Act now and urge the U.S. Forest Service to increase their efforts to create needed habitat for ruffed grouse and American woodcock on the Cherokee National Forest!
The Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society strongly encourage the USFS to increase the amount of early successional forest being proposed. Your voice is needed – please click the link below to submit your comment before February 18, 2023.
The Pond Mountain Project includes multiple management prescriptions from the Cherokee National Forest’s Forest Plan within the boundaries of the project area. Specifically, prescription 8.C that has an objective to achieve 4% to 8% early successional forest conditions. This Project proposes the creation of 6.2% early successional forest. Due to the lack of habitat diversity on the Forest, especially on the North Zone and at mid-to to high-elevations, RGS & AWS feel strongly that early successional forest needs to be maximized within the project area. If the Forest is going to realize the early successional habitat objectives from its Forest Plan, it’s imperative to prioritize treatments that restore early successional forests.
Specifically, we recommend that active forest management (i.e., regeneration treatments through commercial timber harvesting) is implemented to create 8% early successional forest in management prescription 8.C and that the maximum amount of early successional habitat allowed in management prescription 4.A and 4.F as outlined as objectives in the Forest Plan.
Take action now in support of maximizing early successional forest within the Pond Mountain Project’s project area! Comments are due by February 18, 2023. You can submit your comments by email to SM.FS.r8cherwatcom@usda.gov, or by mail to Keith Kelley, 4400 Unicoi Drive, Unicoi, TN 37692.
Details for the project and comment submissions can be found at fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63431.
