A coalition of recreation and environmental groups is condemning the
Forest Service's recommendations in a recent assessment of its recreation
infrastructure in the Allegheny National Forest. The Forest Service
recommendations include closing campgrounds at Beaver Meadows in Forest
County and Tracy Ridge in McKean County. The recommendations also include
reducing services at numerous other campgrounds and recreation facilities
throughout Pennsylvania's only national forest.

"The Forest Service just spent the last five years revising the forest
plan for the Allegheny National Forest and never disclosed that it planned
to close campgrounds," said Karen Atwood, member of the Tionesta Valley
Snowmobile Club. "Despite the fact that recreation was one of the three
so-called 'significant issues' the Forest Service focused on, it failed to
inform the public that barely a year after the new plan was completed, it
would start closing recreation sites. It is outrageous."

The coalition, a united front comprised of the Tionesta Valley Snowmobile
Club, Allegheny Defense Project, and Friends of Rimrock and Allegheny
Outdoor Adventures, claims that by proposing these recommendations after
the revision of the forest plan, the Forest Service is circumventing
environmental laws because, as the agency itself states, only "some of the
proposed actions will require full National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) analysis" subject to public comment and appeal.

"It is not a coincidence that the Forest Service waited until after the
forest plan was completed to disclose these proposals," said Reg Darling,
spokesperson for Friends of Rimrock, a group dedicated to protecting the
Rimrock Overlook and Picnic Area from oil and gas drilling. "The Forest
Service recreation proposals are aimed at crippling tourism at a time when
the oil and gas industry would like to have free reign on extraction
without public input and without tourists viewing the environmental
devastation which so often accompanies drilling."

The coalition also claims the Forest Service is not fulfilling its legal
obligations to manage the Allegheny for a broad array of recreation
activities. For instance, in 2007, the Forest Service suggested that
citizens might want to go to "other State or National Forests" for remote
recreation opportunities. Additionally, the groups contend that a recent
tourism study completed for Warren County indicated that the Forest
Service as well as local elected officials "expressed concern that trying
to grow Warren County's tourism industry might conflict with the timber,
oil and gas industries."

"What we are seeing is the systematic dismantling of recreation
opportunities in the Allegheny," said Ryan Talbott, ADP's forest watch
coordinator. "By closing campgrounds and other recreation facilities
across our national forest, the Forest Service paves the way for oil
companies to drill in these areas. If you remove the public from these
areas, they are less likely to see them turned into oil fields."

The coalition points to the proposed closing of the Tracy Ridge and Beaver
Meadow campgrounds as evidence that the Forest Service is attempting to
remove controversies ahead of time so that oil and gas drillers can
proceed with their extraction agendas unencumbered by tourist
sensitivities to the devastation which so often results from such
drilling.

"Tracy Ridge is a campground in a National Recreation Area," said Cathy
Pedler, an ADP board member. "We know, however, that test wells have
already been drilled adjacent to Tracy Ridge and that oil and gas
companies are pressuring the Forest Service to authorize access to Tracy
Ridge, which is also the largest roadless area in the Allegheny. Closing
this campground serves a dual purpose - reducing recreation and turning
our public land over to the oil and gas industry."

The coalition also claims that the Forest Service's recommendations are
biased against low-impact recreation to the benefit of the ATV industry.

"The Forest Service wants to close the Beaver Meadows campground and
transfer the toilet buildings to the Marienville and Timberline ATV
Trails," said Bill Belitskus, ADP's board president. "This biased
management is the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. For years,
instead of actively promoting all forms of recreation, the Forest Service
has actively discouraged citizens from coming to the Allegheny with the
exception of ATV users. Now, the Forest Service wants to reduce or
completely eliminate a multitude of recreation opportunities and blame it
on the public instead of addressing the root of the problem, which is the
Forest Service's skewed priorities."

"The Forest Service wants to blame the public for low visitation rates,
but what it really needs to do is take a long look in the mirror," said
John Stoneman of the Allegheny Outdoor Group. "The reason the Forest
Service is registering lower visitation rates is partly because it does
not perform the most basic maintenance of existing infrastructure. There
have already been several times this summer that the restroom facilities
at the Rimrock Overlook and Picnic Area were without the basic necessity
of toilet paper. The Crown Jewel of the Allegheny and one of the most
advertised and visited attractions in our area, were not maintained to
accommodate the visiting public. We hope the Forest Service is not trying
to dissuade the public from visiting Rimrock so oil and gas companies can
destroy this gem in the heart of the Allegheny."

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Contact: Bill Belitskus - (814) 778-5173 (Allegheny Defense Project)
Karen Atwood - (814) 726-2774 (Tionesta Valley Snowmobile
Coalition)
Reg Darling - (814) 723-2540 (Friends of Rimrock)
John Stoneman - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (Allegheny Outdoor Adventures)

--
Ryan Talbott
Forest Watch Coordinator
Allegheny Defense Project
311 Pitt Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15221
www.alleghenydefense.org
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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