Kentucky ForestWatch

Kentucky ForestWatch Issues

Guiding Principles:

1. Forests are essential to planetary health and survival of homo sapiens and all other species.
2. All species, including communitites of species, have the right to exist in their native habitat.
3. Forest resources are finite.
4. Commodity extraction and human manipulation have rendered the forest fragile.
5. In order for the integrity of the forest and all life forms to be preserved, human consumption and expansion must be reduced, current forest management practices must be altered, and recovery plans for restoring the ecological viability of the forest must be implemented.

1. End commercial logging and all other forms of commodity extraction on public land.
2. Ban Off Road Vehicle use and other forms of high-impact recreation on public land.
3. Recover declining and extirpated species. Maintain viable populations of all native species.
4. Promote sustainable silvicultural practices on private forestland.
5. Any forest management plans for private land should include the following:
   • clearly stated management goals.
   • a basis on broad spatial (i.e. landscape-level planning: 100,000+ acres) and long temporal (i.e. long-term planning: 500+ years) perspectives.
   • designed to contribute to a healthy and sustainable lifestyle for all surrounding communities, human and otherwise.
   • a thorough description of existing biotic and abiotic conditions.
   • monitoring of ecosystem alterations caused by human activities and natural processes with updates to the ecosystem inventory to reflect changes.
   • development of a statement of desired future conditions and a set of recommended management alternatives.
   • use of harvesting methods not based on fossil fuels; use of muscle power in place of chainsaws, bulldozers, skidders, and other such equipment.
   • avoidance of the use of pesticides, fertilizers and other potentially dangerous and fossil fuel based chemicals.
   • use of uneven-aged, management, long rotations, and single-tree selection harvesting.
6. Encouragement of joint forest management project/programs between the U.S. Forest Service and private landowners for management of private landholdings.
7. Encouragement of programs which provide incentives for the conservation of privately-owned forests and for the restoration and protection of native ecosystems and natural levels of biodiversity.