Photo by Michael J. Dailey

The forest management plan follows eight years of negotiations.

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Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg have introduced a bill that would designate 34,500 acres in the White Mountain National Forest as wilderness, barring the area from motorized recreation and logging. The change was recommended by the Forest Service's recently updated management plan.

The forest management plan was the result of eight years of negotiations. In a press release, Sununu said it "represents a consensus view of how best to protect lands in the White Mountain National Forest while ensuring the forest's traditional mixed-use role. The introduction of this legislation is the next step toward solidifying this agreement."

About 114,900 of the nearly 800,000 acres in the forest are now designated wilderness.

Wilderness areas are managed to remain wild in perpetuity and must be approved by Congress. The land is also permanently closed to mining, construction and traffic.

The bill, which Sununu authored, would create 23,700 acres of wilderness in the Wild River area and add 10,800 to the 25,000-acre Sandwich Range Wilderness.

It must go through the Committee on Agriculture before going to the Senate floor. Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley are expected to introduce a similar bill in the House this week.

Alexis Jackson, spokeswoman for the Forest Service, said areas considered for wilderness classification must have limited development, be at least 5,000 acres and give visitors a sense of solitude. She said the Wild River area was chosen because it will offer wilderness at a lower elevation. Most of the wilderness that exists now is higher, some of it close to the timberline, she said.

Several conservation groups expressed support for the bill. Susan Arnold, the conservation director for the Appalachian Mountain Club, said it "is an important element in the balance of a multiple-use White Mountain National Forest."

Jasen Stock, executive director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, said he'll be watching the bill closely.

Forever prohibiting timber harvesting is a drastic move, particularly in areas that have been harvested in the past, such as Wild River, he said.

The economic needs of surrounding towns could change, he said.

"I think anyone would be hard-pressed to show that the recreation dollars coming from a wilderness area come close to what a sustainable forest management plan on that same area nets," he said.

Limiting harvest can also impact forest health and wildlife management, he said. Stock said the association agreed to the forest management plan because it tries to balance various interests. But he doesn't want to see any amendments to the bill that would expand the wilderness beyond what the plan dictates.

By CHELSEA CONABOY

Monitor staff