GWNF Lower Cowpasture River Restoration Project

3/27/2013

The GWNF Warm Springs Ranger District has scheduled a public meeting to discuss the proposed 100,000 acre Lower Cowpasture Restoration Project on Monday, April 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Millboro Elementary School. This will be the first in a series of public workshops over the next nine months. The project area is located in eastern Alleghany and Bath counties.

According to VWC Field Director Mark Miller, "The Lower Cowpasture Project puts into practice the concept of integrated landscape management and restoration practices while at the same time recognizing Wilderness as an integral part of a forest mosaic."

GWNF stakeholders representing timber, game management, recreation interests, and wilderness preservation submitted joint comments on the draft forest plan in October, 2011, and pledged to move forward by working together on projects. The Lower Cowpasture Restoration Project presents stakeholders with their first opportunity to work collaboratively on a real, on-the-ground project.

2 Comments

ABWE link

4/15/2013 04:06:07 pm

I want to know that Does wilderness designation lock natural forests into single use opportunities?

Lynn Cameron

4/17/2013 02:14:03 am

As a matter of fact, wilderness is recognized as one of the multiple uses in the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act. Of the principal multiple uses enumerated in the Act, wilderness very effectively conserves water and soil; provides mature forest habitat for many species of wildlife, such as black bear and song birds; and provides many opportunities for recreation, including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, horseback riding, and studying nature. Wilderness is multiple use.

Virginia Wilderness Committee’s hope is that the Lower Cowpasture River Project will recommend some expansion of Rich Hole and Rough Mountain Wildernesses, along with timber management to improve habitat for game species, creation of wildlife clearings, prescribed burning, improvements in stream flow for fish passage, road and trail improvements, and control of invasives. The 120,000-acre project area is large enough to accommodate all these objectives. We are committed to working together with diverse National Forest stakeholders to plan projects at the landscape level that meet a range of important objectives.

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GWNF Lower Cowpasture River Restoration Project

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