Monday is your last opportunity to submit comments to the Forest Service concerning the environmental impact statement for the Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan. Comments should be dropped off, postmarked or e-mailed by midnight Monday night to be included in the Forest Service's post-comment assessment period.
Comments can be e-mailed to comments-northern-bitterroot@fs.fed.us, mailed to 1801 N. First Street Hamilton, MT, 59840, Attn: Travel Planning or faxed to (406) 363-7159.
Once the comment period closes, the Forest Service will read and respond to every letter it has received. The Forest Service hopes to have a final decision in the spring.
The draft EIS is available for viewing online at www.fs.fed.us/r1/bitterroot/projects/travel_mgmt.shtml
(from the archives) The Bitterroot National Forest's Travel Management Plan weekly open houses will resume on Wednesday, October 14th.
There will also be open housed on October 21st, October 28th and November 4th, where the public will have a chance to pour over maps and discuss any questions or concerns they may have over the proposal.
Forest planning team members will be on hand to explain the alternatives being considered, and talk about ideas to improve the preferred alternative that is presented in the final Environmental Impact Statement.
The weekly open houses are from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. for the next four Wednesdays, and will be held at the Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor's Office in Hamilton.
Forest officials are also available to meet with groups or individuals who want to schedule an appointment to review the materials, and to discuss concerns and suggestions.
The public comment period for the Bitterroot National Forest's Travel Management Planning project was extended for an additional 45 days to ensure folks had a chance to thoroughly review the document and provide comments.
The new deadline, by which comments must be postmarked or received, is November 9th, 2009. The USFS expects to issue the Final Environmental Impact Statement and decision in late spring 2010.
Comments, marked ‘Attention: Travel Planning Project' may be submitted via email, surface mail, fax or hand delivery to the following addresses:
Copies of the DEIS are available on CD for personal use, and hard paper copies, including the 40 full color, large scale maps, are available for public review at each of the Forest's five offices and at the Darby, Hamilton, Stevensville, and Missoula Public Libraries.
Additional information about this project please can be obtained by calling Chris Fox or Dan Ritter at the Stevensville Ranger District at (406) 777.5461.
- Mark Thorsell reporting from KPAX in Missoula
(from August 25, 2009)
Forest Supervisor, Dave Bull announced early Wednesday that he is extending the public comment period for the Bitterroot National Forest's Travel Management Planning project for an additional 45 days.
The new deadline, by which comments must be postmarked or received, is November 5, 2009.
Originally scheduled to end on September 21st, the extension was granted in response to public requests for additional time to review and comment on the draft environmental impact statement which contains alternatives for managing motorized recreation opportunities on the Forest.
The Forest released the Travel Management Planning Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or DEIS, during the first week of August. The DEIS contains a description and evaluation of four alternatives including one referred to as the preferred alternative.
The goal of the project is to provide quality recreation experiences for motorized and non-motorized users while also protecting natural resources across the Forest. Copies of the DEIS are available on CD for personal use, and hard paper copies, including the 40 full color, large scale maps, are available for public review at each of the Forest's five offices and at the Darby, Hamilton, Stevensville, and Missoula Public Libraries.
The Forest will host four additional informal open houses starting again in mid-October. The informal open houses held at the Forest Supervisor's Office in Hamilton, MT from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14th, 21st and 28th and November 4th, provide an opportunity for members of the public to visit with members of the planning team that developed the draft environmental impact statement. Forest planning team members can explain the alternatives considered, and visit with interested folks about their concerns and their ideas regarding how to improve the preferred alternative.
In addition, Forest officials are available to meet with groups or individuals who want to schedule an appointment to review the materials, and to discuss concerns and suggestions.
For additional information about this project, please call Chris Fox at the Stevensville Ranger District, 406-777-5461.
