THE FOREST SERVICE NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU! ** Send in Your Personal Comments by APRIL 7th ** The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 requires the US Forest Service to develop a management plan for each National Forest or administrative unit. The regulations (or rule) that implements this law are key in detailing the requirements that the agency must follow in developing the plan. As part of its barrage of damaging proposals the Bush administration has announced changes to the NFMA rules. The draft proposal would greatly reduce the amount of environmental analysis, wildlife protection, and public involvement currently required in the development and revision of forest management plans and the management of our National Forests. The current regulations, first implemented early in the Reagan administration, were revised and updated in 2000 after significant scientific and public input. But after complaints from the timber industry, the Bush administration put the revised safeguards on the chopping block. Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Mark Rey, a former lobbyist for the American Forest and Paper Association, has led the charge. Unremarkably, today's NFMA changes mirror the timber industry "wish list" from the American Forest and Paper Association's 2001 congressional testimony. The Bush administration's proposed NFMA rules would: ** Effectively exempt the plan revisions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA.) By not requiring a full environmental impact analysis of the revised plan, this one step would give agency managers total discretion on when and how much they wanted to involve the public and how they would weigh public input. ** Eliminate the requirement to maintain viable populations of native wildlife species. This current requirement is one of the most important legal safeguards of National Forest wildlife habitat. ** Eliminates requirements in the 2000 regulations to evaluate and protect wild roadless forests. ** Increase the likelihood of harmful logging projects based on "multiple use values." This would allow commercial logging under the guise of "wildlife habitat improvement," or "fuel reduction," among other reasons. ** Reduces overall environmental standards and accountability by allowing management plans to be revised to accommodate individual projects and opens loopholes for "adaptable management." ** Drastically limit public involvement and allow no opportunity to request administrative review or an appeal of the final plan. YOU CAN HELP! -- Send official comments to the Forest Service and a copy of your comments to your Congressional representatives. Comments should be sent by April 7! Please raise the above points in your comments and use the sample latter below. Your Comments should by sent to: USDA FS Planning Rule Content Analysis Team P.O. Box 8359 Missoula, MT 59807 via email [log in to unmask] fax (406) 329-3556 To find your representatives name and address, enter your zip code here: http://www.congress.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- SAMPLE LETTER Dear Forest Service: Many Americans relish their trips to any of America's 155 National Forests today, thanks in large part to forest protection measures that have been in place for decades. But if the Bush administration and its timber industry allies get their way, the public's forests will be managed to maximize commercial logging profits with little consideration of harm to fish and wildlife, clean water and recreation. I oppose the Bush Administration's Proposed Changes to National Forest Management (NFMA) regulations. These proposed regulations would weaken environmental and wildlife safeguards, harm wild forests and clean water, drastically limit public involvement, increase damaging commercial logging projects and reduce agency accountability. Please completely withdraw these harmful proposed NFMA regulations. Our National Forests belong to all Americans, not just those who wield chainsaws and donate money to political campaigns. Instead of undermining current National Forest and wildlife protections, the Bush Administration and the Forest Service should be working to protect our wild roadless forests, stop damaging commercial logging and logging road construction and restore our National Forests. Please count this as my offcial comment on these proposed regulations. Sincerely, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]