Next phase of Forest Plan begins; public comments encouraged

Rick Brazell, Forest Supervisor of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, announced the next phase of revising the Forest’s Land and Resource Management Plan (the Forest Plan).

The Forest has released the proposed action for the Forest Plan and is asking for additional public input. For the last 20 months, the Forest has engaged the public in collaborative public participation efforts which have been instrumental for providing input into development of the proposed action.

Brazell shared, “I appreciate the hard work that our interdisciplinary team and the public that has participated in collaboration have done to get us this far. The public has devoted a lot of their personal time to come to the table to discuss how the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests should be managed. We still have a lot of work to do and I welcome input on this initial proposal. I encourage anyone interested in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests to submit comments on the proposed action.”

The Nez Perce and Clearwater forest plans were written in 1987 and the forests were administratively combined in 2013, resulting in need for revision. The Forest is an early adopter of the 2012 Planning Rule which guides the planning process. The rule includes protection for forests, water and wildlife, while supporting the economic vitality of rural communities. It requires the use of the best available scientific information to inform decisions.

The 2012 rule strengthens the role of public involvement and dialogue throughout the planning process. As an early adopter, the Forest is setting the stage for other national forests as they revise their plans.

The proposed action includes preliminary identification of the following items: forest-wide and management area desired conditions, objectives, standards, guidelines, and the suitability of lands for specific multiple uses, including those lands suitable for timber production; a long-term sustained yield calculation and a range of planned sale quantities; the distinctive roles and contributions the forest contributes within the broader landscape; priority restoration watersheds; proposed and possible actions that may occur on the plan area over the life of the plan; a list of rivers eligible for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic River inventory; and two preliminary options for areas to be recommended to Congress for inclusion in the Wilderness Preservation System.

Community meetings have been scheduled to provide an opportunity for the public to ask questions of the planning team. Meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., PT in the following locations:

In Orofino Tuesday, July 22, North Fork Ranger District, 12730 Highway 12.

In Grangeville Thursday, July 24, Forest Service Grangeville Office, 104 Airport Road.

In Lewiston Monday, July 28, Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game office, 3316 16th Street.

In Moscow Wednesday, July 30, 1912 Center, 412 East Third St., Moscow.

In Lolo, MT Monday, Aug. 4, Lolo Middle School, 11395 U.S. Hwy 93 S.

Public comments will help the Forest identify issues and develop alternatives for analysis in an Environmental Impact Statement. Comments or questions about plan revision can be submitted to fpr_npclw@fs.fed.us.

For those who prefer regular mail, written comments can be mailed to Forest Plan Revision, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, 903 3rd Street, Kamiah, ID 83536. In addition, geographic-specific comments can be submitted via the Collaborative Mapping Website at http://my.usgs.gov/ppgis/studio/launch/4290.

More information about the plan revision process, large scale color maps and the 2014 assessment is available online at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/nezperceclearwater.

For more information contact: Timory Peel at (208) 935-2513.

Collaboration on Forest Plan continues

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests will be holding additional meetings in 2014 to collaborate with the public on revising the Forest Plan. This is a continuation of meetings held over the last year to hear from the public on how they would like to see the National Forests managed.

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests were selected to be “early adopters” of the Forest Service’s 2012 Planning Rule which emphasizes collaboration to develop the plan.

Rick Brazell, Forest Supervisor, extends an invitation to the public to participate. “Everyone that has an interest in management of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests is welcome to come and give their input. We’ve had approximately 50 to 60 people participate in each meeting and encourage all thoughts on management. This has been an exciting time to bring people together and hear their ideas.”

The meetings will be:

Feb. 8, at the Orofino Forest Service Office. Topics include Air Quality, Fire, and Fuel Management, Distinctive Roles of the Forest, and What’s Next in the NEPA Process.

March 8, at the Grangeville Forest Service Office. Topics include Air Quality, Fire, and Fuel Management follow-up, Social and Economic Assessment Presentation, updates on Timber Suitability, and Recreation Opportunity Spectrum and Recommended Wilderness.

April 5, at the Orofino Forest Service Office. The topic will be Wildlife Resources.

