Dear Clearwater National Forest Travel Planning Participant:
Thank you for your earlier comments on and interest in the Clearwater National Forest Travel Planning effort. I have prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Travel Planning project. The FEIS and ROD are now available online at
http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_proje...?project=17992 . Paper copies of the FEIS and ROD are available at Clearwater National Forest offices and many local libraries, including those at Orofino, Deary, Elk River, Grangeville, Kamiah, Kooskia, Lewiston, Moscow, Pierce, Potlatch, and Weippe in Idaho, as well as Superior and Missoula, Montana. An Executive Summary of the FEIS is included with this message.
The Clearwater National Forest is making every effort to minimize our use of paper, as well as the consumption of other resources that are needed to produce, transport, and store paper documents. Your willingness to access environmental documents online is greatly appreciated, and will allow us to significantly reduce costs.
The ROD was signed November 10, 2011. The project area boundary is the Clearwater National Forest boundary. The analysis area includes portions of Idaho, Clearwater, Latah, Benewah, and Shoshone counties in the state of Idaho. The primary purpose of the Forest’s Travel Planning project is to meet the requirements of the 2005 Travel Planning Rule. The Rule requires each National Forest to complete a local analysis designating those roads, trails, and areas where motorized travel will be permitted, and to display them on a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). Once the MVUM is published, public summer motor vehicle use on the Clearwater National Forest will be allowed only on the designated routes displayed on the map. The responsible official has elected to include mechanized travel and over-snow vehicles in this analysis so that suitable areas, routes, and seasons for their operation can be provided as envisioned in the 1987 Clearwater Forest Plan.
The Forest Supervisor has made the decision to implement Alternative C Modified. Alternative C Modified was added to the alternative array for the FEIS in response to comments received for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Alternative C Modified was based on Alternative C, so many features of the two alternatives are the same. However, Alternative C Modified would respond to issues and concerns about opportunities for motorcycle loop trips to a greater degree than Alternative C.
Under Alternative C Modified, 0 acres will be open to cross-country motorized travel off of designated routes; 2,961 miles of motorized road routes will be open either year-round or seasonally; 496 miles of motorized trail routes will be open either year-round or seasonally; 253 miles of motorized trail routes in Inventoried Roadless Areas will be open either year-round or seasonally; 4,354 road miles will be open to bicycles and mechanized vehicles either year-round or seasonally; 988 trail miles will be open to bicycles and mechanized vehicles either year-round or seasonally; 1,319,623 acres will be open to over-snow motorized vehicle travel; and 0 trail miles will be open to bicycle travel in Recommended Wilderness Areas. Motorized travel to dispersed campsites within 300 feet of a designated motorized route will be permitted as long as conditions for that travel are met. Some route-based restrictions for over-snow motorized vehicles will be simplified, compared to the existing condition, to make the restrictions and the Winter Use Map clearer. These changes will have an insignificant effect on motorized over-snow recreational opportunities. Over-snow motorized vehicle use will be restricted yearlong in Recommended Wilderness Areas and on Fish Lake Trail 419.
This decision is subject to appeal pursuant to 36 CFR 215. A legal notice advertising the start of the appeal period for this decision will appear in the Lewiston Tribune, Lewiston, Idaho on January 10, 2012. A written Notice of Appeal must be postmarked or received within 45 days following the publication date of this legal notice in the Lewiston Tribune. It is the responsibility of the appellant to ensure that their appeal is received in a timely manner. The publication date of the legal notice for the decision in the Lewiston Tribune is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an appeal. Appellants should not rely on date or time information provided by any other source.
Paper appeals must be submitted to:
USDA Forest Service, Northern Region
Federal Building, 200 Broadway
ATTN: Appeal Deciding Officer
P.O. Box 7669
Missoula, MT 59807
FAX: (406) 329-3411
Business Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Mountain Time)
In electronic appeals, the subject line should contain the name of the project being appealed (Clearwater National Forest Travel Planning). An automated response will confirm that your electronic appeal has been received. Electronic appeals must be submitted in MS Word, Word Perfect, or Rich Text format (RTF).
The appellant must have submitted comments during the 45-day comment period for the DEIS, and it is the appellant’s responsibility to provide sufficient project- or activity-specific evidence and rationale, focusing on the decision, to show why the decision should be reversed. The appeal must be filed with the Appeal Deciding Officer in writing. At a minimum, the appeal must meet the content requirements of 36 CFR 215.14.
If an appeal is received for this project, informal resolution meetings and/or conference calls may be scheduled between the Responsible Official and the appellant. These discussions would take place within 15 days after the closing date for filing an appeal. All such meetings are open to the public. If you are interested in attending any informal resolution discussions, please contact the Responsible Official or monitor the following website for postings about current appeals in the Northern Region of the Forest Service:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/projects/appeal_index.shtml .
If no appeal is received, implementation of the decision may occur on, but not before, five business days from the close of the appeal filing period. If an appeal is received, implementation may not occur for 15 days following the date of appeal disposition.
For further information or to request a copy of the FEIS and ROD, contact Lois Hill, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, at the Kamiah Ranger Station, 903 3rd Street, Kamiah, Idaho 83536, telephone (208) 935-4258. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PST. The FEIS and ROD are also available on CD’s or in hard copy format.
Sincerely,
/s/ Rick Brazell
RICK BRAZELL
Forest Supervisor
Sent by:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lois Hill
NEPA Coordinator/IDT Leader
Kamiah Ranger Station
208-935-4258
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