SHAWNEE OFFICIALS: FORESTER SUGGESTIONS ARE BEING ADDRESSED

HARRISBURG, Ill. -- Shawnee National Forest officials say they are already addressing many of the issues suggested in a forest plan being urged by the Society of American Foresters.

The report, released last week by the group of professional foresters, urges a dramatic departure from the century-old practices of the U.S. timber industry, saying that more emphasis must be given to protecting wildlife and diversity in forests.

The plan would eventually eliminate logging in U.S. National Forests.

"The society's plan is recommending an ecosystem approach that would base logging on protection of wildlife, water quality and overall ecological health," said Manuel "Manny" Archuleta, acting supervisor of the Shawnee National Forest. "We're already doing those things. We offer a multi-use forest, which provides recreation, wildlife habitat, and a healthy forest."

The current Shawnee Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, which was adopted last year, calls for an Allowable Sales Quantity of upland hardwoods lumber each year. The allowable sales for 1993 is 3.5 million board feet, noted Archuleta.

"We'll then take a look at the situation to determine the amount of allowable lumber sales for 1994," added Archuleta.

"Right now, we're carrying out plans of the long-use management projections," said Norbert Boe, forest engineer for Shawnee National Forest.

"We don't know what Congress will do with the Society of American Forest suggestions. We'll react to whatever Congress legislates."

If Congress followed the plan of the society, logging would cease in 15 national forests including Shawnee National Forest in 1994. Under the changes proposed, logging would end at 15 more national forests in 1995 and 1996, and 13 national forests in 1997.

"We are talking about a major change in forestry in the United States," said Logan Norris, the society's task force chairman and head of the Department of Forest Science at Oregon State University.

The panel recommends protecting ecological health and diversity across broad landscapes, as large as 1 million acres at a time.

One of three Forest Service officials on the task force expects much debate over the idea of involving private land owners in the broad management decisions.

"When you say private property, immediately there is this fear of regulation," said Winifred Kessler, the principal rangeland ecologist at Forest Service headquarters. She said the task force's idea is to work with the land owners rather than dictate what they do.

The current Shawnee National Forest plan was designed to provide guidance of forest management over the next decade, noted Kessler.

The plan's philosophy aims at expanding recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, said Archuleta.

"It also restores plant and animal communities native to Southern Illinois and protects endangered and threatened species. It contains strategies that reconcile in the best way possible the environmental, social and economic demands on the forest," said Archuleta.

Archuleta added that clearcutting had been eliminated in the plan as a standard practice, and regularly scheduled timber harvests will occur on only 1 percent of the forest each year.

Environmentalists have appealed the current management plan for Shawnee, claiming the plan curtails some logging in the preserve but raises the prospect of future oil and gas drilling.

The new plan will open up 90 percent of the preserve to oil and gas exploration and increase the number of trails available for all- terrain vehicles during deer hunting season.

The Shawnee National Forest consists of 265,135 acres stretching from the Ohio to the Mississippi rivers in Southern Illinois. It includes seven Wilderness areas.

Anyone with questions about the plan may call Shawnee Forest headquarters at Harrisburg, (618)-253-7114), or the district office at Jonesboro, (618)-833-8576.