Posts Tagged ‘motorized’

Clearwater Forest Releases Travel Planning Draft Environmental Impact Statement

BLUERIBBON COALITION LAND USE UPDATE

The Clearwater National Forest, located in northeastern Idaho, announced the release of their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for managing motorized uses on the Forest’s roads and trails system. The Forest Service (FS) is asking for your input during a 45-day public review and comment period, which will end on August 31, 2009.

All travel management documents and maps can be downloaded from the Forest’s website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/clearwater/. Copies of the DEIS are also 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.

The DEIS consists of four alternatives, a No Action Alternative along with three Action Alternatives. The alternatives purport to address the nearly 4500 public comments that were received from November 2007-February 2008 in response to the Clearwater National Forest’s travel planning proposed action.

BRC and Idaho’s Panhandle Trail Riding Association submitted substantial input. It will be interesting to read how our input has been incorporated into the Alternatives. Stay tuned for a full review and a BRC Action Alert.

If you enjoy the Clearwater, we encourage you to look over the maps and send comments to the Forest. Comments should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the DEIS.

Send Written Comments To:
Kamiah Ranger Station, Attn: Lois Foster, Travel Planning Team Leader, Rt. 2, Box 191, Kamiah, ID 83536.

Send Electronic Comments To: comments-northern-clearwater@fs.fed.us (Please put “Travel Planning” in the subject line of e-mail comments)

For more information, contact Lois Foster, Team Leader, at 208-935-4258.

JUST REMEMBER, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IS CRUCIAL TO KEEP RECREATION AREAS OPEN, PLEASE GET INVOLVED!

Thanks in advance for your support,
Ric Foster
Public Lands Department Manager
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 107

The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible recreation, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. It represents over 10,000 individual members and 1,200 organization and business members, for a combined total of over 600,000 recreationists nationwide. 1-800-258-3742. http://www.sharetrails.org

Please Contact your Representative today to help save the Recreational Trails Program!

BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!

The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) has been a vital source of funding for recreational access and trails since its inception in 1991. BRC is proud of our lead role in founding the original ‘RTP’ program – the Symm’s National Recreational Trails Act. As such, we ask your support to help ensure it is reauthorized this year by Congress.

Funding for RTP comes from the federal gas tax you pay at the pump as a calculated portion of fuel that is used for “off-highway motorized use.” The program was last reauthorized for three years in 2005 as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU.) This law is about to expire at the end of 2009, and the Recreational Trails Program will expire along with it unless it can be authorized and funded in the next national surface transportation bill, the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009.

U.S. Representatives Mike Michaud (D-ME) and Tom Petri (R-WI) have just release a bi-partisan “Dear Colleague” letter urging members of the House of Representatives to sign a letter to the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in support of RTP. The letter thanks the leadership for including the RTP in the bill.

The letter also encourages appropriate funding levels to sustain the program through the year 2015, requests funding for a much-needed study on off-highway vehicle fuel use by the Department of Transportation, and asks for adjusted funding for the Federal Highway Administration to continue to effectively administer the program.

Copies of the Dear Colleague letter and the letter to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee can be found on our website at www.sharetrails.org/rtp/

It is critical you contact your member of the U.S. House of Representatives and encourage him/her to sign the letter. The deadline is this Friday, July 17th, so we urge you to send an email or make a phone call to your representatives office today. Explain how important the RTP is to the recreating community and to your organization specifically. Suggested text for your email can be found below in this alert.

If you need help identifying your U.S. Representative, the BlueRibbon Coalition has provided you with a handy tool in our Rapid Response Center at www.sharetrails.org/rapid_response/. All you need to do is type in your zip code.

More information on the Recreational Trails Program can be found on our website under the RTP button at www.sharetrails.org, located on the left-hand side of the page.

Thank you for taking action today to support the Recreational Trails Program.

Greg Mumm
Executive Director
BlueRibbon Coalition

Suggested email text:

Dear XXX,

On July 10, 2009, U.S. Representatives Mike Michaud (D-ME) and Tom Petri (R-WI) began circulating a letter to the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in support of the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). As my representative, I would encourage you to please sign on to this letter.

The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) provides vital funding for trails all across this country, both motorized and non-motorized. There is overwhelming support for this remarkably successful program from all walks of life. This program needs to be reauthorized this year in order to remain a viable source of funding for recreational trails.

The leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has provided the necessary language to continue the program in the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009. The letter from Representatives Mike Michaud and Tom Petri thanks the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leadership for this action. The letter also further encourages the appropriate funding levels to sustain the program through the year 2015, requests funding for a much needed study by the Department of Transportation on off-highway vehicle fuel use, and asks for adjusted funding for the Federal Highway Administration to continue to effectively administer the program.

Again, I am asking that you please contact the offices of either Representatives Mike Michaud (D-ME) or Tom Petri (R-WI) to sign on to the letter as soon as possible. There is a July 17th deadline to collect signatures.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and helping Americans of all walks of life to continue to recreate responsibly.

Sincerely,

–Your Name –

Boise NF-Emmett Ranger District Begins Travel Planning

The Boise National Forest continues their Travel Planning and is now working on portions of the Emmett Ranger District. There are a total of 216,193 acres, comprising some 65 percent of the Ranger District, that have not gone through a complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) decision process for route designation. These acres are comprised of the “E” travel management areas identified on the current Boise National Forest Visitor/Travel Map. Public motorized travel in “E” areas currently utilizes established user-created routes, as well as formally designated routes.
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Forest Service to Host Next Series of Open Houses on Motorized Access

BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!

Forest Service to Host Next Series of Open Houses on Motorized Access

The Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Crooked River Grassland are formulating a new travel plan that will limit ALL vehicle use to designated roads, trails and areas. The public is invited to attend any of several upcoming open houses scheduled in Central Oregon communities. The Forest Service (FS) is asking for your input during the 45-day public comment period, which will run through June 15, 2008.

Over the past year, personnel at the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests have been working with citizens, as well as state, county and local governments to identify how to provide for motorized access to dispersed campsites. The FS is now ready to begin environmental analysis of the proposal.
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