On Federal Lands

Implementation of the Chattooga Conservation Plan for restoring the native ecosystem of the Chattooga River watershed is hampered on public lands by the fact that three separate LRMPs, one for each portion of the watershed in each of the three states, govern management decisions. Upcoming revisions of these LRMPs will have to be reconciled so that management policy and objectives are coordinated throughout the watershed. This Plan is intended to build consensus among the public and among public land managers that LRMP revisions involving the Chattooga River watershed should involve environmentally responsible timber management and the restoration of the native forest ecosystem.

On federal lands implementation will be greatly facilitated by the establishment (through the Forest Plan revision processes in NC, SC and GA) of the entire Chattooga basin as a Research Natural Area under the management and budgetary authority of the research branch of the U.S. Forest Service. The aim of the Chattooga Conservation Plan is to use the Chattooga River basin as a model and first step toward establishing a large enough and adequately connected regional network of native habitats to support viable populations of endemic species that are currently in decline. The single largest obstacle to achieving that aim is the set of financial incentives designed and passed into law by the U.S. Congress which apply to management of most lands under federal administration. These incentives include line item budgets for road building and timber harvesting; and timber quotas or "Annual Sale Quantities," which are interpreted by public land managers as production goals. Designating federal lands in the Chattooga River watershed as one large Research Natural Area would remove them from the grip of production-driven financial incentives by placing them under the management and budgetary authority of the research branch of the U.S. Forest Service. With the negative incentives removed, the real work of conservation and restoration of our diminishing natural assets can begin. Further details are outlined below.

Establish the entire Chattooga River watershed (CRW) as a Research Natural Area under the management and budgetary authority of the research branch of the U.S. Forest Service.

Establish a new professional staff position to coordinate all forest management activities in the CRW.

Establish a Biodiversity Consulting Team to guide and counsel decisions relating to rare and uncommon habitats, existing PETS species, and landscape diversity. This team should have representation from conservation biologists, other university scientists and qualified lay persons. This team should review management decisions to ensure that all levels of biological diversity are addressed in all management activities. These include genetic diversity within species, species diversity within habitats, and habitat diversity within the watershed landscape. Encourage scientific research by universities, colleges, and the Southeast Forest Experiment Station on the principles of landscape ecology, and on all aspects of the conservation of biological diversity.

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