ShareTrails | Vegetation Treatments Proposed in New Hampshire in White Mountain National Forest: Sandwich Management Habitat Unit

As we attended virtual planning meetings for the Sandwich Management Habitat Unit in New Hampshire we were encouraged by the proposed treatments and overall feel that this is a project going in the right direction that we need to support. This project is still in Scoping which means no concrete plans are being proposed

Vegetation:

The proposed treatments would aid in keeping the forest healthy to prevent wildfire. The greatest threat to habitat and wildlife is forest fire that can completely destroy these ecosystems. When forests are temporarily closed due to fire recreation access is also closed off temporarily and sometimes that leads to permanent closures. Oftentimes agencies work to move forward with these vegetation treatments but meet opposition by extreme conservation groups. Recreation users need to be involved in these processes to show support for these treatments so that agencies can actually manage public land and reduce hazardous fuels. The other aspect to this plan is timber harvest that would provide local economic income. We support any efforts that will directly benefit the local communities.

Transportation:

You can see below a meeting slide regarding transportation issues that are being addressed. The .5 miles of road that is being proposed to be decommissioned is currently not open to the public and is for administrative use only. As we fight for every inch however, BRC is advocating for all current roads to be opened to the public and not be decommissioned or closed. We believe the 12 miles of road being proposed for level 1 forest system roads be open to multiple use. The public should also be able to benefit from these roads.

Read the project proposal and the Forest Service documents on this specific project here.

Please use the tool below to share your voice and comments with the Forest Service regarding this project. As always, we encourage you to add your own specific ideas and experiences into the pre-written comment.