Timber sale of 98 acres in Nantahala National Forest ignites environmentalist concerns

Sarah Honosky, Asheville Citizen Times
·7 min read
The purpose of the Southside Project in the Nantahala National Forest, according to the U.S. Forest Service, is to improve and maintain wildlife habitat, species diversity of forest stands, soil and water resources, and forest health through vegetation management.
The purpose of the Southside Project in the Nantahala National Forest, according to the U.S. Forest Service, is to improve and maintain wildlife habitat, species diversity of forest stands, soil and water resources, and forest health through vegetation management.

ASHEVILLE - Some environmentalists fear the newly finalized $55,604 timber sale of 98 acres in Nantahala National Forest will result in logging that spells the destruction of beloved old growth forests and endangers habitats of increasingly rare animal species.

Despite years of objections against the logging project, a bid for the acreage was received and accepted by the U.S. Forest Service in August, just after hundreds of people protested against the agency's newly released management plan that includes logging in sensitive parts of Pisgah National Forest.

U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Cathy Dowd could not immediately confirm the identity of the buyer.

Previous coverage: Chattooga Conservancy, others make 11th-hour bid to stop old growth cut in Nantahala

The Southside Project was first proposed by the Forest Service in 2017 and calls for commercial logging on about 300 acres dispersed throughout an analysis area of more than 29,000 acres in southeastern Macon County and southern Jackson County, just east of Highlands.

The 98 acre swath is the first of several prospective sales.

The Southside project has been opposed by some environmental advocates since its inception, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, MountainTrue and the Chattooga Conservancy.

“We think if the Forest Service proceeds with the sale, it is going to continue to be socially controversial and will be environmentally damaging," said Josh Kelly, a field biologist with MountainTrue.

"There is a clear right choice for the Forest Service here.”

U.S. Forest Service management plan:

Dowd said the Forest Service understands that some environmental groups disagree with aspects of the project, but there are many perspectives to consider, including those that support the project.

"We used a science-based collaborative approach to reach a decision on the Southside project in 2019," Dowd said. "Having already conducted a public environmental planning process, it would be both unfair to the other parties involved and disingenuous to the public planning process if we changed the decision two years after finalizing it."

Korben, age 8, holds a sign at the Protect Pisgah Party and Rally outside of the National Forests in North Carolina's Forest Supervisor's office in Asheville on August 1, 2022.
Korben, age 8, holds a sign at the Protect Pisgah Party and Rally outside of the National Forests in North Carolina's Forest Supervisor's office in Asheville on August 1, 2022.

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When the 98 acres first went out for bid in August 2021, there were no takers. The bid came close on the heels of calls from conservationists to significantly change or abandon the project.

Bids were reopened in July at a "deeply discounted price," according to Kelly, and closed Aug. 11 with one official bid.

MountainTrue attempted to keep vulnerable areas of the forest intact by offering to outbid any buyers on 37 of the 98 acres on Brushy Mountain in Jackson County.

Kelly said while he would consider MountainTrue's offer a "formal offer," it was not submitted through the bidding process, as doing so would have contractually obligated them to cut the trees.

It's an area that Kelly said contains valuable acres of old growth forests and serves as critical habitat for the green salamander, a state-listed threatened species that has had a 98% population decline since 1970.

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While he said the group could stomach the sale of the other 61 acres, cutting trees on the swath of land covering Brushy Mountain would be "egregious."

MountainTrue emailed an offer of $30,000 to the Forest Service for the 37 acres or to exceed the highest bid received to cut the timber. The email outlined its intentions to leave the trees standing while MountainTrue retains the ownership of potential carbon credits for a 100-year period.

It's an unprecedented situation, Kelly said, and this is the first time MountainTrue has made an offer like this.

"A lot of issues in forestry are very nuanced. This particular one is very black and white,” Kelly said. Despite moving ahead with a buyer, he said it's not too late for the Forest Service to cancel the contract.

Dowd said, to her knowledge, the Forest Service did not get an official bid from MountainTrue.

