[Vision2020] Future of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of today’s (February 19, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Brett Haverstick.

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His View: Future of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests

By Brett Haverstick

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comments regarding the development of alternatives for the Forest Plan Revision on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. The deadline is Feb. 28.

If you don't understand forest planning or if you were unaware of this important deadline, it is not your fault. Forest Supervisor Cheryl Probert has failed to adequately engage the public on this complicated process, and the agency has not scheduled a public meeting in Moscow for a few years. Calls for another meeting have fallen on deaf ears at the county level, too. The Palouse Ranger District of the Clearwater National Forest has more visitors than any other district on the entire forest, and yet, residents of this county apparently are not as important as those in Clearwater County, Idaho County and even those in Missoula, Mont. All have had recent public meetings.

The new forest plan will guide management direction over the next 10 to 30 years. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the revision is expected in December. The DEIS will contain a range of alternatives for the public to consider - recommendations for wilderness, recreation, standards for fish and wildlife habitat, logging levels and more. The current public comment period is to provide residents an opportunity to shape those alternatives. Is there a river corridor you want recommended for protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act? Do you want standards in the new forest plan that will protect sensitive soils and water quality? Perhaps, you are concerned with off-road vehicles trampling backcountry wildlife habitat that you feel should, instead, be protected.

The Forest Service has indicated in its initial proposed action it wants to increase logging on these forests from current annual levels of 40 million to 50 million board feet to 150 million board feet. In order to achieve these unsustainable levels, the new forest plan would do away with measurable and enforceable standards for water quality and sediment levels, old growth and wildlife habitat, riparian areas and fish habitat. A paltry 20 percent of the 1.5 million acres of roadless wildlands on the forests would be recommended for wilderness, and the rest could be threatened with development, including increased off-road vehicle abuse. Places like Kelly Creek Roadless Area would receive some protection, but possibly fragmented by snowmobiles. Weitas Creek Roadless Area, the heart of Wild Clearwater Country, would receive no protection and be susceptible to development.

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests have tremendous biodiversity and offer crucial habitat for threatened bull trout, Chinook salmon and steelhead populations. Canada lynx, fisher, wolverines, gray wolves, mountain goats, harlequin ducks, and herds of elk, mule deer and big horn sheep also live here. These forests are considered a recovery area for grizzly bears. All of these species and their habitat would be threatened by the proposed action. The Forest Service can help these populations persist in both forests by including a robust list of Species of Conservation Concern and protecting diverse habitat types in the new forest plan. Unfortunately, the agency has indicated otherwise.

The public comment deadline for the development of alternatives for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Revision is Feb. 28. Send them to fpr_npclw at fs.fed.us. Also consider contacting your county commissioner, and ask them to request the Forest Service to hold a public meeting in Latah County. Please take part in this important public involvement process. The future of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests is at stake.

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Brett Haverstick is the education and outreach director for Friends of the Clearwater, a public lands advocacy group based in Moscow. The group is hosting a forest planning workshop at 7 p.m. Thursday in the 1912 Center of Moscow. Call (208) 882-9755 for questions.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
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