By Jessianne Castle EBS ENVIRONMENTAL & OUTDOORS EDITOR
BOZEMAN – Following
the March 1 release of the Custer Gallatin National Forest’s latest round of revision
plan documents, the public has a final opportunity to provide input on how they
would like to see the forest managed. Comments will be accepted through June 6,
after which managers will develop a final forest plan for release in 2020.
The revision
package includes a draft of the proposed forest plan, as well as an assessment
of alternatives that take into account public comments from the past three
years.
“It has the
entire spectrum of what was heard. Each alternative that we have has tradeoffs
and benefits to the resource,” said U.S. Forest Service public affairs
specialist Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan.
The draft
plan doesn’t identify a preferred alternative at this point, but does include
definitions and an overall direction for forest management.
Leuschen-Lonergan
recognizes that the four-year revision process, which will update the
management directive for the Custer Gallatin from plans originally created in
the 1980s, is lengthy and forest planning science is complex. However, public
input remains valuable.
“We want to
see the full spectrum of public comment for this final comment period,” she
said. “What is really helpful at this juncture is to go beyond a simple vote
and dig deeper to what it is that you prefer or do not prefer in an alternative.”
To assist
the public with their commentary, the Forest Service has provided a 16-page
summary of the 933-page alternative assessment, which is officially referred to
as a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, along with pointers on how to
provide comments and interpret the documents.
Leuschen-Lonergan
also noted that the final forest plan will be developed at the discretion of
Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson, who may adopt different portions of the five
proposed alternatives rather than select one alternative in its entirety. This
decision will be made based on the best available science and public input.
Additionally,
those who have been involved in the commentary process will be given an
opportunity to state any objections to the final document next year, while
individuals who have not been involved will not be able to file objections.
There will
be public meetings to discuss the forest plan at Bozeman’s Hilton Garden Inn on
April 3 at 6:30 p.m. and in West Yellowstone on April 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the
West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce. There will also be ten resource-specific
podcasts released in the coming weeks, available on the Your Forests, Your
Future website.
For more information, to view the revision documents and submit comments, visit fs.usda.gov/detail/custergallatin. Planning podcasts will be available at future.org/podcasts/forest-service-planning.
