Houston Regional Group - News

The U.S. Forest Service (FS) proposes prescribed burning of UIWA (13,300 acres) in Angelina National Forest (ANF). The purpose of this action is to "reduce hazardous fuels". Since Wilderness is an "area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man (uncontrolled and un-manipulated), where man himself is a visitor who does not remain . retaining its primeval character and influence . which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions" and since the Wilderness Act requires the preservation of "wilderness character" the reintroduction of the natural ecological process of fire may be appropriate in UIWA.

However, fire reintroduction conducted in a heavy-handed and manipulative manner, in an effort to favor a certain type of vegetation on the landscape, violates the Wilderness Act's requirement of "untrammeled" conditions.

The Houston Regional Group and Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club submitted comments that recommended that the FS mimic the natural fire regime (fire frequency, seasonality, rate, duration, start locations, and patchiness of burn) that occurred before humans altered the natural ecological process of fire; fire lanes must be established outside of wilderness boundaries and no internal fire lanes should be allowed; only hand started fires must be allowed with no use of helicopters, which destroy wilderness character, solitude, quiet, and enjoyment of natural sounds; lightning (natural) wildfires must be allowed to burn; and fire must not be manipulated to favor any type of plant, animal, or ecosystem so that Nature decides what plant communities exist on the landscape.

Please let the FS know you support the Sierra Club's comments by writing Mr. William E. Taylor, District Ranger, Angelina/Sabine National Forests, 111 Walnut Ridge Road, Zavalla, Texas 75980, or by emailing him at: comments-southern-texas-angelina@fs.fed.us, with a notation that the subject is the UIW Fire Management Initiative.

July 2007

Last updated:  06/02/2007.   Content © 1999-2007 by the Sierra Club.