Sorry I didn't get this out sooner.  Tomorrow is a public meeting in Portland to ask questions about the final draft of the new forest planning rule.
 If you are unable to attend you can watch the webcast online:   https://www.instantpresenter.com/WebConference/Default.aspx?ip_ek=FSForums1&time=23582  If this link doesn't get you there scroll to the bottom of the page for the meeting schedule.  Then look for Region 6 meeting in Portland. 
 
Here are a few of my concerns dealing the plan.
-  The only recreation allowed will be sustainable recreation.  That DOES NOT include 4-wheelers, or horses.  Roads and vehicle are not 
    sustainable either.  
         This is the only reference in the plan on motorized recreation
          " a plan may identify an area as suitable for motorized recreation trails on stable soils, but the plan also has a guideline limiting   
            motorized recreation during the nesting season. Before a new designated motorized trail can be opened in the management area, a
            site-specific analysis would need to determine which parts of the project area have stable soils and are thus suitable for the
             motorized trail. Consistent with the plan, a motorized trail may then be proposed within the management area on stable soils with
            a  requirement that it be seasonally closed during the month of the nesting season."
 
      This is the only horse reference in the plan.
          "Paragraph (a)(1)(iv) of this section is a specific factor that would not allow lands to be identified as suitable for timber production 
          unless technology is currently available for conducting timber harvest without causing irreversible damage to soil, slope, or other   
           watershed conditions or substantial and permanent impairment of the productivity of the land.  Available technology may vary from
          place to place, and could be any of the following: Horse logging, ground based skidding, aerial systems, or cable logging systems. ... 
         The factor has been effective in protecting watershed conditions."
Yes, that is correct the only uses for horses in the forest will be for logging!!!!
 
-  The Forest Service focuses on ecosystem services and sustainability thru the whole plan.  Ecosystem services was creating by the United Nation in 2004. 
 Remember: The 1992 signing of the Forest Principles and Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) - the "Earth Summit" - was coordinated by this new branch of the agency.
 
     Here is a 10 minute video called "Agenda 21 for dummies"   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM
The plan places nature over the needs of the people. 
 
- The Forest Service brings up over a dozen times the need to LOOK BEYOND FOREST SERVICE BOUNDARIES!!!
    The Forest Service has no right to regulate, monitor, influence what happens on private property.  
Please take the time to let your elected officials in Olympia know how you feel about the new plans.
 
Thanks,
Emily
 
 

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:22:17 -0600
To: wa_watershed@hotmail.com
From: noreply@sharetrails.org
Subject: National Land Use Update - USFS Planning Rule Meetings Underway


BlueRibbon Coalition National Land Use Update
USFS Planning Rule Meetings Underway
Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,
Reports are trickling in from the field on the meetings the USFS is holding on their Draft Planning Rule. https://www.sharetrails.org/public-lands/?section=FS_Planning_Rule The reports are mostly what you might expect. The USFS seems to be sticking to a repetition of the materials presented on their website https://www.fs.usda.gov/planningrule. The meetings are useful for attendees to ask questions, but the agency is not taking comments.
Attendance at these meetings is important to ensure the Forest Service understands recreation is concerned and engaged in the process.  It prevents the misleading "preservationist" attendance overload. 
Just remember, these meetings are designed for the interested public to have the Forest Service explain the proposed rule and for the public to ask questions about the rule.  The questions and how they are asked are important, but the Forest Service is explicitly not taking formal comments at the meetings.
Below is an updated meeting schedule. BRC is just about finished slogging through the details of the planning rule and we will have a review, as well as several comment suggestions soon. Stay Tuned!
As always, please call or email if you have any comments or questions.
Greg Mumm
Executive Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 101
CHECK OUT THE LATEST MEETING SCHEDULE BELOW, AS IT HAS CHANGE SEVERAL TIMES:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5270751.pdf  
 
 
 

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