USFS Planning Rule Meetings Announced for Pacific Northwest Region

[Senator]

March 30th, 2010

BLUERIBBON COALITION LAND USE ADVISORY

Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,

This is an important UPDATE to the alert we blasted last Friday.

As the alert said, the Forest Service is revising the regulations used to formulate Forest Plans (known as the Planning Rule). The agency has said it is committed to an open collaborative approach, and has announced several national and regional meetings. Nationwide, the collaborative process includes a Science Forum, three National Roundtables and Roundtables in nine Regions. More information is available on the FS Forest Planning webpage.

The FS recently announced the schedule for Regional Roundtables in Region 6 (Pacific Northwest Region), which encompasses all of Oregon and Washington.

As part of this national effort, public roundtable meetings will be held in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. The Region 6 Roundtables will include three (repeat) sessions beginning at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm PDT. You are welcome to participate in any or all of these sessions. Each session will begin with a plenary presentation, followed by facilitated roundtable discussions.

Location:
Double Tree Hotel at Lloyd Center (Multnomah Room), 1000 NE Multnomah, Portland, OR

Session times:
Repeat sessions will begin at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm PDT.
Open house hours are from Noon to 1:00 pm PDT, and from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm PDT.

For more information contact:
Luke Lukoskie forestservicemtg@LSAresults.com

Please RSVP by sending an email to ForestServiceMtg@LSAResults.com with your name and organizational affiliation. Your RSVP is not required, but helpful for planning purposes.

You can view our Friday alert for more info, and if you plan to attend any of the meetings, please feel free to use our comments to help you provide input at the meetings.

We also have an ACTION ITEM prepared for those who can't make it to the meetings and still want to do something to help.

As always, please call or email if you have any concerns or questions.

Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102

[07banshee]

So whats the action item for those who can't attend. I have to work and can't get off of work to go.

[Senator]

Excellent question, I'm glad you asked...



BRC'S THREE-STEP ACTION ITEM

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LAWMAKERS:

NOTE: Please be polite and, if possible, make your comments as personal as you can.

STEP 1: Click here to "Contact Lawmakers", then enter your zip code and click GO.
Click on your representative's name. Select what works best for you.
Email, via their Web Form or by contacting them through local staff via the phone.
Follow the same steps for each senator.

STEP 2: Be brief, be polite and use the comment suggestions below.

STEP 3: Take just a minute to forward this alert to friends and family and ask them to do the same.




COMMENT SUGGESTIONS:

The US Forest Service has a critical problem. By its own admission, the agency's existing planning regulations are costly, complex, and procedurally burdensome. The Forest Service is now in the process of revising the planning regulations, but the initial proposal put forward by the agency threatens to create new, undefined goals and criteria which will exacerbate, not resolve, the planning gridlock accelerating through the agency

Many stakeholders, including the BlueRibbon Coalition, a national recreation advocacy group have strongly urged the Forest Service to steer this effort back to its necessary focus- (1) to fill the current regulatory void; and (2) to redouble proper focus on the primary goals of efficiency and expediency in the Forest planning process.

In other words, Forest Service seems to be making the same mistakes, despite itself, and they seem not to be listening to forest users, especially recreational users, who depend on a functional Forest planning process.

Planning gridlock threatens good management of our nations forest lands and will not meet the need to provide a diverse range of recreation for America's recreating public. There is only one special interest class that benefits from planning gridlock; the ideological extremists.

According to the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, the popularity and importance to USFS visitors of off-highway vehicle and snowmobile recreation has drastically increased in recent years. Ditto for mountain bike and equestrian use. Conversely, the amount of USFS lands available for motorized, mountain bike and, on some Forests, even equestrian trails, have been reduced via legislation, implementation of Forest Plans and site-specific recreation plans. It is past time the Forest Service recognized the importance of recreation to the American public. They need to emphasize a diverse range of recreation as a key function of Forest Service lands in the planning regulations.
Please designate at least one staff member to keep track of the Forest Service Planning Rule process. Please also scrutinize that the collaborative process to ensure the agency carefully considers and responds to flaws in their initial proposal.