Why It Matters: The timber harvests, prescribed burns, and other vegetation treatments in the Archer Knob Project will help correct the age-class imbalance on the George Washington National Forest, supporting species important to Virginia’s hunters, including ruffed grouse, wild turkey, black bear, and white-tailed deer. The project is also a positive indicator that the U.S. Forest Service is embracing its new National Active Forest Management Strategy.
Highlights:
- Early successional habitats, which are critical to game species as well as several Species of Greatest Conservation Need identified in the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan, comprise less than 1% of the George Washington National Forest.
- In 2022, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted comments on the draft Environmental Assessment for the Archer Knob Project supporting the proposed timber harvests and other improvements for fish and wildlife habitat.
- CSF is a strong proponent of using active forest management practices to improve forest health, increase forest resilience to severe wildfire, improve wildlife habitat, and increase access for hunters and anglers.
On June 18, the U.S. Forest Service released the Decision Notice for the Archer Knob Project on the North River Ranger District of the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. District Ranger Gregg Slezak decided to implement the Proposed Action (Action) in the final Environmental Assessment (EA) which will move the analysis area towards the desired conditions to increase forest resilience, as set forth in the 2014 George Washington Revised Land and Resource Management Plan. The Action aims to create early successional habitat and open woodlands, among other species composition and structure improvements, that are beneficial to wildlife.
After reviewing the EA, District Ranger Slezak determined that the Proposed Action would not have a significant environmental effect and thus an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was not needed. This Finding of No Significant Impact was issued following public input during the initial scoping period, the EA scoping period, and two objection periods. During these stages, public feedback was evaluated and some recommendations were incorporated into the final EA. Even without carrying out a full-blown EIS, the almost four years of analysis to reach the final decision demonstrates the need for reforms, as proposed in the Fix Our Forests Act, to increase efficiencies to support forest restoration work at scale.
Specifically, the Archer Knob Project will harvest timber on 2,142 acres through regeneration methods that will create early successional and young forest habitat, thin 2,610 acres to create open woodlands, enhance 424 acres of various types of wildlife openings, prescribed burn over 2,400 acres, and restore 10 aquatic organism passages, among other forest and watershed health improvements. By improving habitat diversity, the project will support game and nongame species that depend on regenerating young forests and other early seral habitats.
CSF is appreciative of the pro-active work of the U.S. Forest Service and is excited to see the project move forward to improve wildlife habitat and support the outdoor sporting traditions of sportsmen and women in the Commonwealth.
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