Oil and Gas. The Manti-La Sal National Forest has issued a Notice of Intent to prepare a forest-wide EIS for oil and gas leasing.  The BLM and State of Utah are listed as cooperating agencies.  The EIS will analyze the entire land base administered by the National Forest.  The analysis will also: 1) identify alternatives to the proposed action, including that of not allowing additional leasing (no action); 2) project the type and amount of post-leasing activity that is reasonably foreseeable; and 3) analyze the reasonable foreseeable impacts of projected post-leasing activity.  We will notify our members when DEIS is available for public comment.

Wild and Scenic River Eligibility and Suitability Process - Utah.   Utah and Nevada are the only two western states that do not have any rivers designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.  The Act is designed to protect the free-flowing waters that are the heritage of the natural world.  Given the spectacular and unique geography and landscapes of the state, it is amazing that no such rivers are designated.  Here in Utah, we are now in the process of designation.  On the Manti-La Sal, we went through an initial 'inventory' known as eligibility back in 2003-2004, which produced a list of rivers on the Monticello Ranger District.  The eligibility process includes the evaluation of features such a geology, culture/archaeology, scenic features, etc.  Unfortunately, without any public notice, in 2006, the Manti-La Sal removed all of the river segments on the Monticello Ranger District from eligibility.  For the past several months, Red Rock Forests has been actively engaged in getting as many of those rivers reinstated to the eligibility list as possible.  We have been successful in getting Hammond Canyon, Allen Canyon, Chippean Canyon, Upper Dark Canyon (& tribs), and Lower Dark Canyon (& tribs).  For reasons unknown to all, the amazing Arch Canyon was not reinstated.   We encourage you to speak up, because if we all don't, then the forces that control money and politics will surely prevail and Utah will likely remain without this protection for our best places.  For more information on the forest's process, here's the link:  www.fs.fed.us/r4/rivers/index.shtml.

Forest Planning Update.  Due to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups, the 2005 Forest Planning Rules have been enjoined by the courts for failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.  As a result, until the Forest Service can satisfy the court, Forest Planning on local forests have been suspended.  Recently, the Forest Service Headquarters office issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on the 2005 Planning Rules.  If this satisfies the court, it is likely the forest planning process will proceed.  We'll notify members when planning is back in swing.  Click here to get involved in the Forest Planning Process.

Abajos Road Inventory.  During the summer of 2007, Katrina Lund, our Field Specialist, was in the southern Elk Ridge area of the Abajos gathering an incredible amount of data regarding impacts from authorized and unauthorized roads as well as dispersed campsites.  She completed everything south and west of Big Notch.  See the Summer 2007 newsletter for excerpts from her field journal. The data was given to the Great Old Broads for Wilderness for analysis and entry into their GINGER database (Great Old Broads for Wilderness Interactive National Grassroots Evaluation Resource), a database of public lands travel corridor impacts (www.greatoldbroads.org).  The data was also shared with the Forest Service to be used in development of their new Motor Vehicle Use Maps, which are expected to be published in 2008 and will show only motorized routes, and thus replacing the more confusing forest travel map.

Next summer, Red Rock Forests will be back out in the field collecting more road inventory data in the northern Elk Ridge area and possibly the eastern Abajo Mountains. 

Many thanks to the National Forest Foundation for the matching grant and to Great Old Broads for Wilderness for their partnership and cooperation in this project.   

Uranium Mining.  We've been responding recently to several project proposals on the Manti-La Sal National Forest regarding the resurgence of uranium mining on public lands in SE Utah.  Next door, just across the Utah-Colorado border, the Bureau of Land Management recently approved 36 uranium permits in the Paradox Valley, as part of the 2005 Energy Policy to open up more public land to minerals development.  We are working with our fellow advocates in Utah and Colorado to respond to this new threat.  We'll keep you posted on how things progress.

Willow Basin Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project. Red Rock Forests participated in a field tour of the new project design for this project that had been removed from the forest's projects list after an appeal filed by Red Rock Forests and UEC.  The new project is less of an impact on the vegetative structure through a more selective treatments.  Nonetheless, Red Rock Forests continues to maintain that the Forest Service should be engaging the 20+ residents of Willow Basin and the nearby Town of Castle Valley (who are concerned about the impacts of this project on their watershed) in developing a Community Fire Plan.  This is in contrast to the Forest's proposal to handle the public-private land fire interface by treating vegetation on public lands to avoid impacts to private homes in Willow Basin. Project documents are available on the Forest Service website. Click here for more information.

Tushar Allotment Collaborative.  Red Rock Forests is one of 7 appellants that has entered into an agreement to use a collaborative decision-making process to resolve outstanding disputes related to 2 of 8 cattle grazing allotments on the Tushar Range in the Fishlake National Forest.  This 2-year collaborative process is designed to develop existing and desired condition in management pro-active in management plans for the Ten Mile Allotment in Pinedale/Sulphabeds Allotments.  Issues addressed including natural resource conditions and livestock management, aspen and mountain mahogany recruitment, and a plan for restoring beaver habitat on at least one stream.  Click here for more information.

On any given day, we have information available on a variety of projects happening on the forests - hazardous fuels reduction, timber sales, road construction, travel planning, forest planning, oil and gas, minerals development, grazing, etc.  If you have an interest in a specific topic and would like to know what's happening on the forests on that issue, please contact us at:  info@redrockforests.org.