Bridger- Teton National Forest announces Forest Plan Workshops
Pinedale Workshop April 28
by Bridger-Teton National Forest
April 16, 2008
(Pinedale) – The Bridger-Teton National Forest encourages the public to attend a new round of scenario-building Plan Revision workshops, in Kemmerer on April 23, in Rock Springs on April 24, and in Pinedale on April 28. The workshops’ purpose is to explore, as a learning exercise, how on-the-ground management could be modified in order to improve conditions and trends on the Forest.
“No specific decisions or alternatives regarding management changes will be proposed by the Forest at these workshops,” said Forest Planner Rick Fox. “The intent is to learn what changes the public would propose, and why,” he said. Scenario-building is a learning exercise encouraged by the National Forest Management Act. It is a discretionary effort in advance of implementing requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, and is considered ‘rule-neutral’ relative to regulatory direction provided for Forest Plan Revision at 36 CFR 219 in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Previous meetings held in Afton and Jackson last month addressed the northern portion of the Bridger-Teton National Forest (Buffalo, Jackson and Greys River Ranger Districts); these meetings will focus on the southern portion (Kemmerer, Big Piney and Pinedale Ranger Districts).
Locations and times for the workshops are as follows:
4/23: Kemmerer; Ambulance Barn – 611 Onyx St., 4:30pm – 8:30pm
4/24: Rock Springs; BLM Rock Springs Field Office – 280 Hwy. 191 North,
4:30pm – 8:30pm
4/28: Pinedale; Rendezvous Pointe Community Center – 425 E. Magnolia St.,
4:30pm – 8:30pm
“We will accommodate people that have to come in after the workshop has
started and get them up to speed so they can fully participate,” said Fox
The objective of all three workshops will be to develop mapped scenarios that depict: 1.) locations where changes in conditions and trends are needed; 2.) some potential adjustments to management strategy that could be considered in order to address those changes; and 3.) the rationales and trade-offs related to those possibilities.
Previous public collaboration focused on setting overall goals for management of the Forest (July and Dec. 2005) and comparing current conditions with those goals to identify the need for change (Nov. 2006 and March 2007). The current round of public meetings builds on that work to explore various ways to address that need for change in specific locations, highlighting the potential rationales and trade-offs such choices could involve. Later on in the process, as part of developing the proposed Revision, the Forest anticipates working with the public to find the right balance in determining which of these choices to make, and in which places, over the Forest as a whole.
In addition to the workshops, an interactive mapping tool will soon be available on the Internet to enable interested individuals to provide input remotely.
For more information on the Bridger-Teton’s plan revision process, please visit the Plan Revision website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/news/forest_plan_revision/ or call Rick Fox,
Forest Planner, at (307) 739-5563.
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