Minnesota's Wildlife Depends on Forest Plans
Chippewa and Superior National Forests are home to 240 regular bird species, nine threatened or endangered animal species, 39 animals recognized as "species of concern" due to declining populations, and hundreds of rare plant species. The habitats in which these species thrive in the national forests will be impacted by the forest plan selected by the U.S. Forest Service. Sierra Club opposes the Forest Service's support of Forest Plan Alternative E which would continue unsustainable logging and fail to protect old-growth forests.
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Wildlife Impacts of the Forest Service's Proposed Forest Plan
- Alternative E
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| Birds |
The Northern Goshawk, a bird species sensitive to habitat change, lives in mature to old deciduous-dominated mixed wood stands with well developed canopies and open understories. Alternative E would restore less mature forest than most other options. Standards for goshawk protection should be revised to restore goshawk habitat in the second decade of the forest plan. Patch size should be increased to 100 acres - the minimum required for population maintenance. |
| Mammals | The lynx, an endangered species, migrates and hunts in a variety of forest habitats but avoids roads and large clear-cut areas. Alternative E would not protect any remaining roadless areas from future road-building, motorized recreation, or logging. Road construction should be minimized and existing roadless areas must be protected to protect this endangered species. |
| Plants |
Moonworts, a family of ferns, grows primarily beneath maple-basswood forests in Chippewa National Forest. Many moonworts, sensitive to light and soil compaction, never grow above the leaf cover on the ground. Logging, emphasized in Alternative E, alters the shade and specific soil conditions on which moonworts and most of the 62 other species of concern depend. |