We wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming meetings that the Forest Service will be holding from February 24th to March 7th across Eastern Oregon. These meetings aim to initiate the process of either establishing the foundation for a closed forest to motorized access in the Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur National Forests and continuing the current closure on the Umatilla National Forest, where only about 4% of the land is accessible for motorized use. Although we are unsure if public comments will be allowed, we believe it is important to attend and, if given the chance, address three key issues in the Preliminary Draft Proposed Forest Land Management Plan (also known as the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision).
1) The plan does not align with President Trump's Executive Orders and Memorandums on Climate Change and Unnecessary Regulation.
2) The draft was developed without public input, based instead on a "crosswalk" of the unsuccessful 2016 to 2018 forest plan revision attempt, which was widely rejected by the local public.
3) The draft plan proposes arbitrary and unreasonable restrictions on motorized access to public lands managed by the Forest Service in Northeastern Oregon.
Links to Documents -
These meetings offer an opportunity for the public to learn about the upcoming NEPA process and to hear plan development updates. For questions and more information, please reach out to sm.fs.bluesforests@usda.gov or (541) 278 - 3716.
The public meetings will be in person and virtual. Meetings will be held from5 - 8 p.m., with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. More information and meetings links will be available at https://tinyurl.com/35wtfbpj.
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