Controversy is raging in the sleepy little town of Blowing Rock, NC as the National Forest Service is preparing to decimate and poison the beautiful beautiful Pisgah Forest area directly adjacent to the town. It is called The Globe Project…and town officials are meeting on it right now, with a final decision to be made by tommorrow morning.

The Forest Service apparently told everyone that the 231 acre cut was going to be 11 miles from Lenoir, which is down the mountain quite a ways. Locals have just recently, towards the end of the public comment period, heard that it is actually going to be right in their backyard and been able to voice their opinions. But what a job they have done! Eyewitness News9 has a video clip of their coverage.
Just see the locals in action! Yeah Watauga County!

The Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project has been kicking butt on this. Check out their site, press release, and images.

Heres my take…
If Pigeon Forge had 100 babies, Blowing Rock would be the smallest one. It is a T.O.U.R.I.S.T. – T.O.W.N.!!! Why? Because Blowing Rock sits right on the Blue Ridge (and the Blue Ridge Parkway for that matter.) On a clear day, you can see from Grandfather Mountain to Charlotte nearly 80 miles away!

Blowing Rock resident, and candidate for State Senate Cullie Tarleton says that the decision threatens the local tourism economy:

If they come in and devastate part of the Pisgah Forest, which is what (tourists) come here to see, who is going to come here?” he said.

Well said Mr. Tarleton! I completely agree! Why would anyone come back to a place with only 30% of the canopy left?

A very thorough article in the Blowing Rocket gives us the following info:

The primary features of the Globe Project include:
√ 231 acres of two-aged shelterwood cuts that will remove These cuts will remove 80% of the basal area or more.
√ Build 1.1 miles of roads to harvest trees
√ Re-open 1.2 miles of old logging roads
√ Herbicide 231 acres with Garlon 3A which is a triclopyr formulation
√ Clearcut 2 miles of Frankum Road (Forest Service Road 188) in order to “daylight it.” The cut will be 15 feet wide on each side of the road.
√ Clearcut 2.4 miles of Thunderhole Road (Forest Service Road 4071 to “daylight” it
√ Gate off Thunderhole Road just before China Creek
√ Create log landings and skid roads
√ Designate 311 acres of old growth
√ Herbicide invasive alien plants to prevent them from spreading into the new cut-over areas

Lamar Marshall, of Wild South says:

The Forest Service knows that the people of Blowing Rock don’t want to see their National Forest cut down, poisoned and sold to timber companies. They want the Forest left alone in its natural condition. Hikers and joggers don’t want to be in an area where hundreds of acres have been poisoned with triclopyr.

What is triclopyr? From the same article:

Triclopyr is a chlorinated hydrocarbon that replaced the banned 2,4,5-T, the deadly ingredient used in Agent Orange. It was originally developed for woody plant control along rights-of-way and on industrial sites. It is also used in forest site preparation. Triclopyr is of low to moderate acute toxicity in mammals. Somewhat persistent, residues can persist in the soil for several years. The Forest Service proposes to use Garlon 3A, a formulation that can cause permanent impairment of vision and other negative impacts to humans.

Hmm…interesting that the forest service says you’d have to “lick it off the ground” for it to harm you.

Now, it doesn’t seem like we’d fall for this anymore:

Forest Service officials say the logging’s visual impact will be small.

The 231 acres won’t be cut in one big chunk but in 18 smaller tracts scattered over 17 square miles west and south of Blowing Rock. Up to 30 percent of the canopy will be left standing.

They think you are stupid. That quote is used to make you think that 30% of the canopy will be left everywhere. It won’t be

That sentence says “UP TO 30 percent will be left standing.”
That means diddly squat. They’ll justify that by saying that the one tree they leave standing still has 30% of its original branches (with some duct-taped back on).

Please call the members of the Blowing Rock Town Council and ask them to oppose the project.

Props to the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project! From their press release:

Exercise your right to participate in the decision-making process that manages your National Forests.
Contact Joy Malone, District Ranger for the Grandfather District, Pisgah National Forest
Tell her the citizens of Blowing Rock were not sufficiently notified of the Globe Project. Tell her that Blowing Rock is ten miles closer to this project than Lenoir. Why was Blowing Rock left out? Insist that the Forest Service make a public presentation in Blowing Rock before the August 10th deadline or that they extend the deadline for the comment period. The citizens of Blowing Rock have a right to submit their comments.
Joy Malone
District Ranger, Grandfather District Pisgah National Forest
109 E. Lawing Drive
Nebo, N.C. 28761-9827
PHONE 828-652-2144
email: jmalone@fs.fed.us