[at-l] Letters needed by Nov. 2 to protect High Sierra Wilderness

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This does not directly effect the AT, but there is enough cross interest to post to this list. Please forward to anyone who might be concerned.
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URGENT ACTION ALERT 

Letters needed by Nov. 2 to protect High Sierra Wilderness

DATE:   10/14/98 12:28 AM

The U.S. Forest Service has released a draft Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will guide the management of nearly one million acres of wilderness in the heart of California's Sierra Nevada well into the twenty-first century.  Unfortunately the Plan fails to propose adequate protection for wilderness resources.  All concerned citizens and wilderness users are urged to send a brief letter postmarked by November 2, 1998, asking the agency to modify the draft Plan to provide adequate protection for the treasured wilderness lands of the High Sierra.

The Plan will direct the management and use of four separate but contiguous wilderness areas: the John Muir, Ansel Adams, Monarch, and Dinkey Lakes wildernesses.  This includes nearly all of the designated wilderness lands between Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks.

Please write a letter to the Forest Service postmarked no later than Monday, November 2, 1998.  Ask the Forest Service to supplement the draft Plan and EIS to address the following concerns:

· The Plan should specify clear, science-based measures for protecting sensitive wilderness species and habitats.  These include the mountain yellow-legged frog and other native aquatic biota, the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, timberline forests, and riparian areas and meadows.  Protection of wilderness resources should drive development of the plan.

· The Plan should be modified to include a biologically-based strategy which will restore populations of the mountain yellow-legged frog and other native aquatic species.  Recent research indicates that aerial stocking of non-native trout has had profound negative impacts on the frog.  The Forest Service should work with the Department of Fish & Game and independent scientists to develop and implement a sound recovery plan.

· The Plan should include a recovery element for the magnificent Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, a wilderness -dependent species which is nearing extinction.  The Forest Service should work with neighboring Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks and independent scientists to develop a meaningful and realistic plan for recovery of the sheep.

· The Plan should be supplemented to include a "Meadow Management Program" - similar to that used by Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks - which addresses grazing in the wildernesses.  The meadow management program should specify criteria for determining opening dates for grazing in high elevation meadows and riparian areas, measures to prevent overgrazing, and a monitoring plan.

· The Plan should establish elevational limits for campfires in the wilderness areas to protect sensitive, high elevation forested ecosystems (e.g., whitebark pine, foxtail pine, limber pine).  The best available science indicates that reasonable elevational restrictions on campfires should be 9600 feet in the north and 10,000 feet in the south, as utilized by Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks, respectively.

· The Plan should contain a "needs assessment" which will determine the appropriate level of commercial uses (guiding and packing services) for the wildernesses.  A properly conducted needs assessment will ensure a fair allocation of use between commercial interests and the private sector and help provide certainty to all wilderness users.  The agency's own regulations  require that the Plan contain such an analysis but the Plan fails to do so.

· The Plan should emphasize wilderness education, in addition to regulations, as a means to protect wilderness resources.  Minimum impact camping techniques, such as those advocated by the Leave No Trace and Gentle Use programs (for hikers and stock users, respectively) should be required of all parties that enter the wilderness.

· Support the agency's proposal to limit cross-country group size to 8 hikers and 8 head of stock.  Current science dictates that smaller party sizes are desirable to protect fragile wilderness resources.  Yosemite National Park has a similar policy in effect.

· In addition to the above points, please mention any personal experiences you have had in the wilderness areas or other constructive suggestions you have which relate to wilderness management.

Send your letter, postmarked no later than November 2, 1998 to: Jim Boynton, Forest Supervisor, 1600 Tollhouse Rd., Clovis, CA 93611-0532.

If you have questions, please contact Sally Miller (Friends of the Inyo) at (760) 647-6411, James Wilson (Eastern Sierra Audubon Society) at (760) 873-3859, or Nobby Riedy (The Wilderness Society) at (415) 561-6641.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN PROTECTING OUR ENDURING RESOURCE OF  WILDERNESS WELL INTO THE NEXT CENTURY! 


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