The US Forest Service has already targeted the Central and West portions of Plumas National Forest (PNF) for aggressive “thinning” (AKA industrial logging)– near communities such as Quincy, La Porte, Graeagle and Portola. This heavy handed approach decimates habitat and releases massive amounts of carbon.
Now, they are targeting Eastern portions of the PNF near Janesville, Milford and Doyle with herbicides and mechanical devastation. You can read the plan here. You have until the end of the day on November 6th 2023 to submit your comments.
Every comment matters! Please comment now.
E-mail: comments-pacificsouthwest-plumas@usda.gov
Cc: public@countyofplumas.com
ryan.bauer@usda.gov
Rep. Kevin Kiley
Make sure to e-mail Ryan to confirm that your message was received. The USFS “lost” our comments during the Central and West Slope comment period, so do not trust the system!
Example comment (please add your own language):
Dear Supervisor Carlton,
Thinning projects such as the “Eastside Community Protection Project” are known to damage habitat, increase carbon emissions that are driving high intensity wildfires, dry out forests and increase wind speeds through forests, reducing evacuation times for communities and putting our lives at risk. ‘
Yet, the USFS refuses to consider this scientific evidence, relying on outdated and discredited studies to promote timber extraction at the cost of community safety and ecological integrity. We support Feather River Action!‘s campaign to halt these ill-conceived and inappropriate projects. This is not “caring for the land” or “serving people”– this is serving the timber and biomass industries at the expense of both.
Scientific research (Syphard et al. 2014) indicates that only the 100 ft. directly surrounding communities has any impact whatsoever on structure survival. I am outraged that the nearly billion dollars of our tax money being spent on these projects is not going where it is really needed– community hardening, defensible space, evacuation planning and grants for low income people to harden their homes. This is government corruption at its worst.
Please abandon the “community destruction project” immediately. I plan to take personal action to ensure that our communities stay safe and local forests protected from industrial exploitation.
Thank you,
<your name>
<your town>
