Proposed clearcutting in Jellico Mountains could have serious negative consequences

I have found myself doing a fair amount of research in recent days after attending last week’s Corbin Rotary Club meeting at David’s Steakhouse. The special guest speakers were Debbie Moses, and Timm and Theresa Martin, who were there to speak about the ongoing efforts to convince the U.S. Forest Service not to clearcut a roughly 5,000-acre piece of land that is located in the Jellico Mountains section of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

I was already somewhat familiar with this situation, as our managing news editor, Mark White, had written a front-page story on it back in November. Specifically, the story covered a town hall meeting that the Martins helped to organize that saw around 100 people come out to hear both sides of the argument – those who are proponents of the logging project, and those who are in opposition to it.

I hadn’t thought too much about it since that story ran last November, although it had been brought up here and there in different conversations that I was a part of. Again, my knowledge of the whole ordeal was pretty limited, but I was glad to receive an education at last week’s Rotary meeting.

Moses, who owns a large piece of land in the general vicinity of the proposed logging project, really got my attention with some of what she had to say. For example, she said that she had attended the town hall meeting, and had asked officials specifically about the tolerance for runoff and the increased sediment load that would inevitably hit nearby streams as a result of this job. Apparently, she was told that information was not available, or that it was still inconclusive.

“That is like the tail wagging the dog,” Moses commented during her presentation to the Rotary Club. “You have to know what your tolerance is going to be before you move forward, and if it’s too high, you have to make changes to your plans. They seem to be doing things backwards.”

Moses also voiced her concerns over the way that she found out about this massive logging project to begin with, having to hear about it from second-and-third-hand sources, as opposed to an official advertisement from the Forest Service, which is what she said she would expect to see.

Finally, Moses brought up re-vegetation, which, should the project move forward, would re-establish the forest once the job is complete. When she asked specifically about these plans, she was apparently told that there was no such plan in place, and that re-vegetation would occur naturally. Her main concern here, she explained, is the fact that autumn olive trees are common in that particular area. Although once thought to be an effective means to control erosion, the tree has since been classified as an invasive species.

“If they don’t plant anything back, then we’re going to have 10,000 acres of autumn olive trees,” Moses warned. “And nobody wants that.”

FYI, I looked up some info on these trees, and yeah, it sounds like they are definitely known for their ability to quickly spread and overtake native species of plants. So, not good.

I was glad to hear Theresa Martin say at last week’s Rotary meeting, “We are not anti-logging. What we’re against is the 5,000 acres of clearcutting that is in the plan that the Forest Service has put out.”

I was glad to hear this, because I think it is important to note that this group is not against the practice of logging altogether. They seem to fully understand that logging is necessary, and even commented that they are working WITH loggers in many cases in order to try and find a good, solid, middle ground solution to this dilemma. Considering the fact that the paper that this column is being printed on was sourced from a tree that was harvested through logging, I wholeheartedly agree with this common sense approach.

“We’ve been working very closely with the U.S. Forest Service,” Martin added. “These are very nice people, and they’re just doing their jobs.”

Martin said that, not only is a total of 10,000 acres being looked at to be logged, with about half of that area to undergo clearcutting in some form or fashion, but the proposal is for the work to be completed over the course of 40 years. This, she said, is also very concerning, considering the fact that it is difficult to know what changes could occur to the land within a 10-year period, much less 40.

“We want to work with the Forest Service to move this project to a more moderate approach,” Martin said.

Finally, Timm Martin echoed many of the same concerns outlined above, but he also went into more detail about what is being done to help curb the threat that extensive clearcutting in the Jellico Mountains poses.

“We lead a task force of citizens in Whitley and McCreary counties who are working with the U.S. Forest Service to moderate their project, and it is a bi-partisan task force,” Martin explained. “People are indeed concerned. We hear that, because it’s the federal government, you can’t do anything about it, but we have been working closely with them, and we do see some signs that they are planning to moderate the project.”

Although Martin wasn’t able to go into any great detail on exactly what those signs were/are, he did offer further guidance on how citizens can join the efforts to ensure that this area of the Jellico Mountains isn’t destroyed through excessive and irresponsible logging practices.

“As part of our citizens group, we wanted to present an alternative,” Martin said. “We want to see more recreation, and less clearcutting in the Jellico Mountains. We have a perpetually renewable goldmine in our own backyards, and most people don’t even know it.”

Moses went on to explain his vision for a Jellico Mountains Recreation Area, or JMRA for short, that would include areas for outdoor activities such as camping and hiking, as well as designated areas for hunting and fishing.

Martin said that his group plans to ask the McCreary County Fiscal Court to create a task force that would work alongside folks in Whitley County to develop what he called an “outdoor economic cooperative” that could “start building on the outdoor recreation opportunities that exist in our area.”

To find out more about the Jellico Mountain logging proposal, including 3D maps and detailed descriptions of the exact areas to be involved, go online to www.jmlogging.com.

For more on the proposed idea of a Jellico Mountain Recreation Area, visit www.jm-ra.com.

Finally, the Martins wanted to let everyone know about their Cumberland Darter 5K Run and Walk event, which will be taking place at Briar Creek Park in Williamsburg on the morning of Saturday, May 20. This event is being organized to help stop the threat of clearcutting in the Jellico Mountains, and also to raise awareness about, and hopefully help ensure the survival of, the Cumberland Darter, which is an endangered species of fish living exclusively in the streams that are found in and around the Jellico Mountains. For additional details, visit www.cumberlanddarter.com.