Back to main Red Rock Forests page. THE CITIZENS FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN for the Three Southern Utah National Forests: Manti-La Sal—Dixie—Fishlake Working Drafts of the Citizens Forest Management Plan The following is Part A: Issue Statement from the working draft of the  Citizens Forest Management Plan. Click here for Part B. Issue Summaries Click here for Recreation goals and objectives While both Parts A. and B. are very brief they contain enough information to help citizens make general recommendations to the Forest Service Planners.  Our hope is that each citizen activist will indicate to the Forest Planners his or her support for the generalized concepts, and that activists with special interest or knowledge in one or more of the topics will express their special or personal concerns.   Please note the considerable reference to species of concern, their numbers, their plight, etc.  When TNC’s assessment of the High Plateaus is finished (target date is September 16) a lot of detail will become available. Using TNC’s work implies neither our endorsement of their model, nor their endorsement of our advocacy.  Any help and advice will be sincerely appreciated.  A.  Issue Statement Southern Utah’s three National Forests, the Manti-La Sal, Dixie, and Fishlake National Forests (“Forests”) provide the backbone for the conservation of the natural beauty and remarkable diversity of plants and animals for all of southern Utah, including thousands of plant and hundreds of animal species, many of which are endemic to southern Utah, occurring nowhere else on Earth.  Yet this region’s natural wealth is relatively unsung. While perhaps not as world renowned as some of Utah’s other crown jewels such as Zion National Park and Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument the Forests are national treasures also, boasting the richest diversity of plant and animal life of any region in southern Utah.  Intimately associated with the incomparable Colorado Plateau, the three Forests boast Red Rock scenery, vistas, and personal experiences like no forests in any other place. South of the Wasatch Front, high plateaus and peaks form a sort of backbone down the middle of Utah. On it, the three Forests stretch south from the Uinta National Forest nearly to Arizona. Comprising a major part of the Utah High Plateaus Ecoregion,* most of the Forests’ land mass is sandwiched between the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau, with some forest acreage spilling into the latter. In addition, the Canyon Mountain portion of the Fishlake and the Pine Valley Mountain portion of the Dixie lie within the Great Basin, with the latter touching the Mojave Desert Ecoregion; and forests on the isolated Abajo and the La Sal Mountains, included in the Manti-La Sal National Forest, rise high above the Red Rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau. (*Tuhy, et al, 2002. “A Conservation Assessment of the Colorado Plateau Ecoregion,” The Nature Conservancy, Moab Project Office, Moab, Utah. The use of  TNC data and analyses implies neither our endorsement of their model, nor their endorsement of our advocacy.) Rising thousands of  feet above desert and valley floors, the Forests are headwaters for all of Southern Utah’s  Red Rock canyons, deserts, valleys, National Parks, farms, ranches and communities.*  Water from the forests sustains not only all wild and human life and economic activity in Southern Utah , some is left over, making its way to the Colorado River’s huge reservoirs. On western slopes that drain to the Great Basin, the small part not captured for social or economic purposes drains into Sevier Lake or other basin ponds where it evaporates. (*Except for a very small amount that is pumped from the Colorado River near Moab and the Green River near Green River for irrigation.)     The Forests support a large number of species listed under the Endangered Species Act, making them biologically critical for nearly every taxonomic group, including plants, invertebrates, birds, mammals, and reptiles.  This concentration of endangered and threatened species is not surprising: the Forests are facing a growing number of threats and are pressed on all sides by a rapidly growing population and ever-expanding development. The Forests spill over into 16 of Utah’s 29 counties: Washington, Kane, Iron, Garfield, Beaver, Piute, Wayne, Sevier, Millard, Sanpete, Juab, Emery, Carbon, Utah, Grand, and San Juan, plus two counties in Colorado: Mesa and Montrose. Washington County is home to St. George, the fastest-growing city in Utah, and only a short drive from Las Vegas, the fastest growing city in the U.S. Approximately 4 million people live less than two hours drive from popular recreation areas in the Forests.  Millions more reside only another couple of hours distant.  These breathtaking mountain forests that are home to so many species are also accessible to millions of backpackers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts, and serve as a hub for nature-based recreation in southern Utah. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people recreate in the mild mountainous climate, hiking the trails, fishing the streams and reservoirs, driving the Scenic Highways, and even climbing the summits. The campgrounds are usually full throughout the summer. The Forests are critically important for an extraordinary variety of plants and animals, and the number of imperiled species is escalating rapidly—because many historic practices on the Forests have led to the deterioration of these federally protected lands and the rapid decline of their natural wealth of species.  Perhaps the worst historic practice involves hiking/biking trails, timber roads and emergency fire suppression roads, whether closed or not, being reopened or taken over by ATV recreationists. Management Planning The most recent management plans for the Forests date back to the mid 1980s and are riddled with weak and ambiguous standards and guidelines that resulted in inconsistent management among the 3 Forests. The plans also failed to emphasize riparian protection, despite the fact that a large number of the threatened, endangered, and sensitive species found in the Forests depend upon riparian and aquatic habitats for all or part of their life cycles.  Worse yet, the plans failed to recognize the oncoming onslaught of off-highway vehicles.  There are now more than 140,000 ATVs registered in Utah.  At least as many more are drawn to southern Utah forests from southern Nevada and California, and western Colorado, during the hot summer months.  The numbers are not in yet for the Dixie and Fishlake, but the visitor use monitoring report for the Manti-La Sal is very revealing.* It tells us that 32.7% of visitors drive for pleasure on roads.  56.2% just relax and hang out escaping noise and heat.  47% go hiking or walking and 13.1% go mountain biking.  22.2% engage in other human powered activities. Only 20.4% of visitors engage in off-highway motorized recreation (ATVs, dirt bikes, etc.). (*Kocis, et al, National visitor Use Monitoring Results, USDA Forest Service, Region 4, August 2002.) Reflecting these visitor percentages, the Manti-La Sal claims to have 321 miles of OHV trails and 526 miles of non-motorized trails. But when 2,215 miles of roads open to ATVs are included in the formula, the overwhelming emphasis placed on motorized recreation becomes obvious.  The adverse impacts on security, habitat and forage for wild animals, quiet, and solitude for humans are equally obvious. Worse yet, there are untold miles of ATV user made trails and hiking or biking trails taken over by ATVs, along with the closed logging and fire trails reopened by ATVs.  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.  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. We are presenting a plan to the Forest Service and the public at large that aims to ensure that these Forests are truly protected for the highest public interest and future generations. “National Forests exist today because the people want them. To make them accomplish the most good, the people themselves must make clear how they want them run.” Gifford Pinchot, 1907 Click here for Part B.  Issue Summaries Click here for Recreation goals and objectives Back to main Red Rock Forests page.