WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Carson National Forest Tops List of Threatened Forests: New Report Reveals Administration's Push for More Oil & Gas Drilling

Collectively, the forest profiles in this report illustrate the poor ecological state of the national forest system, in large part from Forest Service efforts to place private, industrial interests above the interests of the American people.
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

A telepressconference is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 am MST - the call number is (888) 202-2422. Passcode 8048239. B-Roll video footage is available by satellite, see details below.

Santa Fe, NM - Today, WildEarth Guardians and the National Forest Protection Alliance released the third bi-annual report listing twelve of the country’s most endangered national forests and nine of the most threatened. The Carson National Forest has topped the list of most threatened because of oil & gas exploitation. The report, America’s Endangered National Forests: Lumber, Landfill or Living Legacy?, also provides a groundbreaking economic analysis demonstrating that the Bush Administration’s push for more industrial logging in our nation’s public forests defies the market realities for wood products.

America’s Most Endangered Forests: Malheur National Forest (OR), Siskiyou National Forest (OR), Oregon BLM Forests; Allegheny National Forest (PA); Bighorn National Forest (WY); Daniel Boone National Forest (KY); Los Padres National Forest (CA); George Washington & Jefferson National Forest (VA); Rio Grande National Forest (CO); Tongass National Forest (AK); National Forests in Mississippi; Bitterroot National Forest (MT). Special Mention: Black Hills National Forest (SD) and Nantahala National Forest (NC). Threatened: Carson National Forest (NM); Wayne National Forest (OH); Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (KY); Flathead National Forest (MT); Kaibab National Forest (AZ); Michigan National Forests: (Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha and Ottawa); Klamath National Forest (CA); Nez Perce National Forest (ID); Umpqua National Forest (OR).

“Our national forests face myriad threats from Bush administration policies and Forest Service management,” said Jake Kreilick, NFPA’s Endangered Forests Project Coordinator. “Collectively, the forest profiles in this report illustrate the poor ecological state of the national forest system, in large part from Forest Service efforts to place private, industrial interests above the interests of the American people.”

Because of rampant oil and gas leasing and the threat of coal-bed methane exploration and development on the Carson National Forest it has been selected as one of nine threatened forests. By far the greatest threat to the ecosystems and wildlife of the Carson National Forest is oil & gas exploitation in both overdeveloped areas as well as relatively pristine landscapes. The two landscapes that are most threatened by the Bush Administration’s energy policy are the Valle Vidal in the northernmost portion of the Carson along the Colorado state line and the southern San Juan Basin in the western-most Ranger District, the Jicarilla.

“The Carson National Forest and its crown jewel the Valle Vidal are threatened more than ever by oil & gas exploitation.” Said Bryan Bird, forest ecologist for WildEarth Guardians. “We have a moral obligation to preserve our natural heritage from profiteers and career beaurocrats; this is not a sacrifice zone.”

The Valle Vidal is located in the Raton Basin, six million acres of which are being drilled for natural gas. El Paso Corp. already operates 500 gas wells on the 600,000 acre Vermejo Park Ranch. Valle Vidal is thought to contain enough natural gas to sustain U.S. consumers for only 11 hours. However, the oil & gas industry does not have the capacity to keep pace with the Bush Administration’s overzealous energy plan.

The Denver Post recently reported:

[ ] proposed legislation is unlikely to increase oil or gas supplies in the near future. Federal regulators are already approving oil and gas wells in Colorado and other Western states faster than industry can drill them.

The Bureau of Land Management, which controls much of the West's drilling land, approved more than 6,000 wells last year. Producers drilled fewer than 4,000.

The Washington Post reported in April:

The lack-of-access story, however, does not square with what is happening on the ground [ ] … In response to White House orders to expedite gas extraction on federal lands, the Bureau of Land Management has issued more gas-drilling permits in the West than the industry has rigs to drill with or workers to operate the rigs, according to government records, industry experts and local officials.

This year’s report is unique in that it offers the most up-to-date analysis of the marketplace for wood products from national forests. The major conclusion drawn from this research is that the market share of national forest wood products will likely remain near its current level - 2% of the U.S.’s total consumption - despite the federal government’s efforts to increase industrial logging through higher subsidies and policies like the Healthy Forests Initiative.

“This 2% of our lumber and paper supply comes at the highest ecological cost to our nation's environment,” said Kreilick. “Much of the logging is still directed at the most sensitive forested habitats remaining in the U.S., including roadless areas, ancient, old-growth forests and critical fish and wildlife habitat.”

The economic research presented in the market section was compiled by Dr. John Talberth, an expert on the values and benefits derived from all the national forest programs and uses.

“Clearly, America’s national forests are far more valuable standing than cut down and converted into 2 x4’s and paper products that are of trivial importance to our nation’s wood products supply,” explained Dr, Talberth. “Nonetheless, through generous taxpayer subsidies of the federal timber sale program, the Forest Service is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. These subsidies would be far better spent protecting and restoring ecological services of immense value to both existing and future generations.”

Key Ecological Findings:

• Since 2002, the volume of the federal logging program has grown by over 300 million board feet in large part to an escalation of logging in Oregon, California and the South. The USFS continues to use fire risk reduction and forest health as the primary management rationales.
• Oregon has more at-risk national forests than any other state. Representing some of the nation’s most diverse old-growth forests remaining, these forests contain the region's largest roadless areas, which provide critical habitat for threatened and endangered species.
• Logging on eastern national forests continues to rise, as demonstrated in the profiles of the Allegheny, George Washington & Jefferson, Daniel Boone, and Mississippi National Forests.
• Most all of the forests featured in the report face significant threats to roadless areas from logging, roadbuilding, grazing, ORVs and the Bush Administration’s state-driven roadless policy. Consequently, protecting roadless areas is no longer a priority of the Forest Service and many are now proposed for development.
• Energy development for coal, oil, natural gas, and coalbed methane gas remains unchecked on a handful of national forests (Daniel Boone, Allegheny, Los Padres, Carson, Huron-Manistee) and a growing problem on many others due to the Bush-Cheney Energy Plan.
• Other prominent threats to the environmental quality of the national forest system include the growing impacts from the proliferation of Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) for motorized recreation, ski area development and continuing problems from urban encroachment and transportation development.

The National Forest Protection Alliance is a network of 135 organizations that protect and restore America’s national forests. You can learn more by visiting: http://www.forestadvocate.org.

WildEarth Guardians is a non-profit corporation with approximately 1,600 members throughout the United States, including New Mexico. WildEarth Guardians’ mission is to protect and restore the natural biological diversity of forests in America’s southwest. Members of WildEarth Guardians engage in outdoor recreation, wildlife viewing and other activities in the Carson National Forest.

_____________________________________

B-Roll Includes: Bitterroot National Forest, Montana Siskiyou NF, OregonTongass NF, AlaskaBig Horn NF, WyomingDaniel Boone NF, Kentucky andThe Washington/Jefferson NF, Virginia America's Most Endangered Forests Satellite Feed Coordinates Date: Oct 12, 2005 Time: 14:30-14:50 Satellite: Intelsat Americas 5, Trasponder 13 Satellite Type: C-band Orbital Position: 97 Degrees West Downlink Polarity: Vertical Downlink Frequency: 3960 Audio: 6.2/6.8