On July 22, after the comment period had already started, the Forest Service posted an errata stating that the DEIS had mistakenly referred to supplemental information on five pages. The errata said supplemental-information documents were not published with the DEIS and that the substantive analysis needed for public comment was already contained in the DEIS. That is where this went from a shell game to something that operates like a bait-and-switch.

Active Restrictions

You might be asking yourself: why is Forest Access For All so concerned that the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision could restrict motorized access? Agency staff have repeatedly said this plan does not directly address access or travel management. We have been told travel management will come later, after the forest plan revision, so access is not really an issue in this plan. That sounds reassuring. Until you start digging into the documents. Access may not always show up u

The Forest Service released the DEIS and opened the public comment period, but there are still support records and background materials we need in order to fully understand how some of these conclusions were reached. That matters because the public cannot make strong comments if the key assumptions, data, maps, and comparison materials are hard to find or missing from the public review record.

A forest plan sets the framework future decisions will follow. It tells the agency what conditions it is trying to create, what uses it will support, what uses it will limit, and what direction future projects are supposed to follow. If that framework points toward fewer routes, more restrictions, or more reasons to limit motorized use, then access is very much part of this plan.

The Blue Mountains Forest Plan DEIS has not been released yet, but we do not need to wait on the final document to start paying attention to one of the biggest issues in this process: access. One of the easiest mistakes the public can make is to look for one clean section called "access," not find it, and assume the issue is not there anymore. That would be wrong. Access was not removed from the plan. It was redistributed into other plan components. That may sound like a smal

The forest plan is coming, we're ready to help you comment when it comment period opens.

The Forest Service released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Austin Project on February 2. Because this project affects nearly 80,000 acres of public land in Eastern Oregon, Forest Access For All (FAFA) took the time to read the document carefully, review the maps, and compare what is written to what exists on the ground. What we found raises serious concerns about access, transparency, and whether the project stays within the emergency authority it rel

When we talk about the Blue Mountains Forest Plan revision today, we aren’t starting from scratch. We’ve been here before. In 2018, the first attempt to revise the forest plans for the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests was withdrawn. That didn’t happen quietly. And it didn’t happen by accident. It happened after significant public involvement raised serious concerns about process, analysis, and how community needs were reflected in the proposed directio

“Stored” Roads, Closed Access: The Austin Project and a Pattern of Public Misdirection

From Open Forests to Permission-Based Access: What This Revision Is Trying to Change

Across Eastern Oregon, many of us have felt it: Why bother commenting? They’re just going to do what they want anyway. That feeling didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s been built over time—through long processes, dense documents, and decisions that often felt disconnected from the people who live, work, and rely on these forests. That frustration is real. And it’s shared. But it’s not the whole story. Because when we look back honestly, there are moments where our collective inv

From Open Forests to Permission-Based Access

You Don’t Need to Be an Expert to Comment The Forest Service is preparing to release a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision. When that happens, the public will have an opportunity to submit comments. For many people, the idea of commenting on a federal planning document feels intimidating. The documents are long. The language can be technical. It’s easy to think you need to be an expert to have something worth saying. You don

Honoring the message of being active citizens - Will you stand for the closure of YOUR LANDS?

Oct. 6th is the deadline to comment.

The time to stand is now.

📢 Public Notice: Forest Service Releases Notice of Intent for Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision Today, the U.S. Forest Service filed...

The Quiet Disappearance of Cross-Country Travel in the Blue Mountains Forest Plan

The Draft Plan Reduces — Not Increases — Active Land Management