On December 21, 2007, for the first time since the 1996 Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) was approved for the four national forests in Texas, the U.S. Forest Service (FS) proposed designation of two areas (stands) in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF) as Future Old Growth (FOG). According to the LRMP FOG areas are "Areas which have been designated to eventually become old growth. Areas will be subject only to natural forces. No active management practices such as thinning will be applied to these areas to develop or enhance old growth attributes." The Houston Sierra Club has been advocating for FOG designation in SHNF for 12 years.

The FOG proposal is part of a project call the "Gum Branch Red-cockaded Woodpecker Habitat Restoration Project" for Compartment 52. This proposal includes:

1) Erosion control on pipelines;

2) Control of non-native invasive plant species;

3) Thin logging to favor mature Shortleaf Pine trees on 565 acres with retention of upland hardwood trees (White Oak, Southern Red Oak, Post Oak, hickories, Winged Elm, Blackgum, and Red Maple);

4) Thin logging of 180 acres of young pine trees;

5) Logging 20 acres to restore Shortleaf Pine trees using irregular shelter-wood cutting;

6) Relocating and repairing off-road trails;

7) Improving 3 miles of road;

8) Mulching or midstory cutting 705 acres and retention of upland hardwood trees (White Oak, Southern Red Oak, Post Oak, Blackjack Oak, Bluejack Oak, hickories, Winged Elm, Blackgum, Sassafrass, Flowering Dogwood, Rusty Blackhaw, and Red Maple);

9) Midstory cutting by hand of 60 acres with the protection of upland hardwood trees;

10) Prescribed burning 1,075 acres every 2-5 years.

The areas that are proposed for FOG exist along Gum Branch or its tributaries and are located in Stands 6 and 16 in Compartment 52. These two stands are composed of Water Oak, American Elm, Sugarberry, and other bottomland hardwood trees.

The Houston Sierra Club was invited to participate in an Interdisciplinary Team meeting for the first time ever in December. An Interdisciplinary Team meeting is where the FS determines what a project will look like. The Houston Sierra Club influenced the FS during the Interdisciplinary Team meeting to retain more upland hardwood trees and control of erosion along pipelines in Compartment 52. A new attitude by the FS appears to be responsible for the FOG proposal and the invitation to attend the Interdisciplinary Team meeting.

The Houston Sierra Club appreciates the opportunity that the FS has provided it for advocating for more protection of forest resources like upland hardwoods trees. We look forward in the future to additional opportunities to advocate for protection of the "People’s Forest".

March 2008

Last updated:  02/09/2008.   Content © 1999-2008 by the Sierra Club.