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Gears may soon move on GMUG forest plan
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest management plan could finally be taken back off the shelf in early 2008, U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey said Thursday.
Speaking at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference near Palo Alto, Calif., Rey said if the newly re-written proposed national forest management planning rule is finally approved later this year, within a couple of months of that approval, the GMUG could begin work on a third version of its revised forest mangement plan and have a draft out for public comment early in the new year.
The plan isn’t just a thick document destined to make your eyes glaze over. It determines the GMUG’s vision for how energy development, forest fires, wildlife habitat and recreation will be managed on the Western Slope’s best known national forests. In other words, if you use any of the three GMUG forests, there might be something in the fine print that pertains to you.
The new draft GMUG plan has a bit of a tortured history: It was released in 2006, retracted to ensure compliance with the Forest Service’s new planning rule, re-written and re-released early this year, and withdrawn yet again when a federal court declared the forest planning rule illegal because the agency failed to gather public comment on it.
The court ordered the Forest Service to invite passionate letter writers have their say about the rule and required the agency to conduct an environmental impact statement.
“So we did one,” Rey said.
The forest planning rule saga doesn’t quite end there. Rey said the Bush administration decided not to appeal the court order because it was easier and cheaper do the environmental impact statement. But, he said, the feds may appeal the ruling on other grounds. What that means, Rey wouldn’t say, but the GMUG plan, he said, is sure to see the light of day next year.
The newly environmentally analyzed rule is online and available for a public taste test, but don’t tarry too long before offering feedback. The public comment deadline is Oct. 23.
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