ACTION NEEDED! Trump wants to cut down our National Forests. Plans to clearcut 2,000 acres of Allegheny National Forest are up for public comment (Upper Mill Project). Speak Loud and Let them Know this is not ok with America! Contact them here: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=65828. 

The area affected is Big Mill Creek in the eastern part of Pennsylvania’s only national forest. Proposed actions include 2,244 acres of clearcutting (aka. Overstory Removal and Shelterwood Removal), 2,832 acres of herbicide spray, and then in order to manipulate the ecosystem in favor of commercial trees they will fence, fertilize, and manually cut those 2,832 acres further. 16 of these clearcuts will exceed the standard clearcutting limit of 40 acres – with clearcuts averaging 124 acres in size and ranging up to 335 acres in size.

Of particular import, a significant part of the project area is supposed to be managed for old growth habitat. But instead is being subject to extensive logging including 143 acres of clearcutting. The Kane Experimental Forest which is essential to old growth connectivity will be subjected to 258 acres of clearcutting.

Why? Because the Allegheny National Forest is home to the commercially lucrative black cherry tree. Though this tree makes up less than 1% of the native forest, they manipulate the forest to propagate black cherry over other native tree species. The result is that black cherry now dominates the forest overstory. 

The problem? The black cherry tree is a short lived, shallow rooted, thin canopied tree susceptible to acid rain. And for these and other reasons, black cherry is in rapid decline across the forest. Over 30% of black cherry trees are dead or dying because of this manipulative management. Yet, the plan is to keep propagating black cherry over the needs of native wildlife and the ecosystems. We can do better. 

The Allegheny National Forest was established in 1923 for watershed protection. It’s time to restore that mission and demand that watershed protection, ecological nurturing, and public recreation be restored as the emphasis for forest management – and not the interests and greed of private timber corporations.