Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 8, 1994                   TAG: 9409080080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

U.S. FOREST RECONSIDERS TIMBER PLAN

James Hunt, acting district ranger for the Glenwood district, said that the proposed cut will be considered along with another proposed cut near Apple Orchard Falls, a popular recreation spot which is designated a ``special management area'' by the forest.

A citizens' group had filed an appeal on the cut in July, saying the logging would damage wildlife habitat and was inconsistent with the agency's move toward ecosystem management.

``This sale was a dinosaur,'' said Jim Loesel, secretary of the Citizens Task Force on National Forest Management. ``When the Forest Service looks at this area again, they need to see it as an ecosystem.''

Citizens also said that cutting timber so close to a popular area would devalue the area's recreational appeal.

Hunt said the forest will do a single environmental analysis of the two proposed cuts to review the cumulative effects.