Official cites advantages
[ Virginia ] When at least 40 hunting enthusiasts discuss clearcutting in the presence of exactly one salaried forester, they don’t beat around the bush. Norris Campbell, the host of the informal gathering near Craigsville, said it was an easy walk from his house to several 8-15 acre swaths of clearcut forest…”It’s too much, too quick and too close,” said Campbell, who gathered more than 500 signatures in a petition opposing policies of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which owns and manages the land. Ken Mohler, a technician with the Virginia Department of Forestry… likened selective clearcutting to fire, ice storms and other natural calamities: They reduce the threat of rampant disease and pest damage. Ron Sprouse, a local taxidermist and avid hunter, said Mohler was “flat-out wrong,” and many of his neighbors elaborated on themes of water quality, tourist appeal, road conditions and forbidding underbrush. Pastures District Supervisor Tracy Pyles suggested that a broader forum was needed, one that would help weigh the relative costs and benefits of VDGIF clearcutting to residents and other state agencies.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org