Pisgah and National Forests for the next 15 years.

TAKE ACTION TO STOP THIS PROPOSAL BY CLICKING HERE NOW!

The public can also comment by email at NCplanrevision@fs.fed.us.

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The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional nonprofit using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC’s team of more than 60 legal and policy experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.
www.SouthernEnvironment.org

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