Washington: Lack of public participation in forest plans for Okanogan, Wenatchee and Colville NFs

Okanogan County commissioners Mary Lou Peterson and Bud Hover said
they are concerned with what little comment the county has had in the
process of revising forest plans for the Okanogan, Wenatchee and
Colville national forests. “We need to be on board because everything
that goes on affects us here and the process hasn’t included a lot of
folks from Okanogan County,” Peterson said. The forest plan for the
two national forests was adopted in 1989 and was intended to last for
15 years, according to Hartzell.

Revision plans were started in 2003
and were intended to take four years, but the process is taking longer
than expected. Commissioners were concerned specifically with the
potential designation of additional wilderness areas in Okanogan
County. Wilderness areas are designed to protect the land and limit
management opportunities such as grazing, logging and other
financially beneficial opportunities, according to forest officials.
“We already have plenty of wilderness areas,” Peterson said. “We don’t
want any more wilderness areas because we want that land available for
multiple uses.” The Forest Service team is in the process of deciding
which areas could be designated as wilderness areas. Such designations
require congressional action. According to Hartzell, the Forest
Service is mandated by law to review the current inventoried roadless
areas and make a determination about which areas will or won’t be
recommended for designation as wilderness areas. Among the current
areas designated as inventoried roadless areas is about 9,500 acres
surrounding Bonaparte Mountain. By law, the Forest Service has to
review that area and make a recommendation on whether to designate it
as wilderness, with the final decision in the hands of Congress,
according to team members. Other inventoried roadless areas that will
undergo review include 12,700 acres surrounding Mount Clackamas and
3,700 acres surrounding Bodie Mountain. Land around Jackson Creek,
another inventoried roadless area, will also undergo review, Heath
said. http://www.omakchronicle.com/nws/n081216a.shtml

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