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

DATE: MONDAY, February 20, 1995                   TAG: 9502220001
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VIRGINIA'S TREES ARE ROOTED DOWN SOUTH

Management of Virginia's national forests, with the hardwoods and wildlife typical of Southern Appalachian mountains, belongs in the South, not up North, Congressman Bob Goodlatte recently told the U.S. Forest Service.

Earlier this month, Goodlatte sent a letter to the Forest Service chief opposing a plan to place the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in the agency's Eastern region, headquartered in Milwaukee. Ten other members of Virginia's delegation, including both senators, joined Goodlatte's protest.

Under a reorganization proposal, management of Virginia's national forests would be moved from Atlanta, the agency's Region III, which oversees forest in Virginia, south to Florida and west to Texas.

"They share the same soil, the same animal life and the same trees," Goodlatte said. "It simply does not make sense to group Virginia's forests with completely different kinds of forests in Wisconsin, Ohio or Illinois."

He said environmental and forest product industry leaders agree with him, Goodlatte said. He pointed out that moving the forest oversight north would undermine forestry's vital role in Virginia's economy - an estimated $5.2 billion annually from all forest products.

The plan also flies in the face of the Forest Service's goal to manage forests according to ecosystems, or natural ecological boundaries.

That's old news!

Almost every newspaper published in Virginia contains some recycled fiber, according to the Virginia Press Association's annual recycling survey.

The organization found that 85 percent of newsprint used in the state last year - about 300,000 tons - contains used paper.

Publishers established voluntary recycling goals after the state Department of Environmental Quality began looking for ways to increase the production and use of recycled newsprint. And they have exceeded their own goals each year.

At the Roanoke Times & World-News, production assistant Grace Abbott said each paper contains 14 percent post-consumer waste. Leftover papers are either given to local dairy farmers to use for cattle bedding, or to a Richmond area recycler. Unused, blank paper is sold to different business for various uses, like packaging, Abbott said.

Hibernation hiatus

Mill Mountain Zoo is holding a winter fund-raiser Friday at the Radisson Patrick Henry Hotel. Charlie Perkinson's Trio kicks off the evening at 6:30 p.m. with jazz. The fund-raiser includes cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction. The highlight will be an auction for vacation getaways and a "suitcase drawing" for a vacation leaving that evening for a destination unknown. Advance tickets can be purchased for $25 at the hotel. Call 343-3241 for more information.

by CNB