Tahoe National Forest
Route Designation/Travel Management Planning
December, 2007 Update
Message from Steve Eubanks, Forest Supervisor:
I\'d like to wish you all a happy holiday season and to thank you for your continued interest and assistance in this project. Many of you have spent quite a bit of time this past year assisting us with the following:
Maintaining both the motorized and non-motorized trail system;
Maintaining various facilities when our funding was reduced;
Providing support for our grant requests;
Helping to transport the interdisciplinary team to some of the out-of-the-way trail locations for site analysis;
Helping to document the trail and trailhead conditions;
Reviewing the proposed action document released for public comment last spring and submitting your comments;
And a host of other efforts.
As funding gets tighter, the number of recreationists increase, and demands on the National Forest resources grow, it is important that we all work together to resolve these issues locally. If we are to develop an optimal system of motorized roads and trails while minimizing impacts to non-motorized recreation and protecting forest resources, we need to work together. I commend everyone that has participated in this travel management/route designation effort and encourage you all to continue to think creatively in developing the range of opportunities this forest has to offer.
Thanks for your continued interest and help on this project!
Steven T. Eubanks
Forest Supervisor
Progress on Completing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
The interdisciplinary team has been working diligently on the DEIS and it is almost complete. It was submitted to the Pacific Southwest Regional Office for review. Based on the advice we receive from the review, we hope to have it ready for public distribution and comment later this winter.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement will assess 3 questions:
1) Which of the unauthorized routes should be added to our existing system of roads and motorized trails and which should be closed to motorized use?
2) Should seasonal closures be placed on roads or trails to minimize damage to forest resources and what should those seasons be?
3) Are there safety concerns due to unlicensed vehicles/riders using the same roads as licensed vehicles? (Example - Youngsters riding ATVs on smoother surface roads along with passenger vehicles at higher speeds)
In the DEIS, a range of alternatives has been developed and which provide a variety of answers to the above questions. These alternatives are based on the public comments received last spring. The DEIS will also look at the effects of each alternative.
How do you want to review the DEIS?
After the DEIS is released, there will be a public comment period. The DEIS is quite large, however. Due to the cost of printing and mailing such a document, we encourage as many people as possible to review it on line. Please click on the following link below to identify how you wish to review the document and if there are elements that you would like to be sent via hard mail. If we do not get the form back from you, we will assume that you will review it on line. Please respond back by January 14, 2008.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/tahoe/projects_plans/ohv_inv/DEIS-response.phpAdditional Information on the Route Designation Process
For background information on this route designation process, log onto the Tahoe National Forest website
www.fs.fed.us/r5/tahoe. If you would like to be added or deleted from the Route Designation e-mail list, contact Ann Westling, awestling@fs.fed.us(530) 478-6205. If your name rejects from any mailings due to out-of-date email address or address change, your address will be deleted from the mailing list. If you have specific questions about this process, contact the following: Dave Arrasmith - ID Team Leader (530) 478-6220.
REMEMBER - click on the following link to let us know if you want to receive some of the DEIS components by the regular mail!
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/tahoe/projects_plans/ohv_inv/DEIS-response.phpThanks for your interest! Happy Holidays!
Ann Westling
Tahoe National Forest
Public Affairs Officer
(530) 478-6205
