White Mountain National Forest Management Plan

Within the nearly 800,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire and Maine are some
of the wildest, most remote places remaining in the Northeast.

The future of this forest is at stake as the U.S. Forest Service develops a revised plan for its management. The agency is now accepting comments on a draft plan that includes a range of four alternatives.

Of those, Alternative 3 offers the best chance for protecting deserving wilderness on this national forest. The Forest Service needs to hear from us what we want the management framework to be and to do. Please take a few minutes to tell the Forest Service that you strongly support Alternative 3 and the wilderness protection it includes. The deadline for comments is Friday, April 25. This is among our best chances to influence the plan's shape and direction. You can take immediate action from http://ga1.org/campaign/wmnf_tws

BACKGROUND: Wilderness or ATV Playground?
From the dramatic ridgeline of the Presidential Range to the murmuring brooks of Sandwich Range, the White
Mountain National Forest is a treasured place. As increasing sprawl and development eradicate wild places in southern New England, the White Mountains become an ever more-important destination for visitors seeking refuge, wildness and solitude.

At the same time, the forest is suffering growing damage from illegal and unmanaged use of dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). ATV users create their own routes, damaging soils, silting streams, slicing and dicing wildlife habitat into ever smaller fragments and destroying utterly the solitude and natural sounds that bring thousands of visitors each year to this national forest.

Starting in 1998, the Forest Service began revising the White Mountain National Forest's Management Plan. This plan, revised every ten to fifteen years with public participation, serves as the management tool that provides vision and guidance for all actions the agency takes on the forest. The law that requires the periodic plan revisions also requires the agency to consider wilderness values and to consider recommendations for wilderness designations.

Throughout the process, the public has urged wilderness protection for a number of important places on the White Mountain National Forest. Among them are Wild River, Dartmouth Range, Kilkenny, and extensions to the Sandwich Range and Pemigewasset Wildernesses.

When the Forest Service released its draft plan, only one of the four possible alternatives, Alternative 3, came close to our vision of a wild White Mountain National Forest. Alternative 3 includes five new wilderness areas and extensions and would prohibit ATV's from the Forest. Other alternatives either do not recommend as much wilderness, propose to permit damaging ATV use or both.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: SUPPORT ALTERNATIVE 3, THE WILDERNESS ALTERNATIVE!
The deadline for comments is April 25, 2003. Please let the Forest Service know how you want the White Mountain National Forest to be managed. You can take action immediately from http://ga1.org/campaign/wmnf_tws .

If you'd rather send your own comments by regular or email (and personal letters are always the most effective), we've provided a sample letter below that includes the most important points.

Please be sure to mention your support of Alternative 3 as the best starting point for final plan development. Your own words are always the best words and will have the greatest impact; please use them when you can. And if you have spent time in the White Mountain National Forest, please mention that in your comments!

Thanks for helping us ensure the wild future of the White Mountain National Forest, and thanks for being an active part of WildAlert, our online community of wilderness advocates!

ADDRESSES
Email: rdow@fs.fed.us
White Mountain National Forest Plan Revision
719 North Main Street
Laconia, NH 03246.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear WMNF Planning Team:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft alternatives for the White Mountain National Forest Plan Revision Process. In this time of conflict and uncertainty, the wild places in the White Mountains are more important than ever.

I strongly support Alternative 3 as the best starting point for the final revisions. In particular, I strongly support the wilderness recommendations for Wild River, Sandwich Range, Pemigewasset, Dartmouth Range, and the Kilkenny.

I was pleased to see wilderness recommendations for Wild River in all three draft alternatives and would
encourage you to recommend the Sandwich Range wilderness extensions in all three alternatives, too. Additionally, both the Wild River and Sandwich Range Wilderness recommendations should use the same boundaries as those proposed by local Friends groups.

I would like to see an additional alternative that protects all 400,000 acres of inventoried roadless areas either
as recommended wilderness, non-motorized backcountry recreation areas, or scenic areas. I strongly oppose ANY use of off-road vehicles, such as dirt bikes and three- and four-wheeled all terrain vehicles on the White Mountain National Forest.

Thank you for your consideration and for your commitment that all alternatives will protect these wild places for present and future generations.

Sincerely,

We encourage you to take action by May 15, 2003 Decision Time for White Mountain National Forest

If you are not already a member of the Wilderness Society, you can sign up for The Wilderness Society at: http://ga1.org/wilderness/join.html?r=C7z13jp1A7aJE

V3 Last updated: October 20, 2003   Copyright © 1996-2005  New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Privacy Statement.