10 Yr Forest MGMT Plan -SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO THEM

[Mountain Times Editor]

Draft land plan, EIR topic of forest meeting

GLENDORA -- The public is invited to a meeting from 5 to 9 on a proposed 10-year land management plan for the Angeles National Forest.

Forest officials are releasing the draft land plan and environmental impact reports, which when finalized will provide a strategic framework for about 3.5 million acres of national forest land in Southern and Central California, including the Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino national forests.

The meeting on June 3rd will be held at Foothill Christian Center, 242 West Baseline Road, Glendora. .

for information about the meeting in Wrightwood on June 4th or in Pasadena on June 5, see the below post

Call [phone] for more information, or visit www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr.

[Mountain Times Editor]

Published Draft Documents:
www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr/draft/publication/index.htm

Maps:
www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr/draft/publication/direct2maps.htm

[Lester]

Hello Neighbors,

I realize that there are a lot of issues that we need to be aware of and all of our lives are very busy, however, we cannot ignore this issue. Now is the time to make your opinions known about the the plans for the forest for the next 10 years. The forestry service is currently taking public comments, as they are required to. They are trying to encouarge people to choose Alternative 4, for the Angeles Forest. The plan will result in expanding the off-road vehicle space. It also does not do very much to protect the forest from abuse or damage.

I think that it is important to encourage the forest service to be as environmentally responsible as possible, which will result in better care of the forest, a decrease risk of forest fires around us, protection of our water table, and protection of endangered animals.

The plan that does this best is the Angeles National Forest Alternative 6.

Please look over the above web sites and make sure to make your comments to them. www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr

Here are some interesting facts that you might want to mention:

Off-road vehicles should not be aloud in the San Gabriel River bed because:

1. There is an endangered fish, the Santa Ana Sucker, that needs to be protected in that river.
2. The river is drinking water for area residents. It is important to protect the quality of that water. A chemical spill is just waiting to happen the way it is now.
3. These vehicles disturb the natural tranquility in the forest.
4. Send them to Bell Mountain or one of the other places to do off-roading.


P.S.: The Sierra Club is recommending Alternative 6

[Lester]

There are two more open houses available where you can view the plan and ask questions about the Angeles National Forest Plan in person:

June 4 (Friday)
Wrightwood Community Center
1275 Highway 2, Wrightwood, CA
3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

June 5 (Saturday)
Pasadena City College
Campus Center Lounge
1570 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, CA
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

[Bill]

While your in-person presence is encouraged (and probably more effective) at one of the meetings noted above for the 10 year forest plan, there is the possibility to also comment on these plans via email. The email address is:

[e-mail]

Please be sure to include the following information, otherwise your comment may not be included in the final demographic analysis and Public Comments report on the various 10 year plan options. The Forest Service states, "we encourage you to provide enough information about yourself to be included in demographic analysis (name, zip code), and to specify the text or geography related to your concern". In other words, makes sure to include your name, city, zip and which part of the plan you are in favor of and/or disagree with. If you are not specific they won't take your comment into account.

Honestly, I don't see the value to the average citizen and occasional weekend forest visitor to allowing MORE off-road trails to be built. Who exactly does that benefit - a very, very small number of off-road enthusiasts? If the Forest Service's actual need is to have more fire roads to combat forest fires and to allow controlled burning to take place more easily, then I say that is fine. But, don't allow hundreds of oily, greasy, loud, broken down, off-road vehicles to utilize those roads as well. Put up gates or something.

[Lester]

A couple months ago, while driving to Mountain Cove at the speed limit (I had my cruise control on at the time, set at the speed limit), an off-roader pushed me into the other side of the road to pass me. By push, I mean that if I did not go into the oncoming traffic lane, he would have hit my car as he was passing me. Thankfully, there was not any oncoming traffic at that moment. Yesterday, I was sitting on the bench at the top Mountain Cove, and I saw another off-roader dangerously passing another car on the San Gabriel Canyon Rd. Many of the off-roaders are very aggressive and they do not care what they have to do to get up to the off-road area as quickly as possible. Eventually, people are going to die from the way these people drive. I would prefer not to wait that long to do something about it.