🚨 They Didn’t Remove Travel Management — They Just Renamed It
- keepitopenfafa
- Jul 11
- 3 min read
Forest Service Plan Uses “Transportation Infrastructure” to Hide Road Closures from the Public
📍 Public Meetings Start July 14 — Show Up and Be Heard
At the July 8th Blue Mountains Intergovernmental Council meeting, Forest Service staff told the public that Travel Management is not part of the new Forest Plan. But that’s not true.
We’ve done the document comparisons. We’ve reviewed the withdrawn 2018 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), earlier versions of the 2025 draft, and the latest May 2025 V5 document.
Here’s what we’ve found:
🔍 The Forest Service has not removed Travel Management —They’ve just removed the words.
🧾 Travel Management: Deleted from Language, Not from Policy
In the 2018 FEIS, the Forest Service referenced “Travel Management” 13 times.They discussed:
Route designation
Motorized access limits
Road decommissioning
Reducing road density
In the May 2025 draft?
Zero mentions. Not once.
But the strategy is still there — only now, it's cloaked under phrases like:
“Transportation infrastructure”
“Road system efficiency”
“Environmental impact reduction”
“Access priorities”
The effect?They’re still closing roads and restricting access — just without calling it Travel Management.
⚠️ They’re Hiding It in Plain Sight
Here’s a direct comparison from our analysis:
The words have changed — the outcome has not.
This is Travel Management by Stealth.
🌪️ And They Did the Same Thing with Climate Change
Forest Service staff also claimed they “removed” climate change from the Forest Plan.But our side-by-side comparison between V2 and V5 proves that’s not true either.
They just replaced the phrase with softer alternatives:
“Changing environmental conditions”
“System resilience”
“Adaptive management”
Same framework. Same direction. Just rebranded.
🔁 Recycled Plan, Same Problems
Let’s not forget: This entire plan is a reboot of the 2018 Forest Plan that was withdrawn by Deputy Chief Chris French in 2019. Why?
“Because it failed to meet the needs of local communities, lacked transparency, and didn’t earn public trust.”
Yet today, more than 80% of the old plan is reused in the new one.
They didn’t rewrite it — they renamed it.
✊ What’s at Stake for You
If this plan is approved, here’s what’s coming:
🚫 Road closures that limit your access to fuelwood, grazing lands, and hunting areas
❌ Permits required to reach your own irrigation diversion or mine
🔒 Designated routes only, even if that means miles of walking to your traditional use sites
You won’t find these warnings in plain language — but they’re baked into the draft plan.
🗓️ Show Up to the Meetings – July 14–24, 2025
The Forest Service has scheduled eight meetings across Eastern Oregon and Southeast Washington.
📍 5:00–8:00 p.m. (Doors open at 4:30 p.m.)
✅ What You Can Do
Attend your local meeting
Ask the hard questions: Why is Travel Management still in the plan?
Demand transparency
Share this post with your neighbors and friends
We’ve done the research. Now we need the public to speak up.
If they can lie about what’s in the plan — they can lie about how it will be enforced.
✉️ Learn more or get involved: www.forestaccessforall.org