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Opportunity for Public Comment Through
February 16, 2010
In December, the USDA Forest
Service announced that it would rewrite the national forest system land
management-planning rule. The planning rule sets priorities and defines the
process for the development and revision of site-specific management plans for
every national forest or grassland.
The Forest Service has issued
three planning rules since 2000 but two of them have been struck down by legal
challenges and the 2000 rule has never been utilized because of its
"complexity". In effect most current forest plans have been written under
the planning rule of 1982.
The Forest Service raises a
number of noteworthy concepts in the scoping document (Federal Register -
December 18, 2009). Foremost being the concept of "restoration" which is
heavily stressed but never defined. Nor does the document examine how
making "restoration" a priority would affect recreation or other land uses.
Rather the agency asks the public to provide comment on what "restoration"
ought to mean. However, last August, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
stated publicly, "Restoration means managing forest lands first and foremost to
protect our water resources, while making our forests more resilient to climate
change."
Adaption to climate change and
resiliency are frequently referenced in the document but it is left to the
public to comment on how those concepts should be applied. Similarly the
document suggests that local forest planners should not limit themselves to
planning for National Forest Service land but should expand their efforts to
include "all-lands" or whole watersheds.
Wrongly applied to local
planning processes, many of the concepts raised in the scoping document could
be very problematic for maintaining recreational access to public lands for a
number of activities - including motorized recreation. The AMA strongly
encourages off-highway vehicle enthusiasts to review the proposal and to
provide written comment to the agency on the importance of recognizing
recreational access in the forest planning process.
The Forest Service's Notice of
Intent, background materials and information on how to comment are available at
www.fs.usda.gov/planningrule.
Comments will be accepted until February
13th.
The Forest Service expects to
develop a proposed rule and a draft environmental impact statement by late fall
2010. The public will have additional comment opportunities at that
time.
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