Back to main Red Rock Forests page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Campaign to Take Back Our Forests *        Citizens Action Needed Now *        The Citizens Forest Management Plan (CFMP) *        The Planning Process Schedule *        How to Make Your Voice Heard: Forest Service names and addresses *        Ray Wheeler's background information Introduction The Rally to kickoff the Campaign to Take Back Our Forests was held on July 17, 2003 featuring Ted Wilson, Wayne Hoskisson, Ray Wheeler and Dan Schroeder.  All those in attendance responded very positively and signed up for the Campaign email list.  Since then the list has expanded to over 60 names.  As you will see from the following there is a great need for citizens to let the Forest Service know about the needs and desires of “quiet recreationists”  and all others who value wildness.  You will also see that our best hope for influencing future forest decisions is through the planning process.  The planning schedule and information on how to make your voice heard follows. For a lot more information on the Citizens Forest Management Plan and talking points for your personal message to the Forest Service: Click Here for Working Drafts of the Citizens Forest Management Plan Citizens Action Needed Now The needs for citizen action are growing day by day: adverse court rulings on the Roadless Rule; Bush's Healthy Forest Initiative gathering steam from every new wildfire; wildfires not only draining Forest budgets, but also drawing Forest Service staff away from their regular duties. While the ranger's away, ATVs will play -- wherever they want. Needs and desires of quiet recreationists are ignored. Worse yet, the needs of wild things and sustainable ecosystems are subordinated to the desires of the small portion of forest users who recreate with off-road vehicles and exploit forest resources. Citizens who prefer Quiet Recreation know that access to all areas of the forests does not require motors and that human access cannot be equated with motorized access. Recreation management should be based first on ecological requirements of the land and secondarily on the recreational desires of humans. How can we make this happen? The first step is the forest planning process now underway. Forest Plans for Southern Utah's three National Forests: the Manti-La Sal, the Dixie, and the Fishlake are now being revised, and it is about time -- they were written nearly 20 years ago. Now, the Forest Service has the opportunity to design a blueprint for managing, restoring, and protecting the ecological integrity of these Forests for some of the country's most diverse and dynamic ecological and cultural communities. To help the Forest Service meet this opportunity, numerous national, state, and local environmental organizations, scientists, and technical experts throughout Utah have teamed up to develop a visionary plan for the future of these irreplaceable landscapes and their biological richness. Red Rock Forests, under the umbrella of the Utah Forest Network, is working to create this plan. But it can only be truly visionary, and accepted by the Forest Service, if the citizens of Utah make it clear to the agency that the plan is far more than the dream of a small environmental group. They must understand that citizens are standing up to Take Back Our Forests. Click here for more background information The Citizens Forest Management Plan (CFMP) The context envisioned by CFMP is: *    A wild Forest seamlessly connected to surrounding Redrock Wilderness. *    A balance of uses that sustains biological diversity. *    Natural ecosystems processes allowed to maintain biological diversity. *    A balanced set of almost zero impact, well managed recreation opportunities. The issue is not one of who gets to recreate how and where. The issue is what do we expect a forest to be. So, the Citizens Forest Management Plan (CFMP) sets priorities for citizen actions; it presents a viable alternative plan that can be inserted into the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for evaluation; and it provides information, data, and analyses of the highest quality. Thus, we are calling on citizens to work with the Forest Service during its planning process to ensure they understand that a lot of people feel strongly about forest issues. In so doing we also will learn from forest staff the hurdles we face. Then, if our plan is, or even if it is not included in the DEIS process and analyzed as an alternative, it serves as a guide for citizen action campaigns during the DEIS process and long after the final decision is made. The Planning Process Schedule The three southern Utah Forests initiated their planning processes early in 2002. The Manti-La Sal staff is preparing its Analysis of the Management Situation in-house, with minimal public involvement. On the other hand Dixie and Fishlake are collaborating in an intensive effort involving the public at 25 workshops, so far. All three will initiate the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) process early in 2004 and are scheduled to finish in 2006. This means we have only a short time left for positive input, because once the DEIS is issued our input will be mostly reaction to their proposals. How to Make Your Voice Heard "Our next chance for positive citizen input will be the Forestwide Workshop to be held in Salt Lake City on September 16. This is our best chance to show public support for a conservation and ecology based forest management plan. This is also the opportunity to get involved in the Topical Work Groups that will be created soon after. The Topical Work Groups will work on specific management issues during the time leading up to the writing of the Environmental Impact Statement. If you want to voice your ideas about ATVs, logging, livestock grazing, watersheds, endangered species and other topics then be there on September 16. Click here for Working Drafts of the Citizens Forest Management Plan Sections of the detailed Plan will be posted as they are developed. These will help you become more familiar with the Forests and the issues we are addressing during the planning process, assist your efforts to impact the Forest Planning Process, and allow you to review our efforts and advise us accordingly. Please mark September 16 on your calendar for the Forest Planning Workshop. Over the next few weeks much more information will be posted on this site about the workshop (including time and place), the Topical Work Groups, and other ways to be involved. You can submit your letters and recommendations directly to Forest Service Planners at these addresses: Frank Fay, Fishlake National Forest Planner ffay@fs.fed.us Annette Delos Santos, Manti-La Sal National Forest Planner annettedelossantos@fs.fed.us Anthony Erba, Dixie National Forest Planner aerba@fs.fed.us Please sign up for our email list to receive all notices about things to come and new stuff on this web site, and to let us know what you think about this campaign and how you can help. Feel free to contact us at: info@redrockforests.org (435) 259-5640 Red Rock Forests 90 West Center St Moab, UT 84532