Summit County Citizens Voice

April 12 meeting in Lakewood will determine future planning for national forest lands in Summit County.

Public input wanted on new rule that will shape planning for the White River NF and other public lands around the U.S.

A couple of quotes from the New Century of Forest Planning blog:

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — This  Monday, April 12, the U.S. Forest Service is holding a regional roundtable in Lakewood to get public input on a new national planning rule that will determine how plans for individual forests — like the White River — will be formulated.

Get  specific meeting information posted in a Scribd.com window at the end of this post, or click here. A Forest Service planning rule 101 intro is online here, and pre-registration for the roundtable is at this link.

I know, it sounds like a bad bureaucratic joke: A meeting to make a plan about making plans …

But here’s why it’s important. Last night, I was at another Forest Service meeting in Heeney, a tiny town in northern Summit County, Colorado once known for hosting an annual tick festival. A few weeks ago, the Forest Service unveiled a plan to rebuild campgrounds and make other improvements to recreational facilities nearby, around Green Mountain Reservoir.

The draft study for the plan, formally known as an environmental assessment, took a lot of locals by surprise, mainly because of the scope of what the agency was proposing. White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams was on hand. He’s amiable enough, and quick on his feet, and managed to win overt the somewhat hostile crowd of 35 or so citizens, at least on a personal level, even if the tone of some of the comments was skeptical.

“We’ve heard it before … you say you want public input and then you go ahead and do whatever it us you want,” said an older gent, who has been around the block with agency more than once.

Fitzwilliams suggested that wasn’t the case, and indicated that he would listen to public comment and try and pick an alternative that meshes with what the residents of the area would like to see. But the forest supervisor prefaced his presentation with these words: “It’s in the plan.”

That would be the 2002 White River National Forest plan, and according to that document, the Green Mountain Reservoir area is to be managed as a developed recreation area. That implies certain standards and levels of service that the agency is obligated to meet.

It’s pretty much the same for any project the agency proposes on national forest lands. When Breckenridge Ski Area and the Forest Service put forth a proposal to expand on to pristine high alpine land on Peak 6 a few years ago, there was a huge outcry in the town.

The Forest Service response?

“It’s in the plan.”

When Keystone someday proposes new lifts on Independence Mountain, there will be a similar response from the public.

Guess what the Forest Service response will be.

“It’s in the plan.”

When the Forest Service wanted to protect lynx habitat in the southern Rockies, how do you think they did it?

With a regional forest plan amendment.

I know, it’s a hard thing to wrap your brain around. There seems to be such a huge distance between the reams of paper, the windowless conference rooms where these documents gather dust, and the pure mountain air high above 10,000 feet in the Tenmile Range.

But think of it as planning and zoning deal. Forest plans essentially zone the forest for different uses, and once those are set forth, the wheels are in motion.

An editor at a small-town, small-time newspaper once said to me (as he assigned me to cover a planning commission meeting), “This is where the rubber meets the road.”

It was one of the very few intelligent things to cross this particular editor’s lips, and I took it to heart. It’s at this level that some of the most fundamental land use decisions are made, and believe it or not, the Forest Service is open to input. The agency is trying to make it even easier in this latest go-round, with blogs, web casts of the meetings and other information-age participation tools.

It goes almost without saying that all this is especially critical for people in places like Summit County, where about 80 percent of the land is managed by the Forest Service (but owned by the people — that’s you and me — of the United States).

Take the time to check out some of the following links and educate yourself about what’s going on. Even if you can’t make it to the April 12 sessions in Lakewood, you may be able to participate via the web, or submit written comments independently of the meeting.  The future of your national forests depend on it.

My favorite place to follow the debate is the New Century of Forest Planning blog, a collaborative effort between the University of Montana and the Forest Service, featuring free-ranging posts and discussions about the planning rule.

Here’s a link to the Wilderness Society web site, which is also alerting citizens to the process, calling it “a golden opportunity for people to play a direct role in shaping the future of our national forests, as well as a golden opportunity for the Obama administration to listen to the concerns of its citizens.”

Some of the meetings are webcast at this link.

The Forest Service interactive blog for the planning rule process is here. Check out the posts, and especially the comments from the public.

In one post, the Forest Service asked how climate change should factor into forest planning. the public comments to the question are here.

Read the results from a science forum held to develop a scientific framework for the plan here.

All these links, and many other are compiled at the agency’s planning rule home page.

Filed under: writing Tagged: | forest plans, national forests, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, US Forest Service, White River National Forest