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Show New Forest Service regulations By HeleneC.Monberg Vernal Express Washington Correspondent Washington New Forest Service regulations just entered into the Federal Register are likely to delay somewhat the plans for individual forests in our area, according to Forest Service sources. The Forest Service has just issued drafts for the management of resources in eight national forests, or is about to do so, including the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in Colorado and the Uinta National Forest in Utah. Drafts now in process, for which public comment will be sought as soon as they are issued in "two or three months," mon-ths," include plans for the San Juan National Na-tional Forest, the Pike-San Isabel National Na-tional Forest, the Grand Mesa-Gunninson-Uncompahrge National Forests in Colorado. About two dozen forest plans, in sum, will be affected by the new regulations announced by the Forest Service this past week which are designed to simplify and streamline the planning process required under the 1976 National Na-tional Forest Management Act, the Forest Service said at a briefing on Feb. 16. The regulations were published in the Federal Register the last week in February, and the public has 60 days to comment on them. The Wilderness Society has already blasted the new regulations, which are designed to maximize "net public benefits from management of National Forest System lands." Charles R. (Rex) Hartgraves, director direc-tor of the U.S. Forest Service land management planning unit, said that "20 cubic feet per acre per year is the minimum standard for biological growth potential" adopted in the regulation. This means, he emphasized, that there would not be commercial timber cut in any area which did not meet that standard. Also Hartgraves told a press briefing here this past week, the regulations now out for comment make it a little easier to increase timber cut in some national forests because they direct "all National Forests to analyze the effects ef-fects of a non-declining flow policy, if it appears that an increase in net public benefits will result." The Forest Service Ser-vice generally follows a policy of sustained sus-tained yield, which means that about the same amount of timber is growing in a national forest all of the time. The new regs would make an exception of this standard operating procedure. Other provisions in the new regulations: regula-tions: Wilderness evaluation is to be limited to roadless areas of at least 5,000 acres, although this might later be changed by Congress, the regs point out. Maximizing public benefits does NOT mean getting the top dollar out of National Na-tional Forest resources. Plans for the National Forests designed under the regs to maximize net public benefits must do so "in an environmentally sound manner and provide for multiple use and sustained yield of goods and services," the regs state. Local supply capabilities and market conditions arc to be considered in formulating for-mulating the objectives for each region and forest planning area, including plans for individual forests. All forest plans MUST be coordinated with other federal agencies, state and local agencies ond Indian tribes. But efforts ef-forts to notify owners of intermingled private lands about adjoining National Forest plans are being dropped. Notifying Notify-ing owners of inholdings "had become an almost impossible requirement," the Forest Service said. Forest Service plans will continue to be based on integrated planning for use of all forest resources timber, forage, fish and wildlife habitat, water, wilderness, outdoor recreation and minerals with revisions at least every 15 years, or earlier if "conditions or demands of the public. ...have changed significantly," the regs state. The new regs provide more flexibility to the local forest supervisor to maintain main-tain species of wildlife. No unusual efforts ef-forts will be taken for any species except ex-cept threatened and endangered species, whose habitat will be protected to try to assure the survival of endangered en-dangered species. Under par forage areas will be identified iden-tified and action planned to improve or restore forage in such areas. Visual quality objectives ie scenic beauty -will be considered as a forest resource for planning purposes. Forests are to be restocked within five years after timber harvest, and the new regulations define in detail what "final harvest" means. Earlier planning regs which came out as a result of the 1976 planning act have been clarified where they were "susceptible to legal challenge.' The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which pushed through the new regs, admitted ad-mitted the changes in the planning process pro-cess now going on in National Forests "will cause minor delays in the completion comple-tion of about 25-30 plans which are currently cur-rently at the working draft stage." At the same time the changes maximize public benefits and are responsive to Mr. Reagan's efforts to streamline and simpify federal regulations, USDA said. Time was when (ho American Amer-ican housewife bought a three- or four-pound sirloin, complete with tail and filet intact. She then cut it up herself. Now, sirloin is almost al-most always sold minus the less tender tail. The filet is usually sold separately separate-ly as well, as fih-t mignon. Nw you can turn out taste and appearance in vour microwave oven. fs - . '''" with ,l,e Micro 21 ' K"N from HayUieon, one of ,S mw ,'" "f small, cord-'-' appliances designed rr |