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Show t-' 4 i j J I J I 1 .. t f. - - - : - V' .. - , J V .--'..:. -' ...... ' i . '-,.,' ': ' ':.-'- i " - " "'..-' s y - , ,.,.-!-. , -ff-"' .;,-. -ft-:. -.?, , !, 4. - , r . -"'.,.-, ' -f Z ,m.iT': -t ' ,..-.' " ' . - .- '; ) ' '" , ; " i -ft X'i.; '.. -"'' ' - v . .''' " ' ' - ;; . ,w r- - ft . : 0sJz ." -" -"-. -V : : 1 Jtr ' . t - v--i. 4 , ' ,-. V ' x - '" '" ..': . . ... . - " r - 1 - Expressive of the Thanksgiving season is this flock of wild turkeys, daily visitors to Boulder Mayor Keith Gailey's property. The 20 - 30 wild fowl are a steady tourist and photographic attractions at-tractions for passers by on Highway 12 on Boulder Boul-der Mountain. Forest Service Proposes Protection Of 60 Million Acres Of Wildland WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Mike Dombeck announced the release of the Roadless Area Conservation Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The FEIS identifies the Forest Service preferred alternative for protecting nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in national forests and grasslands. A final decision will be issued after Dec. 18, 2000, based upon information informa-tion in the FEIS. The preferred alternative would: Prohibit road construction and reconstruction on 49.2 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the National Forest system, increasing increas-ing to 58.5 million acres in April 2004 when the Tongass National Forest is included; Prohibit timber harvesting except ex-cept for clearly defined stewardship purposes in inventoried roadless areas; Allow road reconstruction when necessary for public safety and resource protection. There are four main differences between the preferred alternative in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (issued May 2000) and the preferred alternative in the FEIS: The preferred alternative in the FEIS prohibits harvest except for clearly defined stewardship purposes. pur-poses. The FEIS preferred alternative contains two additional exceptions for road construction and reconstruction: reconstruc-tion: reconstruction may occur to improve road safety, and road construction con-struction may occur for Federal Aid Highway projects if authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture. In the FEIS, the decision has been made to apply the prohibitions on the Tongass National Forest in April 2004. The procedural components of the DEIS' preferred alternative re- garding the consideration of 1,000 acre areas and other unroaded areas were removed from the preferred alternative al-ternative in the FEIS and have been addressed through the Planning Regulations (released Nov. 8, 2000). The Roadless Area Conservation proposal was initially proposed in the fall of 1999. Since that time, more than 600 public meetings, involving in-volving hundreds of thousands of people, were held nation-wide to solicit so-licit comments from the public. Over 1.6 million written and verbal responses were considered in the final fi-nal analysis and recommendation. Approximately 40 percent of the total land base on the Dixie National Na-tional Forest would be affected by this decision. Areas classified as inventoried roadless areas would prohibit new road construction and reconstruction. Stewardship purpose pur-pose timber harvests would occur (See W1LDLANDS on page 4-A) WILDLANDS From Front Page only where they maintain or improve im-prove roadless characteristics and also improve habitat for threatened, endangered, proposed, or sensitive species; reduce the risk of uncharacteristically uncharac-teristically severe fire; or restore ecological structure, function, and processes. This decision would not establish any new wilderness areas, close any existing roads on the National Na-tional Forest, prevent any forest user from accessing the National Forest, nor stop traditional uses of National Forest System lands. - The four-volume FEIS has been posted at http:roadless.fs.fed.us. Printed copies will be available for review at the Dixie National Forest Supervisor's Office. For additional information, contact Tony Erba or Dan Deiss, Dixie National Forest, (435) 865-3700 |