How to use the US Forest Service’s CARA System to Comment on the NW Forest Plan

Using the sample letter below, please write your own personal comments to the FS on the NWFPA DEIS. Feel free to include in your comment the ways you use, enjoy, and value the lands in CA covered by the NWFPA, namely the Klamath, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers NFs. Comments on the DEIS can be submitted until 8:59:59 PM (Pacific Standard Time) through the Public Comment Portal, or mailed to:

333 SW 1st Avenue PO Box 3623 Portland, OR 97208-3623.

To view the DEIS, you can visit the Project Page on the Forest Service’s website.

Step 1: Prepare your file

Here is an example of a file uploaded to CARA. This is a spreadsheet saved as a PDF.

NOTE: We recommend that you remove addresses (including email addresses and phone numbers) from the file that you upload since the file will be publicly available on the internet and you likely don’t want to publish an email list of your supporters. We have been advised that First Name, Last Name and Zip Code are sufficient.

The CARA system allows you to upload a maximum of 50 files per submission and total file upload size cannot exceed 200 MBs.

Step 2: Fill out the CARA form

You can submit your file at this link:

https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=64745

Fill in the contact information form. If you click the box next to “I officially represent an organization,” fields will appear for the name of the organization and your title. Note that all information is optional but it’s a good idea to include an email address (which will not be made public) so you can be notified about the process in the future.

The CARA system allows you to upload a maximum of 50 files per submission and total file upload size cannot exceed 200 MBs.

In the “letter text” box, enter the number of people who signed your petition/submitted comments (see example below).

Additionally, the FS is holding three in-person meetings in Northern California beginning on January 21, 2025. See below for details.

Target Letter (no more than 4,000 characters):

Dear Regional Forester Eberlien and Regional Forester Buchanan:

The DEIS is off to a good start in the effort to update the NWFP of 1994 to address climate change, decades of habitat loss, and impacts to Tribes. While we appreciate the effort so far, we urge you to strengthen the protections for old-growth and mature trees in the Forest Service’s preferred alternative in the final version of the NWFP Amendment (NWFPA).

As you know, protecting the largest and oldest remaining trees in California’s Northwest National Forests, and working to grow more mature and old-growth trees over time, is essential to promoting fire resilience for both people and wildlife. While we support proposals in the DEIS to protect trees of 150+ years of age, we urge you to develop and select an alternative in the final version of the NWFPA that:

• Protects the best remaining mature trees (those of 80+ years) that will become the next generations of ancient forest.
• Prioritizes Tribal inclusion and access in the decision making process around any changes to the Northwest Forest Plan. This would include opportunities for cultural harvesting and access, co-stewardship agreements, fire stewardship, workforce development, and youth education.
• Preserves and strives to restore biodiversity and connected wildlife habitat across the region. This includes protecting more old forest habitat (such as trees 80+ years of age) to support impacted northern spotted owls, Pacific fisher, goshawk, and the many imperiled fish populations that depend on our public lands to survive.

I also encourage the Forest Service to retain the following elements from the DEIS in the final NWFP:

• Promoting the restoration of old-growth forest ecosystems where ecologically appropriate in young forests.
• The goal of conducting restoration and fire resilience enhancements on between 790,000 to 964,000 acres of CA’s dry forests in the first 15 years after the NWFP Amendment is approved, including increasing the pace and scale of managed fire use.
• Moving beyond mere consultation with Tribes in this urgently needed restoration campaign by including specific, actionable strategies to incorporate indigenous knowledge in decision making and providing opportunities to expand co-stewardship with Tribes. Tribes were helping to maintain the health of what are now NW CA’s NFs for millennia and their knowledge and assistance is essential to our collective restoration efforts today.

Thank you for considering my comments on the NWFP DEIS. I look forward to a Final EIS that is more protective of ancient and mature trees, especially in the dry forests that have suffered so much from the catastrophic impacts of decades of old-growth logging, fire-suppression, and climate change, coupled with the genocide and displacement of Tribes.