DIRECTION FOR NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANS IS BEING CHANGED

YOUR COMMENTS NEEDED BY FEBRUARY 16 TO ENSURE THAT WILDLIFE HABITAT, SOILS, AND WATER QUALITY ARE PROTECTED

Under a 1976 law, the Forest Service is required to have a management plan for each National Forest and grassland or a group thereof. The agency has recently begun to develop new regulations for preparing, revising, and amending such plans.

Plans are the foundation of sound public land management, and these new regulations will govern how the Forest Service determines what and where activities such as logging, ski areas, oil and gas development, wilderness areas and other uses occur.

Regulations issued in 1979 and amended in 1982 had some good measures for conserving and protecting resources. However, more recent sets of regulations allowed forest management plans to be very vague and did not require mandated protection of important resources like wildlife habitat, soils and water quality.

We have an opportunity to get a good set of regulations that will require National Forests to write management plans that ensure protection of these resources.

WHAT YOU CAN DO.  By February 16

E-mail comments to: fspr@contentanalysisgroup.com 

Or postal mail comments to:  Forest Service Planning
NOI, C/O Bear West Company, 172 E 500 S, Bountiful, UT 84010.

Or fax comments to:  to 801-397-1605.

Make some or all of the following points in your e-mail, letter, or fax:

•  Briefly describe your use of National Forest land and how and why protective management of these lands is important to you.
•  Insist that regulations require that the "viability", or survivability, of all native wildlife and plant populations be assured through forest planning. Note that the 1982 regulations contained such a provision.
•  Request that regulations require plans to contain standards, which are "must do" or "must not do" actions designed to limit activities that would degrade air, water, soils, wildlife habitat, etc. and ensure protection of resources.
•  Ask that regulations require National Forests to zone areas of each national forest or grassland by what type of activities will be allowed. Without this, the public has little idea of what management will be emphasized and how resources will be protected.
•  Ask that plans be required to address and be able to adapt to the possible effects of climate change. Management should err on the side of protecting resources by limiting logging, road construction, etc. so that wildlife and plans will be more likely to adapt to and survive a warming climate.
•  Request that the impacts of every proposed forest management plan be disclosed in an environmental impact statement. Since plans approve a program of management for the next 10-15 years, the impacts of such activities must be disclosed.

For more information, call or e-mail Rocky Smith at Colorado Wild, 303-839-5900, rocky@coloradowild.org.