SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 13

(By Senator Facemyer)


Requesting the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, in developing proposed alternatives for the Monongahela National Forest Plan Revision, fully consider the many values of well-managed forests to the State of West Virginia.

Whereas, The health, economic well-being and cultural traditions of West Virginia's citizens have historically been, and continue to be, dependent upon the wealth of natural resources provided by the working forests within the state; and
Whereas, The natural resources of the State of West Virginia, particularly its timber resources, are immovable, permanent, renewable assets belonging to the people of West Virginia; and
Whereas, Local municipalities and other public jurisdictions in West Virginia have had their educational, public safety and transportation infrastructure deprived of timber revenue totaling hundreds of millions of dollars due to the actions of political activists dedicated to forest abandonment; and
Whereas, Federal wilderness designation by the United States Congress is a permanent, irrevocable condition that will forever deprive West Virginians and visiting nonresidents of nearly all economically productive uses and reasonable access to recreational opportunities in the Monongahela National Forest; and
Whereas, Professionally prescribed active timber management provides an important source of sustainable raw materials for West Virginia's forest-based industries and rural manufacturing economies; and
Whereas, Imposing additional wilderness acreage would diminish the biological diversity of the Monongahela National Forest's wildlife habitat due to the prohibition of all wildlife habitat and timber management and would eliminate the opportunity to perpetuate the best quality and combination of wildlife habitats; and
Whereas, The Division of Natural Resources is charged with protecting and conserving fish and wildlife, including those existing within the proclamation boundaries of the Monongahela National Forest as well as the acreage either currently designated or proposed as federal wilderness, using sound scientific principles inherent in active wildlife management practices; and
Whereas, Compelling peer-reviewed and widely accepted scientific evidence documents that:
(1) Some of the most interesting and diverse natural communities in eastern North America will be lost without active forest management;
(2) Providing habitat for the greatest diversity of wildlife species over the long term involves managing a mosaic of forest conditions; and
(3) Providing both young and mature forest habitat through forest management contributes to the biological diversity of the forested landscape; and
Whereas, The governing bodies and economic development authorities of the counties of Grant, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph and Tucker, each of which encompasses some portion of Monongahela National Forest lands, have formally and publicly opposed the designation of additional federal wilderness acreage in the Monongahela National Forest; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby requests the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, in developing proposed alternatives for the Monongahela National Forest Plan Revision, fully consider the many values of well-managed forests to the State of West Virginia; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature hereby recognizes that any expansion of federal wilderness and/or the imposition of any other unreasonably restrictive land management measures would result in losses in recreational opportunity and severe economic harm to more West Virginians than would be benefitted; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to West Virginia's congressional delegation, the Governor of the State of West Virginia, Clyde Thompson, Supervisor of the Monongahela National Forest, and the county commissions of each county with land in the Monongahela National Forest.