Don't forget everyone, the first of the public meetings for the Forest Circus roadless initiative are to be held starting next week.

I suggest that everone visit the roadless website to find out where your local meetings are held at:

http://roadless.fs.fed.us

IF YOU VALUE RIDING IN FOREST SERVICE LAND, GO TO THE MEETINGS!!!

 

Right on, AlaskaTRX!

I guarantee you, the Greens, the '60s Reenactors, the Bird & Bunny (Flower) People will be there.

When you sign in, be sure to list your club or SOME group affiliation; for example, AMA, Blue Ribbon Coalition, etc., because, in the meeting reports, the organizations represented are published (but not necessarily the names of the attendees). So, to get credit for your "side," put down SOME association to counter the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, etc., entries.

Do your best to get ATV DEALERS to attend. Unfortunately, many of these businessmen do not realize these meetings affect their LIVELIHOOD; without somplace to ride, why would their customers buy ATV's? The timber industry guys, the utility company (telephone or power lines, pipelines) guys, the mining interest guys show up, because they realize their opportunity to make a living is on the line; the same is true for ATV dealers, but few realize this fact and act accordingly.

Further, unfortunately, few realize and understand what a "ROADLESS AREA" is: a Forest Service-designated roadless area is a de facto wilderness area where NO MOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION WHATEVER is allowed: no trucks can service existing telephone or power lines or pipelines, no logging trucks; in fact, no helicopter or ambulance medevac without the specific exception approved by the chief forester in charge. A tip: If you plan acute appendicitis, don't contract the disease in a USFS roadless area. Now, do you think ATV's are allowed? Hardly!

I believe the ATV community faces two problem areas regarding the USFS plans: 1) Awareness. Few ATVers are aware how deadly the threat to public land access rises in the roadless area issue. 2) Action. How can ATVers be motivated to take action, such as attending the subject meetings, commenting on the USFS initiatives, and perhaps most important and effective of all, contacting their elected representatives, their Senators and Congressmen?

Sermon over; I apologize for its length.

Tree Farmer

 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Meetings in your town

Submit your comment

Up Front What is being Proposed?

>> Summary of the Proposed Rule

The Forest Service proposed action contains three elements:



1. Prohibition on Road Building

The proposed rule would generally prohibit new road construction or reconstruction in the unroaded portions of inventoried roadless areas on National Forest System lands.
2. Procedures

In addition to the prohibitions on new road building and reconstruction in unroaded portions of inventoried roadless areas, the proposal would also establish procedures for use during the forest plan revision process requiring local managers to:


a. Evaluate the quality and importance of roadless characteristics
b. Determine whether and how to protect roadless characteristics in the context of multiple-use objectives.


Local managers would use the procedures and further public involvement as part of the forest plan revision process to make future decisions about what activities, such as recreation, timber harvest, and grazing would be appropriate in inventoried roadless and other unroaded areas.
3. Tongass National Forest

A decision on whether to prohibit new road construction in inventoried roadless areas on the Tongass National Forest would be postponed until the 5-year forest plan review scheduled for April 2004. If it were determined that inventoried roadless areas on the Tongass merit protection by applying the road building prohibition, a forest plan amendment or revision would be initiated with full public involvement.


>> What alternatives were considered?

>> Give me a printer friendly version of this

>> Get the Full Story in the Draft EIS