Town elections have come and gone and with their passing, interest in the Waynesville watershed has once again sunk lower than Quinlan Town. However, tomorrow (Jan. 10) night’s Watershed Advisory Board meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the boardroom at Town Hall will offer interested parties a glimpse of the flora of the watershed.

Students and researchers from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment have roamed the 8,000-plus acre watershed doing botanical surveys as well as other research, and Dr. Norm Christensen, dean of the Nicholas School will be present to discuss the findings.

The meeting is not a public hearing but it is open to the public and it would be a great place for those with a genuine interest in the future of Waynesville’s watershed to come and learn about the property. Logging — oops, did I say that? Well, yeah, logging: how much, where, when and why — will certainly be a topic of any management plan for the watershed. But to simply reduce the discussion of the management, stewardship, protection, enhancement and/or public use of 8,000 acres of diverse Southern Appalachian forest to — “are you fer or agin logging?” — is to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The Western Carolina Forest Sustainability Initiative (WCFSI), spearheaded by Dr. Peter Bates, associate professor of natural resources at Western Carolina University, was commissioned by the town in 2006 to develop a comprehensive forest management plan for the watershed. The target date for a draft of such a plan is spring of this year.

WCFSI hosted two workshops in 2006. According to the “Summary of Workshops to Identify Sustainability Indicators for the Waynesville Watershed” prepared by Bates in November 2006, the workshops were designed to: “(1) identify potential public values to be sustained within the watershed, and (2) generate potential indicators (measures) that would inform the town over time whether those values were indeed being sustained.” The report noted that the primary objective of the conservation easement conveyed to the watershed is to, “maintain high quality water resources on the property.”

Then the report lists “secondary” objectives and they included, “(1) the establishment and maintenance of productive forest resources for the generation of income for the Town of Waynesville, and to facilitate the economically sustainable production of forest resources in a manner that minimizes negative impacts and the duration of impacts on surface water quality, and scenic, educational and/or recreational benefits to the public, wildlife habitat, and other conservation values; (2) the protection of natural heritage values; (3) the creation of opportunities for environmental education; (4) the protection of scenic vistas (primarily for visitors on the Blue Ridge Parkway); and (5) the protection of other conservation values by ensuring that the property will forever retain its predominantly natural, scenic, and forested condition, and that native animals, plants, and plant communities on the property will be protected.”

No doubt, logging could have a place in the final plan. But what that place might be and how it might be achieved and what the pros and cons might be will all be open for public scrutiny. Meanwhile there’s a lot of baby there — environmental education, protection of natural heritage values, protection of scenic vistas, and ensuring that the natural forested condition and the native flora and fauna will be protected — to be tossed out, simply because of the “L” word.

And Bates and town leaders want to know what you think. The report states, “Local involvement in decision-making about management of the watershed was viewed as an important social value. Workshop participants wanted to develop mechanisms for Waynesville residents to become involved with the watershed. Such involvement would increase appreciation of the remarkable natural asset of the town .... The Town welcomes input from interested Waynesville residents on the information presented in this report. A formal mechanism for public input is currently being developed. However, any reader is invited to submit their comments in writing to Town Manager Lee Galloway by e-mail (townmgr_waynesville@charter.net), by regular mail (16 South Main Street, Waynesville, N.C., 28786) or telephone 828.452.2491.”

So get out Thursday evening and get a little drink of the watershed.