May 10, at the Grangeville Forest Service Office. Topics include Integration Reports of all resources, a review of Tribal Resources input, and Wildlife Resources follow-up. This is the final planned collaboration session prior to initiating scoping for the NEPA process.

A Draft Forest Plan is expected to be available in June for interested parties to provide formal input through the NEPA process. Public meetings will be held at this time to share key items from the plan, answer questions, and for the public to learn how to provide comments.

For more information on these collaborative meetings or how you can participate outside of the meetings, please contact Carol Hennessey, Forest Plan Revision Collaboration Coordinator, at 208-935-4270 or email at cahennessey@fs.fed.us.

You can also visit the Forest Plan Revision website at www.fs.usda. gov/detail/nezperceclearwater/landmanagement /planning/?cid=stelprdb5388769.

Clearwater, Idaho counties file suit over travel plan

Clearwater and Idaho counties have filed suit against the United State Forest Service concerning the travel plan. The counties have filed jointly, because “most of our issues with the USFS are identical,” according to a press release issued by the counties.

Both counties are members of the Clearwater Basin Collaborative (CBC); however, the CBC itself has chosen not to become involved in the travel plan issue, “because we felt that consensus would be too elusive,” according to the press release.

In the suit filed against the Forest Service, the counties allege the Forest Service:

Did not consider the local land use plan of Clearwater County as required by federal coordination mandates;

Closed trails to single track (motorcycles) because of conflicts with little or no evidence that conflicts exist;

Failed to consider the economic impact to the citizens of the two counties;

Relied on data which was speculative insufficient or non-existent;

Constituted a management plan whereby de-facto wilderness areas are created without the required Congressional designation;

Failed to consider the impact by snowmobiles or even how much use there actually is.

The counties “attempted to resolve our claims administratively, by appealing the travel plan and those appeals were denied,” said the press release. “We believe the travel plan decision lacked sufficient data, and was therefore arbitrary and capricious. The travel plan does harm to our Counties and our residents and we believe the plan was not done in accordance with federal law. We felt this is a place to take a stand and we would be remiss if we had not.”

Forest plan revision community check-in meetings begin Feb. 19 in Orofino

Rick Brazell, Forest Supervisor for the Nez Perce – Clearwater National Forests, would like to invite the public to participate in upcoming Community Check-in Meetings for the Forest Plan Revision Collaborative process to be held Feb. 19 through March 4. This is the first of a series of community meetings. 

These two-hour sessions will be co-hosted by the Forest Service with Idaho, Clearwater and Latah Counties and facilitated by the University of Idaho. The Community Check-In Meetings are designed to provide updates to community members who are interested in the revision process but are not able to attend monthly collaborative meetings. The Check-In Meetings will include overviews of the revision process, revision timeline, and collaborative input gathered from the November through February working sessions. Members of the Revision Collaborative will be present to discuss their views of the process. The public will be invited to participate in the process and they will be provided information regarding alternative avenues of participation.

The meeting schedule is as follows, and all meetings will be held from 6-8 pm.:

Tuesday, Feb. 19, 6-8 pm: Orofino Idaho; Forest Supervisors Office

Thursday, Feb. 21, 6-8 pm: Lolo, Montana; Lolo Community Center

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 6-8 pm: Lewiston, Idaho; Idaho Fish and Game Office

Thursday, Feb. 28, 6-8 pm: Grangeville, Idaho; Senior Citizens Center

Monday, March 4, 6-8 pm: Moscow, Idaho; 1912 Facility

In the Spring, 2012 the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests were selected as one of eight early-adopter forests to revise Forest plans under the new 2012 Planning Rule. Input is currently being sought on the Forest Plan Revision Draft Assessment and on Draft Forest Plan Components. This collaborative effort provides important supporting information to the Forest Supervisor for the plan revision.

If you would like to learn more about the Revision Collaborative and how to participate, please go to the Forest Plan Revision website for more information: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nezperce/landmanagement/planning or contact Carol Hennessey, Collaboration Coordinator at cahennessey@fs.fed.us or Cell: 208-451-6273.