The Washington, Oregon & Calfiornia regions of the U.S. Forest Services are scheduling Northwest Forest Plan Amendment listening sessions.
The following is a land use alert from the BlueRibbon Coalition:
The Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington) and Pacific Southwest (California) Regions of the U.S. Forest Service are beginning a public conversation on the process for revising forest land management plans in the Northwest Forest Plan amendment area.
To gather ideas on the revision process, the Forest Service is holding a series of public listening sessions March 17, 2015 in Portland, Oregon; March 18, 2015 in Seattle, Washington; and March 25, 2015 in Redding, California. Detailed information is provided below.
The revised forest plans will provide the framework for future transportation system decisions to be made but will not make decisions that designate roads, trails or areas for motor vehicle use. These “sideboards” will guide subsequent site-specific decisions required by the Travel Management Rule.
BRC urges attendees to voice support for the agency to develop a substantive recreation and travel management strategy in the upcoming Forest Plans. These strategies should include concepts such as support for road-to-trail conversions, companion trails, looped trail opportunities, and “trail mitigation” guidelines for relevant non-recreation (i.e. vegetation management) projects.
In order to set these listening sessions and the revision process up to be successful, a neutral, third-party consultant, Triangle Associates, Inc., is currently conducting preliminary outreach to a few dozen individuals representing a wide array of perspectives. This will help the Forest Service consider the types of issues that should be addressed through the revision process.
Portland, Oregon:
Date: Tuesday March 17
Time: 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Location: Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel
Address: 8235 Northeast Airport Way, Portland, OR, 97220
Room: St. Helens Ballroom
Parking: Parking is free
Driving Directions: http://www.sheratonportlandairport.com/drivingdirections
Seattle, Washington:
Date: Wednesday March 18
Time: 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Location: The Conference Center at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Address: 17801 International Blvd. (Pacific Hwy S), Seattle, WA 98158
Room: International Ballroom Auditorium
Parking: Parking is free but must be validated inside the conference center
Driving Directions: http://www.portseattle.org/Business/Conference-Facilities/The-Conference-Center-at-Sea-Tac/Pages/Directions.aspx
Redding, California:
Date: Wednesday March 25
Time: 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Location: Red Lion Hotel
Address: 1830 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA, 96002
Room: Sierra/Trinity Rooms
Parking: Parking is free
Driving Directions: http://www.redlion.com/redding/map-directions
To request a reasonable accommodation, such as sign language interpretation, other assistive technology or language translation services, please contact Emily Platt. Emily can be reached via email at: emilykplatt@fs.fed.us or by phone at 503-808-2970, or federal relay service: 800-877-8339.
The goals of the listening sessions are:
• Sharing information about plan revision, the 2012 planning rule, and the role of science.
• Outlining the Forest Service’s current thinking about the plan revision strategy.
• Gathering ideas from stakeholders on the revision process.
The land management plan revisions will be completed under the 2012 planning rule, which places a strong emphasis on public engagement and collaboration throughout the process.
The Northwest Forest Plan was created in 1994 with the intent of protecting the critical habitat of the northern spotted owl while maintaining a viable forest products industry in the Pacific Northwest. The Plan amended 26 land use plans, spanning 24 million acres of Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service-managed lands in Northern California, Washington and Oregon. In California, the Plan amended land and resource management plans for the Klamath, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers National Forests. In Oregon and Washington, the Plan amended land and resource management plans for the Deschutes, Fremont-Winema, Gifford Pinchot, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie, Mt. Hood, Okanogan-Wenatchee, Olympic, Rogue River-Siskiyou, Siuslaw, Umpqua, and Willamette National Forests.
More information about this process, will be posted on the Forest Service Regional web pages:
Region 6 (Oregon and Washington) http://www.fs.usda.gov/r6/
Region 5 (California) http://www.fs.usda.gov/r5/
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