The Pennsylvania Wilderness Coalition was recently formed to work for the addition of more areas Allegheny National Forest ANF). Curently there are only two areas that are in the National Wilderness Preservation System; Hickory Creek Wilderness (8,600 acres) and the Allegheny Islands Wilderness (totaling 400 acres). These two existing areas represent a little less than 2 percent of 513,000-acre ANF.

1920 photo of remnant old growth in what is now the Hearts Content Scenic Area.
Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service.

The six founding member organizations in the Coalition are: Campaign for America’s Wilderness; Friends of Allegheny Wilderness; Izaak Walton League; Pennsylvania Trout Unlimited; Sierra Club, Pennsylvania Chapter; and The Wilderness Society. (more…)

After many years of struggle, in 1964 LBJ signed the act that established the National Wilderness Preservation System. Today the system includes 756 areas (109,492,591 acres) in 44 states and Puerto Rico.

In all of Penn’s Woods, only the Allegheny Islands (368 acres) and Hickory Creek (8,663 acres) have been set aside as wilderness areas. Proposals to add additional areas in the Allegheny National Forest meet strong opposition from logging and drilling companies. That might sound familiar to anyone who watched Ken Burns’ recent National Parks series on PBS.

The Friends of Allegheny Wilderness and The Wilderness Society will hold a workshop regarding the expansion of wilderness on the Allegheny NF.

When: Saturday, May 2, 2009, 10:00 a.m. through 3:30 p.m.

Where: Western Pennsylvania Conservancy headquarters, 800 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh PA 15222.

Who Should Come: Anyone with an interest in our state’s wild forests with a desire to leave them intact for future generations — no experience or special knowledge needed. Topics addressed will include grassroots organizing, working with the media, and communicating with elected officials and other key decision-makers.

Please R.S.V.P. with Kirk Johnson of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness at (814) 723-0620 or kjohnson at pawild dot org.

On March 25 Congress passed a great public lands bill that includes the addition of more than two million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System.  The omnibus bill was a composite of more than 100 separate proposals to protect wilderness areas, rivers and national parks.

After the earlier vote in the Senate, the House voted 285 – 140 in favor of passage. Thirty-eight Republicans voted for the bill, including Reps. Dent, Gerlach, and Platts from Pennsylvania, but unfortunately Rep. Tim Murphy again voted Nay.

Of interest to us locally is the addition of over 37,000 acres of Wilderness in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest. The existing Dolly Sods Wilderness area is extended in the north; Roaring Plains area is added; Otter Creek is expanded, as is the Cranberry Wilderness area; and Spice run and Big Draft areas are added way down in the southern part of the states.

We hope that in the near future Congress will add the proposed areas in Allegheny NF to the about 8,600 acres already protected as Wilderness.
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In January the US Senate voted 73-21 in favor of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (S22).  This comprehensive bill would protect lands, waters and cultural sites throughout the nation, including wilderness designation for more than 2 million acres of spectacular lands in California, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Michigan, Virginia, and nearby West Virginia. The bill would also make official the National Landscape Conservation System, which is the Bureau of Land Management’s version of the National Park System.

Despite the overwhelming support in the Senate, when the House considered the same bill March 11, it was defeated 282-144– a failure because a two-third vote of 283 was needed for passage. Local Democrats all voted in favor. Rep. Tim Murphy of Mt. Lebanon chose not to join Pennsylvania Republican colleagues Dent, Gerlach, and Platts, to vote Yea, but instead he voted Nay.

According to the New York Times:

“House Democratic leaders had brought the bill to the floor under suspension of the rules, as a way to keep the opposition from altering the legislation through amendments. But getting two-thirds remained dicey. Democrats tried to persuade Republicans (and conservative Democrats) that the bills were gun-friendly by the insertion of an amendment that would have prohibited any effort to close lands in the omnibus to hunting and fishing, but many Republicans still believed the legislation did not include enough gun rights protections.”

ACTION: Constituents in the 18th Congressional District are urged to Fax or Email Rep. Murphy, express their regret at his vote, and ask him why he chose to vote Nay when a Yea would have tipped the balance.

NOTE: According to Congressional Quarterly, March 12, the Senate will revisit an omnibus federal lands bill next week, in an apparent effort to work around parliamentary obstacles that have held up the measure in the House.

Over the past few years, conservation groups, including the Sierra Club, have supported a Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal to expand wilderness protection in the Allegheny National Forest north of Pittsburgh. The proposal was published in 2003 by Friends of Allegheny Wilderness and calls for the addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System of eight tracts totaling 54,460 acres.

As a result of the first campaign to secure wilderness protection on the forest, the 1984 Pennsylvania Wilderness Act established the existing 8,600-acre Hickory Creek Wilderness and the 363-acre Allegheny Island Wilderness consisting of seven islands in the Allegheny River. With a total area of 513,300 acres, less than two percent of the Forest is currently granted national wilderness protection.

The current campaign was given a boost last week when a letter of endorsement, signed by 53 scientists and researchers, was mailed to the Pennsylvanian Congressional delegation, the Forest Supervisor, and Gov. Rendell. The concluding paragraph of the letter reads:

“We the undersigned endorse the eight areas and 54,460 acres outlined in the Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal for Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, published in 2003, as an ecologically and economically sound course of action for the United States Congress to take. With the current boom in oil and gas drilling throughout northwestern Pennsylvania and beyond, the need is even more urgent today than it was in 2003. We urge the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to act on this matter as expeditiously as possible.”

Why not add your support for the Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal by writing to your Representative and our two Senators?

• Find your Representative
• Contact Senator Casey
• Contact Senator Specter

After an intensive campaign conducted by conservationists and sportsmen, in 1984 the 8,663 acre Hickory Creek area on the Allegheny National Forest was designated a part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, along with a string of islands in the Allegheny River. This 9,031 acres of protected wilderness is less than two percent of the 513,000-acre Allegheny National Forest. Moreover, this can be compared to 18 percent of Forest Service land designated as wilderness nationwide, and 11 percent in the Forest Service’s Eastern Region, of which the Allegheny NF is a part.

To redress the inadequacy of the current protection of wild areas on the Allegheny NF, a Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal for Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest has become the centerpiece of a campaign to add a total of 54,460 acres to the Wilderness Preservation System. In this proposal are eight different tracts within the Allegheny NF. Three additional parcels totaling 14,330 acres are recommended for management as national recreation areas. In 2006 the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club endorsed the Citizen’s Plan. It is hoped that in the next congressional approval the Citizen’s Proposal will be enacted.