Why It Matters: The wildfires in Western North Carolina, worsened by debris from Hurricane Helene, reinforce the need to actively manage forests to reduce fuel loads and improve forest resiliency. Litigation to spur a forest plan amendment is a continuation of coordinated efforts to stop forest restoration and wildlife habitat improvement work on the two National Forests that comprise more than half of the public hunting land in North Carolina.
Highlights:
- Litigation to vacate the recently revised land management plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest distracts the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) from addressing the pressing resource needs across the 1.1 million acres of public forests that are interspersed with state lands, other federal lands, and private lands. North Carolina is the number one state in the country for acres in the Wildland Urban Interface.
- Maintaining management flexibility, not adding more restrictions that prevent active forest management through a plan amendment, to improve forest health and reduce wildfire threat for communities is paramount.
- While Hurricane Helene will create early successional habitats important for a wide range of species, forest succession is continual, and forests require management to support the diverse habitat needs of wildlife. The impacts from Hurricane Helene do not obviate the need for ongoing active forest management to support wildlife and access for sportsmen and women.
On April 9, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and other sporting conservation organizations wrote to the USFS to express support for actively stewarding forest resources to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest resilience on the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests after Hurricane Helene. The letter also discouraged the USFS from amending the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest Land Management Plan (forest plan) which was finalized after a ten-year revision process.
On March 27, groups sued the USFS to vacate the forest plan. Some of the same groups previously filed an objection to the forest plan in March 2022 and then several of the same groups sued the USFS over the forest plan in April 2024. Then, last week, litigation was threatened against the USFS over the Administration’s policies to increase timber production to reduce wildfire risk.
In the most recent lawsuit, plaintiffs requested “costs, fees, and expenses, including attorney’s fees.” This is consistent with lawsuits filed by some of the same groups to have federal dollars awarded via the Equal Access to Justice Act. CSF supports the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act, which includes litigation reform, and which is, not surprisingly, opposed by several of the same groups that filed the lawsuit.
The forest plan was developed with robust public input, and the USFS’s priority should be to address the wildfire threat exacerbated by Hurricane Helene. It is not in the best interest of the communities in Western North Carolina, let alone taxpayer dollars, to get bogged down in more years of planning that consume limited agency resources. Fuel loads need to be reduced through vegetation treatments and salvage projects. Roads, critical for management and fire breaks, need to be repaired. Bridges, trails, and other infrastructure that the public depends on for access need to be rebuilt, on top of the other forest restoration and wildlife habitat needs that existed before Hurricane Helene.
CSF appreciates the USFS’s dedication to supporting Western North Carolina getting back on its feet and commends the USFS for prioritizing forest restoration work to increase forest resiliency, mitigate wildfire risk, and improve wildlife habitat.