She acknowledged the email offering to buy carbon credits, which she said the Forest Service does not have authority to sell.

'High conflict' and 'reckless'

Susannah Knox, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said concerns surrounding the sale are exacerbated by the ongoing development of the U.S. Forest Service's Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest Land Management Plan.

The 30-year plan, released to the public in January, will guide the management of more than 1.1 million acres of Western North Carolina forestland for the next decade and beyond. Following three days of objection meetings in early August, the final plan could be released by the end of the year.

Western North Carolina residents attend the Protect Pisgah Party and Rally outside of the National Forests in North Carolina's Forest Supervisor's office in Asheville on August 1, 2022.
Western North Carolina residents attend the Protect Pisgah Party and Rally outside of the National Forests in North Carolina's Forest Supervisor's office in Asheville on August 1, 2022.

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Many advocates fear it will result in increased logging across the national forests, including weakened protections for trails, trout streams and old growth forests.

Knox said the Southside timber sale is the "quintessential type of high conflict, reckless project that the plan really opens the door to more of."

"We are not opposing (the Forest Service's) goal of increasing their timber harvest on the forests, as long as they protect these rare ecosystems and this old growth forest," she said. "The Forest Service has admitted that stands in this sale meet their own criteria for old growth forest. ... We need to protect the remaining old growth that we have, because it’s dwindling."

Kelly also said he felt the sale was indicative of a larger plan and the impending fate of the Nantahala, which he fears will continue to see old growth and rare species habitat cut.

What comes next?

According to the Forest Service's project fact sheet, the Southside timber sale is intended to improve and maintain wildlife habitat, species diversity of forest stands, soil and water resources and forest health through vegetation management.

A primary focus of the project is establishing more young forest habitat, which makes up only 1% of the current project area, according to the Forest Service.

Knox said while the Southern Environmental Law Center appreciates a need for different types of habitat, an area with some of the only remaining old growth in the region is not the "appropriate place to do those treatments," she said.

More: US Forest Service confirms deaths in Nantahala National Forest, 1 at waterfall, 1 in river

Kelly said this was the first time he had seen the Forest Service move forward with a project despite acknowledging old growth within the logging area.

Dowd said about 13 acres of Brushy Mountain meets the definition of old growth, and there are nearly 7,000 acres of the same forest structure in the Southside project area that will not be harvested.

"The 13 acres on Brushy Mountain are not rare," Dowd said. "What is rare in the area is young forest and although we are opening the stand to allow young oaks to grow up, the prescription for this harvest leaves trees that have dens or cavities for wildlife and a lot of the older larger trees."

She also said that the Forest Service was responsive to concerns surrounding the salamander species and worked "extensively" with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to evaluate recent findings and implement additional mitigations, including buffers around documented locations of green salamanders.

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Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander
Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander

Despite this additional precaution, J.J. Apodaca,  founder of Tangled Bank Conservation and executive director for the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, said it won't be enough to protect the imperiled population.

"What we've learned in the past 15, 20 years is (green salamanders) actually use more of the surrounding habitat than we think," Apodaca said. "And, more importantly, changes to the surrounding habitat around those areas have a huge impact. ... Even if you leave a little island, that island is no longer healthy."

He was among the team that surveyed the area and its green salamander population.

Apodaca said this site represents an "opportunity to change how we've been managing the species, especially for the Forest Service."

Brushy Mountain is home to a notable population of green salamanders, he said, "the places they are going to be harvesting in these stands are the wildlife corridors for this species."

More: WNC conservationists seek federal protection for native Hickory Nut Gorge salamander

Knox said the Southern Environmental Law Center is still evaluating its next steps, and options for the way forward are being explored.

“It opens the door to further project-level fighting," Knox said.

"Instead of making plan-level decisions that could protect those areas, the Forest Service is, with the plan as it stands right now, committing itself to more of these really controversial sales. It’s a waste of government resources, and it needlessly creates conflict between the public and the forest service."

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: $55K timber sale in Nantahala National Forest sparks some frustrations