Government would clear Manistee National Forest land to help butterfly survive (3000 acres!)

WZZM ^ | 10/15/10

[earlJam]

Government would clear Manistee National Forest land to help butterfly survive

WZZM 13 ONLINE

OTTO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input on a proposal to clear a portion of the Manistee National Forest to give a butterfly a greater chance of survival.

The plan would also call for closing motorized access to portions of the forest.

Leaders in Otto Township in Oceana County were to hold a community meeting Thursday night to discuss the proposal with neighbors.

"Otto Township alone is made up of over 50% Manistee National Forest and state land," says township supervisor Rhonda Jibson.

The U.S. Forest Service wants to improve habitat for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly.

"This is an area where we have documented occurrence of the Karner Blue butterfly," says Chris Frederick, an environmental planner for the U.S. Forest Service.

In order to improve the habitat, 2,900 acres of the national forest would be cleared, burned and possibly spot-treated with chemicals to create the grassy areas the butterfly needs to survive.

"It would improve the habitat where we know where they are at and to provide corridors for them to expand their range," says Frederick.

But Jibson says the clearing of the forest would ruin one of her township's biggest assets.

"Hunters, fisherman, horseback riders, moto-cross, all terrain vehicles -- all kicked out, so to speak," she says.

Long-time users of the national forest not only disagree with the habitat restoration plan, they oppose the closing of forest service roads that would go along with the plan. Myrle Phillips says he needs the roads to get to his favorite hunting and fishing spots.

"I have two bad knees, and I cannot walk any distance without them swelling up," says Phillips. "If I have to walk to the river, I'm not going to be able to go fishing."

Frederick says motorized access to much of the land will be available on country roads, but the patchwork of authorized and illegal two-tracks would be closed.

"There are still going to be county roads in that area," Frederick says. "This would just close forest-system roads."

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment on the proposal through October 25. Reported by Jon Mills in Oceana County

[TexasRepublic]

I would rather that land be cleared as a sanctuary for Liberals and Enviro-Nazis. There would be no roads and the perimeter would be secured by barbed wire fences for their protection.

[grellis]

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

[Hot Tabasco]

I saw that coming down the pike, which is why, when I saw one of those butterflys in my garden this summer I whacked it with a fly swatter......

[exnavy]

WOW, I can’t wait to share this with my deer hunting, democrat voting UAW “brothers”.

[Mrs. P]

I just read a report in the Saginaw Field and Stream newsletter about a study done on the areas of riverbank that were cleared of soil and plants to alleviate a contaminant - I believe it was dioxin - in the Tittabawassee river area near Midland. The study showed that the areas that were contaminated and NOT cleared show no effects in the wildlife or any organisms that live there. The cleared areas are devoid of animal life and show no signs of recovering yet. In other words, when left alone, nature seems to recover. When “helped” by environmentalists, matters are made far worse.

In Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, they are paying crews to go into the woods and pull out forget-me-nots because they are an invasive species. These flowers grow all over in the woods near Grand Marais and are just beautiful in the spring. They grow in and with trilliums on the forest floor. I wonder how much stuff will be destroyed by these workers tromping all over and disturbing root systems of the trilliums and other plants?

Maybe we should let nature take care of itself and leave the damn trees alone in the Manistee National Forest? Do you think?

thanks for listening.....

[dennisw]

In Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, they are paying crews to go into the woods and pull out forget-me-nots because they are an invasive species. These flowers grow all over in the woods near Grand Marais and are just beautiful in the spring. They grow in and with trilliums on the forest floor. I wonder how much stuff will be destroyed by these workers tromping all over and disturbing root systems of the trilliums and other plants?

1. Follow the money ----  The commie Obama plan is ---->>>
2. more Gubbermint jobs for them   (paid for by your taxes)
3. less wilderness and parks for you and for hunters, snow mobilers, fishermen etc
4. fund the left via more Gubbermint jobs
5. defund the right (the citizenry) via taxation
6. public sector gets larger
7. private sector shrinks as it is starved of funds via taxation and over regulation
   

[equaviator]

How would you like to be a helpless little butterfly and have someone come along and swat you??? (sarc)...On the other hand however, to treat a butterfly as though it were a common housefly seems like so much overkill.