This Land, Your Land

Supporters and users of DuPont State Forest are concerned that the budget passed last week by the N.C. House of Representatives could change the primary orientation of the forest from recreation to timber production. They want the forest to be given a designation of its own that retains its recreational mandate (.pdf).

The budget proposal transfers the Division of Forest Services, including DuPont and Bladen Lakes state forests and seven Educational State Forests, from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources — which includes the Division of Parks and Recreation — to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Treating DuPont State Forest as a source of agricultural products could hurt recreation at the 10,400-acre forest in Transylvania and Henderson counties, Fred Roane, a board member of Friends of DuPont Forest, told Nanci Bompey of the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Supporters think the move will mean less of a focus on hiking, biking and horseback riding in the forest, and a move instead toward more logging.

"With the transfer of Forest Resources to Agriculture ... we now have a Division of Forest Resources with no recreational budget or mandate reporting to a department with no recreation budget or mandate," the four past presidents of Friends of DuPont Forest wrote in an op-ed appearing in the Henderson Times-News. "Did you know that Agriculture does not even report to the governor, but to the elected agriculture commissioner?

"The only other state forest in North Carolina is Bladen Lakes, which is run as a self-sustaining commercial tree farm with no discernible recreation system. There is discussion of closing some educational state forests. How will recreation at DuPont fare under the new management in times of severe budget cuts? Or in several years when our current dedicated supervisor retires?"

The four Friends leaders call for keeping the current hunting and fishing policies at DuPont as "a core mission of the property," and, where possible, maintaining multiple trail use, including mountain biking and equestrian use, and say they support "responsible timber management on the property outside of the current nature preserves."

Leaders of various user groups began meeting about two weeks ago as news of the potential transfer circulated, and chose Roane to lead the fledgling DuPont Recreational Working Group. They call for supporters to contact their state representatives.

"All of the persons who have begun meeting support the current recreational and land management practices, and we want to prevent any changes that would threaten the current management priorities," Roane said in a news release from the group. "We are researching whether DuPont should be something other than a 'state forest.' Perhaps some other legal recognition is necessary — like a 'state recreational forest' or a 'state recreational area' would be a better designation.”

DuPont State Forest Supervisor David Brown told the Citizen-Times he wouldn't expect management of the forest to change drastically if the transfer went through, and that some timber harvesting is likely anyway.

"I don't think it will have a significant impact on visitation, and of course, we're not going to be clear-cutting around the waterfalls," he said. "We would protect areas where we have the highest concentration of visitors."