Friends of Big Ivy, an area of the Pisgah National Forest near Barnardsville, will be hosting a meeting with federal forest rangers to discuss a draft of a plan that would allow logging in the area.

At issue is the U.S. Forest Service draft plan that will guide resource management in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests for at least the next decade. The current draft identifies nearly 700,000 acres of the one million areas in the two forests as being suitable for logging, including the Big Ivy area.

Opponents of the plan are attempting to have the Big Ivy area redesigned, a move that would restrict or prevent logging. Advocates in the Bluff Mountain area have formed a similar coalition.

Logging advocates say timbering is can be effective management tool that improves habitat for wildlife and can rejuvenate a forest.

The meeting will be held on February 5 at 7 p.m. at the Big Ivy Community Center at 540 Dillingham Road in Barnardsville.

Appalachian District Ranger Matt McCombs and members of the plan revision team are expected to be answering questions.