The last e-mail we recieved was this on June 12th 2007.
Dear Forest Users,
The Coconino National Forest continues to make progress on the Travel
Management Rule. Since the last round of public meetings in November 2006,
the team collected over 1300 public comments. Along with specialist
recommendations, these comments were analyzed and incorporated into a
Proposed Action (PA).
The Coconino National Forest will be one of the first forests in the region
to issue a Proposed Action. Prior to its public release, the PA will be
sent to the Regional Office and reviewed for consistency across the region.
Pending approval, the Proposed Action will be available to the public by
the end of June 2007. Refer to the last part of this message for
information about receiving the Proposed Action.
The next round of public meetings is scheduled for July 2007. At that
time, the public will have another opportunity to actively participate in
the planning process by responding to the Proposed Action.
The final product of the Travel Management process will be a Motorized
Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). The MVUM will clearly portray the open road system
consistent with national standards. Current motorized travel policies on
the Coconino, however, will remain in place until the MVUM is posted to the
Federal Register in 2009.
Travel Management Rule planning and implementation must comply with federal
standards; however, the Coconino did not initiate the Travel Management
process solely because of national direction. We recognize a need for
local policy changes in order to reflect the growing popularity of
motorized forest travel and to reduce the increasing amount of resource
damage. Creating a sustainable road and trail system is necessary for the
health of the forest and the safety of its users.
While the Proposed Action will suggest significantly reducing the miles of
National Forest System roads, the Coconino does intend to maintain adequate
motorized access to the forest. The PA will suggest that 79% of
non-wilderness Coconino National Forest land will remain within 0.5 miles
of an open road; 95% of non-wilderness Coconino National Forest land will
remain within 1 mile of an open road.
The Coconino Travel Management Team extends many thanks for the great deal
of public support we’ve already received and encourage comments during the
next round of public meetings. Meeting dates and locations will be
announced in future correspondence.
Sincerely,
|----------------------------------------+------------------------------ ---------|
| | |
| | |
| /S/ Nora B. Rasure | |
|----------------------------------------+------------------------------ ---------|
| | |
|----------------------------------------+------------------------------ ---------|
| NORA B. RASURE | |
|----------------------------------------+------------------------------ ---------|
| Forest Supervisor | |
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Would you like to receive a copy of the Proposed Action? If so, please
take a few minutes to reply to this email* indicating the form you prefer
from the options below. The time you spend will help us better prepare for
this and future publications.
· Hard Copy
· Electronic file on CD
· Access the file online, the link will be sent to my email
Regardless of your choice, please also include all the following
information for verification.
Full Name
Company/Affiliation and Title
Phone
Email
Mailing Address (include city, state and zip)
REPLY DUE BY FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2007
*NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS EMAIL FOR ANY OTHER TMR CORRESPONDENCE. General
questions/comments need to be submitted via the website comment form and
will not be processed if sent to this email. Find the comment form at
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/projects/tmr/public-participation.shtml .
