Plan's logging terms upset conservationists

NELSONVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A new plan for managing Ohio's only national forest calls for giving high preservation status to 11 percent of the land while designating about 8 percent for logging.
Conservationists are upset, arguing that timber harvest activities could spread beyond the 18,000 acres slated to be cut.
Wayne National Forest covers nearly 240,000 acres in three units spread across 12 southern and southeast Ohio counties.
The U.S. Forest Service released the 10- to 15-year plan, four years in the making, this month. The plan selected from six alternatives provides the best mix of habitat, recreation and natural resources such as timber, oil and natural gas, the agency said. It is to be implemented in March, but an appeals period is open through mid-May.
The Buckeye Forest Council maintains that the plan is biased toward logging. The council and other conservation groups had lobbied for alternative plans that called for preserving more land.
"I expect that this unbalanced, indefensible acceleration of logging will lead to more protests and lawsuits as citizen groups are forced to challenge an agency that is severely abusing its authority to protect our public resources," said Heather Cantino of the Buckeye Forest Council.