Protection proposed for spider

Statement of Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project

Asheville, Oct. 6— The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced today that they were proposing to designate critical habitat for the Spruce-fir moss spider, an endangered species found only on mountaintops in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. The proposed designation of critical habitat includes portions at and above 5,400 feet in elevation at Grandfather Mountain, Mount Collins, Clingmans Dome, Mount Buckley, Mount LeConte, and Roan Mountain. The FWS’ proposal comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project (SABP). The Spruce-fir moss spider is the first species to receive critical habitat protection in North Carolina since 1987.

The high-elevation spruce-fir forests that are home to the spider are rapidly deteriorating due to two factors. While the balsam-woolly adelgid (a nonnative insect pest) is devastating the Fraser firs in the canopy of their habitat, air pollution, primarily sulphurous and nitrous oxides, has acidified the clouds which normally surround the mountaintops, killing vegetation and desiccating the forest floor. Ozone is also a concern.

Dr. Harvard Ayers, Professor at Appalachian State University and chair of the North Carolina Clean Air Coalition, said “the red spruce/ Fraser fir zone is one of extremely high forest decline. In the Black Mountains near Asheville, including Mount Mitchell, the mortality in long-studied plots reveal that over the last 18 years, about 95% of the mature trees have died.

“About one third of the dead conifers in the Blacks are Fraser firs, many of which have been attacked by the balsam wooly adelgid. Two thirds of the many thousands of dead trees are red spruce, a species that is unaffected by the balsam wooly adelgid. Because almost all tree species above 5000 feet elevation, including the minority hardwoods, are in decline, many leading scientists suspect that air pollution is the most likely underlying cause for the observed habitat loss.”

“Acid levels are 10-50 times more in the clouds that hang on the mountains so many days of every year, as compared to the precipitation that falls on the surrounding valley locations. Ozone is also much higher in the mountains than in the valleys. In fact, the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most polluted of all national parks in the country. Critical habitat designation for the Spruce fir moss spider will help reign in these problems.”

Critical habitat for the spider will prevent Federal agency managers from taking any action which harms, or “adversely modifies,” these rapidly dwindling high-elevation forests. Coal-fired power plants owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a Federal agency, are suspected of causing much of the air pollution in the Southern Appalachians.

“Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project is encouraged by this proposal,” said Marty Bergoffen of SABP.

For more information: SABP: sabp@sabp.net

Forest Service cancels Nantahala timber sale

Statement of Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project

Asheville, Oct. 9— Following an appeal by the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project (SABP), the Forest Service announced on October 6th that they were withdrawing the Riley Cove timber sale on the Tusquitee Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest. District Ranger Charles Miller withdrew the logging project because the Forest Service failed to identify or consider impacts to the sensitive plant species Large Flowering Blue Ridge Bittercress, Cardamine flagelifera var. flagilifera.

SABP informed the Forest Service of the bittercress’ existence in May of 1999, but were ignored as the Forest Service approved the timber sale on July 31, 2000. SABP appealed the decision, using as ammunition the USDA Inspector General’s report of January, 1999, which documented serious deficiencies in 12 out of 12 Forest Service timber sales, specifically with respect to sensitive species. When the Forest Service realized that SABP’s appeal might not just win, but could also force other timber sales off track, they withdrew Riley Cove and pledged to examine the sale’s impacts.

“Taxpayers not only pay for cutting in national forests, they have to constantly watchdog the Forest Service to make sure the agency doesn’t log rare plants and animals,” said Andrew George, executive director for the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. “It’s time to end the commercial logging program in public forests. If we don’t, irreplaceable biological areas like Riley Cove are sure to be destroyed. Many already have.”

The Forest Service plan called for 43 acres of commercial logging in the Riley Cove, which borders the Chunky Gal Mountain Roadless Area- an area known for rare ecosystems and outstanding backcountry hiking.

For more information: SABP: sabp@sabp.net

Ernest Morgan, 1905-2000

By Brendan Conley

Ernest Morgan, a life-long activist and founder of Arthur Morgan School in Yancey county, died at his home on October 1. He was 95.

Morgan and his wife Elizabeth founded the Arthur Morgan School at Celo Community in the early 1960s. The school provides experiential education to junior high school students; it is named for Morgan’s father, an engineer who promoted alternative education as president of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Morgan spent much of his life in Yellow Springs, where he founded the Antioch Bookplate Company, a cooperative printing business now called the Antioch Company. Morgan worked to institute cooperative economic models, co-founding the Yellow Springs Community Credit Union, and the Yellow Springs Exchange, a barter network.

An activist who wore many hats, Morgan devoted energy to union organizing, Socialist Party politics, publishing the Yellow Springs News, and working to open opportunities for African Americans.

Morgan was a prolific writer, and he devoted much of his attention to the subject of death and burial. His book, “Dealing Creatively with Death,” which advocates simple burial methods, has sold 250,000 copies. He cofounded the Continental Association of Funeral and Memorial Societies, and served on the board of the Blue Ridge Memorial Society.

Clyde Ramsey, who also serves on the board, said of Morgan, “He is truly one of the most unforgettable people I have ever met. I was impressed by his love of humankind and his intense desire to see that everything in life is treated with respect.” Ramsey said that Morgan’s daughter Jenifer will succeed him on the board.

Besides his daughter, Morgan is survived by his sister Frances Bolling, sons Art Morgan and Lee Morgan, seven grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held locally at the Arthur Morgan School in Celo, North Carolina, Sunday, October 29 at 4pm. In accordance with his wishes, Morgan’s body was donated to the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University.

Gifts in Morgan’s memory may be made to the Arthur Morgan School, 1901 Hannah Branch Rd., Burnsville, NC 28714.