Editor:
The good people of Leadmine, and the surroundings communities near Saint George, deserve better from their government than they are getting from the US Forest Service right now. USFS has not listened to the people who know that in this instance, in this area of steep hillsides and old growth hardwoods, clearcutting wouldn’t be a good management practice; it would be FOOLISH and DESTRUCTIVE. The USFS Upper Cheat River Project currently involves a plan to clear-cut 3,500 acres. Please do as I and many others are doing and email Cheat District Ranger Jon Morgan at jonathan.morgan@usda.gov and ask that this clear-cutting, this “Upper Cheat River Project” be put on hold, and that the efforts at management be re-evaluated, to focus on water retention on steep slopes, invasive weed control, carbon storage, old-growth protection, and safeguarding drinking water quality and overall quality of life for the area’s residents.
Sincerely,
Deborah Stiles
Limestone Mountain, Saint George