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Stop Forest Service from removing vital forest protections

The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 requires national forests to prepare management plans every 15 years and divides each forest into zones delineating where certain types of development are allowed or excluded. It also requires that "viable populations" of species be maintained by management policies. Since 1976 NFMA has been amended several times. All of these changes required the Forest Service to prepare environmental impact statements (EIS) for forest plans and forest plan amendments. The most recent change occurred in 2000 when the Clinton Administration made ecological sustainability the most important principle guiding forest planning. An EIS is the most comprehensive document used under federal law to explain a land-use proposal, offer alternatives to the proposal, and to solicit public input.

The Bush Administration plans to reverse the 2000 regulations put in place by the Clinton Administration and revise several other aspects of forest planning to focus the agency on commodity production not environmental protection. The proposed changes would:

• exclude the forest planning process from the NEPA requirement to prepare an EIS
• eliminate the greatest measure for wildlife protection- the population viability requirement
• remove special consideration for roadless areas
• give industrial development equal standing with ecological sustainability
• open forests up to more commodity development and off-road vehicle use
• eliminate public participation
• make compliance with recommended standards and guidelines optional

The cumulative effects of the proposed NFMA regulations would be to make the national forests vastly more vulnerable to logging, mining, ORV use, and other environmentally damaging activities. The regulations pose a monumental threat to old-growth forests, roadless areas, and environmental quality in California’s national forests. These rule changes will have a devastating impact on California’s clean water, clean air, ecological health, and quality of life and must be stopped.

What you can do

Please write the Forest Service and your Congressional representatives by April 7, 2003, and request that the proposed "Forest Service Planning Rule" be dropped and that the 2000 NFMA regulation remain in place for the following reasons:

• The proposed rule will cut the public out of the planning process.
• Major decisions such as where logging and road construction is allowed can be made with almost no environmental review of the consequences.
• Maintenance of viable population of native species should remain an obligation, not simply an option.
• It will eliminate requirements to evaluate and protect the special values of roadless areas.
• It will allow forest plans to be amended for up to four years with no public notice or opportunity to comment.

Also, feel free to borrow additional points from the text above. Send your letter to:

USDA FS Planning Rule, Content Analysis Team
PO Box 8359
Missoula, MT 59807
E-mail: planning_rule@fs.fed.us
Fax: 406-329-3556

Please also send a copy of your letter to:

Senator Dianne Feinstein
C/O Michael Walker
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Fax: 415-393-0710

Senator Barbara Boxer
C/O John Ormsby
1700 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Fax: 415-956-6701

Jason Swartz
California Wilderness Coalition
2655 Portage Bay East # 5
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: (530) 758-0380

Your letter must be postmarked no later than April 7, 2003. Thank you for your help!