Contacting Forest Service Leadership.

We firmly believe that the most effective way to tackle unfavorable government decisions is through direct and intentional engagement. Over the past week, we have reached out to senior leaders at both the Forest Service and the Council for Environmental Quality. Below are the emails sent during this period.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could consider emailing Tom Schultz (the new Chief of the Forest Service), Chris French (Deputy Chief), and Megan Healy from the Council for Environmental Quality. With enough participation, we might see the withdrawal of The 2005 Travel Management Rule and the Clinton Roadless Rule.

Email addresses -

Tom Schultz (Chief of the Forest Service) - tom.schultz@usda.gov

Chris French (Deputy Chief of the Forest Service) - chris.french@usda.gov

Megan Healy (NEPA - Council for Environmental Quality) - megan.e.healy@ceq.eop.go

Good afternoon, Mr. Schultz and Mr. French,

I initially reached out to Ms. Healy in the hope that she could escalate our concerns to you regarding ongoing land access issues with the U.S. Forest Service in Eastern Oregon. Specifically, we are troubled by the continued use of the Travel Management Rule to restrict—and, in many cases, completely close off—motorized access to public lands that have long been essential to sustaining our families.

I wanted to forward our correspondence with Ms. Healy to you in the hopes that these emails will reach leadership and help initiate a discussion on the future of the Travel Management Rule and the Roadless Rule. In short, these policies do not benefit our communities; instead, they impose further hardships on already economically struggling regions.

I recall that Mr. French visited our area in 2018, and I believe one of the review team members described the journey from John Day, Oregon, to Baker City, Oregon, as the "Appalachia of the West." This highlights the need for policies that support, rather than hinder, these communities.

Please review the emails below. We are simply asking for the rescission of the Travel Management Rule so that our way of life is not criminalized in the future.

Respectfully

Don George

President - Forest Access For All

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Forest Access For All <keep.it.open.fafa@gmail.com>

Date: Mon, Mar 3, 2025 at 4:12 PM

Subject: Re: Forest Service land Access Issues

To: <Megan.E.Healy@ceq.eop.gov>

Ms. Healy,

I had one additional thought.

I understand President Trump's recent executive order, “Unleashing American Energy,” which encourages energy exploration and production on federal lands and water. The executive order rescinded former President Jimmy Carter’s Executive Order 11991, which directed CEQ to issue guidance to federal agencies on implementing NEPA.

We regularly see Executive Order (E.O.) 11644 (February 8, 1972), “Use of Off-Road Vehicles on the Public Lands,” as amended by E.O. 11989 (May 24, 1977), referenced as reasons for not only restricting energy and mineral development on public lands, but again used as the foundational cornerstone of the 2005 Travel Management Rule, which is used by agency staff as a justification to minimize fuels reduction project on the national forest which puts rural communities in harms way.

I know you are a busy lady, but if there is any way we could work with CEQ and the administration to get rid of the 2005 Travel Management Rule and the Clinton Roadless Rule I and the people of Eastern Oregon would be eternally grateful for it. It's a bad rule that does nothing but harm our way of life, and reduces our ability to sustain our communities.

Thank you

Don George

Forest Access For All.

On Sat, Mar 1, 2025 at 7:15 PM Forest Access For All <keep.it.open.fafa@gmail.com> wrote:

Good Evening Ms. Healey,

I understand you may not have direct authority regarding access issues on Forest Service (FS) lands, but I am hopeful you might be able to help our organization make headway regarding an issue that has a direct negative impact on local rural communities.

I am Don George, President of Forest Access For All (FAFA), an organization based in Eastern Oregon dedicated to protecting open motorized access across the Blue Mountains. Our mission is to preserve access for families, communities, and industries that depend on the natural resources these lands provide—resources that have sustained livelihoods and traditions in our region for over a century.

Over the past three decades, motorized access to the Blue Mountains has been steadily eroded due to restrictive policies, driven both by environmental groups and federal agencies. These policies, such as the Clinton Roadless Rule and the 2005 Travel Management Rule, have been implemented with the apparent intent of removing local communities from the landscape and crippling critical industries like timber. These actions have resulted in severe consequences, not only for our region but for public land users across the West.

FAFA has worked tirelessly over the past 15 years to prevent the implementation of restrictive Travel Management plans in Eastern Oregon. This effort has been fraught with challenges, including instances of federal officials misrepresenting processes, marginalizing local residents, and creating biased “cooperative” groups that exclude genuine community input.

While we had limited ability to influence the Clinton Roadless Rule or the initial adoption of the Travel Management Rule, the 11 counties of Eastern Oregon have made their position clear: we oppose a "closed forest system." However, federal agencies continue to dismiss our voices, often justifying their actions by claiming these lands belong as much to residents of Miami or Chicago as to the families here who rely on them for heating, food, and livelihoods, while using NEPA as a tool to bludgeon local concerns into the nonexistence.

In 2012, FAFA successfully opposed the Forest Service's initial attempt to implement a Travel Management plan for the Blue Mountains. However, the agency has since resumed efforts to revise forest management plans for the Wallowa-Whitman, Malheur, and Umatilla National Forests, laying the groundwork for further access restrictions to motorirzed access and the planning team takes a great deal of pride in their new attempts to restrict motorized access to public lands.

To illustrate the consequences of these policies, consider the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Due to the Roadless Rule and Wilderness designations, only 49% of the forest is accessible to the public and commercial users. In reality, topography and vegetation significantly reduce that figure, leaving much less land available to sustain local communities. Meanwhile, the Umatilla National Forest provides a sobering example of what happens under full Travel Management: since its adoption in 2009, cross-country travel has been banned, restricting motorized access to just 7% of the forest's 1.4 million acres—and far less when factoring in practical access limitations.

These restrictions have criminalized traditional activities such as firewood cutting, dispersed camping, food gathering, and hunting, while also impeding land management practices critical to reducing wildfire risk and supporting resource extraction. Forest Service staff have even admitted that Travel Management has rendered many timber treatments financially unfeasible due the lack of motorized access. Their dismissive attitudes toward public concerns—such as suggesting elderly residents haul firewood by wheelbarrow—only deepens the divide between the agency and the communities it serves.

FAFA believes the 2005 Travel Management Rule and the Clinton Roadless Rule are fundamentally flawed policies that have done more harm than good. While they are often touted as environmental triumphs, their real-world effects include degraded forest health, delayed emergency responses, and diminished access for public land users.

We stand ready to assist in advocating for the repeal of these policies and promoting a return to active, balanced land management. If there is any way FAFA can support these efforts, please do not hesitate to reach out. Together, we can ensure the Blue Mountains remain accessible to the communities that depend on them.

I would be more than happy to visit with anyone that is willing to assist in seeing these rules go away forever.

Sincerely,

Don George

President, Forest Access For All