This weekend, officials at the White Mountain National Forest are scheduled to outline three key categories of issues that will guide the development of the next forest plan. The plan will direct the forest?s management for at least a decade. The planning process is now about twenty-five percent done, but the hardest work may lie ahead. NHPR?s Doug MacPherson reports.
FOREST SERVICE OFFICIALS SAY IT?S DIFFICULT TO OVERSTATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FOREST PLAN TO JUST ABOUT EVERY ACTIVITY THAT TAKES PLACE IN THE WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST. MARY STOHL DIRECTS PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR THE WHITES.
TAPE STOHL It is developed with scientific input from our specialists, it?s developed with the public. And it helps us to manage the forest, decide what uses are best for the forest, what resources need to be protected, and how to maintain the forest for the future. : 11
CONGRESS MANDATES THAT EVERY NATIONAL FOREST HAVE SUCH A PLAN ? AND THAT THE PLAN BE REVISED EVERY 10 TO 15 YEARS. FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, THE PUBLIC HAS BEEN INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN FOUR WORKING GROUPS TO DETERMINE WHAT ISSUES THE NEXT PLAN FOR THE WHITE MOUNTAINS SHOULD ADDRESS. IN MAY, THE FOREST SERVICE HELD EIGHT PUBLIC MEETINGS TO INVITE FEEDBACK ON SEVERAL BROAD CATEGORIES OF ISSUES.
AT A MEETING IN GORHAM LAST MONTH, DISTRICT RANGER GEORGE POZZUTO PRESENTED ONE SUCH ISSUE, CALLED ?NON-MOTORIZED DISPERSED RECREATION.? THIS INCLUDES CROSS COUNTRY SKIING, MOUNTAIN BIKING, AND HIKING.
TAPE POZZUTO 345 we have a good many miles of trail on the forest. We have a lot of people volunteering their time to maintain those. Some of those have been there for over a hundred years. Are they in the right place? Do we have enough of them? Are they serving the purpose of distributing the public in appropriate ways? :16
THERE ARE OTHER, MORE DETAILED QUESTIONS: SHOULD PEOPLE BE ALLOWED TO BRING DOGS ON TRAILS? IF SO, SHOULD THEY BE LEASHED? HOW MUCH SO-CALLED ?NON-MOTORIZED ACTIVITY? SHOULD TAKE PLACE IN AREAS DESIGNATED AS ?WILDERNESS?? IN GORHAM, ABOUT TWO-DOZEN PEOPLE WEIGHED-IN ON WHETHER THEY BELIEVE IT?S APPROPRIATE FOR THE NEW PLAN TO ADDRESS ?NON-MOTORIZED RECREATION. EVERYONE AGREED IT IS, BUT PEOPLE OFFERED SUGGESTIONS FOR ISSUES THEY THINK OUGHT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE LARGER TOPIC. BILL ARNOLD LIVES IN RANDOLPH.
TAPE SPEAKER 1, BILL ARNOLD 453 maybe we need more trails, maybe we need less, I?m not sure. But I know I can go out skiing or hiking in the summer and see signs of snowmobiles and atv?s that are not where they?re supposed to be. :12
THE REVISED PLAN COULD INCLUDE NEW RESTRICTIONS ON A-T-V?S AND SNOWMOBILES ? IT COULD ALSO DESIGNATE MORE PLACES FOR THESE MACHINES TO OPERATE. BRUCE CAIRNS OF RANDOLPH SUPPORTS THAT IDEA.
TAPE SPEAKER 2, BRUCE CAIRNS 466 I certainly would like to see more access and better use of existing roads. I?m not talking about constructing a lot of new roads, particularly for motorized vehicles, whether it be atv?s or snowmobiles. But I certainly think there?s a great infrastructure that?s presently not being used. And I think we should explore that as well. : 24
MANY ELDERLY PEOPLE SAY THEY RELY ON A-T-V?S AND SNOWMOBILES TO HELP THEM GET AROUND THE FOREST. BUT FEW ISSUES IN THE FOREST PLAN REVISION WILL BE EASY TO RESOLVE. FOR EXAMPLE, BRUCE CAIRNS? COMMENT PROMPTED THIS RESPONSE FROM BRUCE SLOAT OF LANCASTER.
TAPE SPEAKER 3, BRUCE SLOAT 476 why should the forest be penalized because of people?s poor lifestyle habits, so that they now have to go to every square inch of the forest on some motorized vehicle. //// 485 they cannot get back into these places, and now they have to go in by motorized carrier, which in turn is damaging the forest.
THIS SATURDAY, AT A PUBLIC MEETING AT PLYMOUTH STATE COLLEGE, THE FOREST SERVICE WILL PRESENT THE FINAL THREE CATEGORIES THE REVISED PLAN WILL TACKLE. THEY INCLUDE: NON-MOTORIZED AND MOTORIZED RECREATION AS A SINGLE CATEGORY. THE SECOND CATEGORY INCLUDES WILDERNESS AND ROADLESS AREA ISSUES. THE THIRD IS VEGETATION MANAGEMENT ? WHICH INCLUDES TIMBER HARVESTING AND WILDLIFE ISSUES. THESE THREE CATEGORIES REPRESENT THE FINAL DISTILLATION OF SOME 31-ISSUES RAISED BY THE WORKING GROUPS.
SOME PEOPLE WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. FOR EXAMPLE, MANY AT THE GORHAM MEETING WANTED ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION TO BE ITS OWN CATEGORY. SEVERAL PEOPLE SAID THE FOREST SERVICE SHOULD FOCUS LESS ON FORESTRY MANAGEMENT AND MORE ON PEOPLE MANAGEMENT. GIBB DODGE OF COLUMBIA, A RETIRED FORESTER, SAID BOTH IDEAS SHOULD INFORM EVERY ISSUE.
TAPE SPEAKER 4, GIBB DODGE it?s going to take your environmental education or teaching people or whatever you want to call it. Plus managing people. The people who are managing this forest have got to consider those two things, and got to put it into affect, in order to accomplish what the general public wants them to do with this forest. :19
AFTER THE MEETING, DODGE WAS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC THAT THE FOREST SERVICE WILL, IN THE END, DEVELOP A BALANCED MANAGEMENT PLAN.
TAPE GIBB DODGE they?re doing the best they can, under the pressures they?re under. :04
THOSE PRESSURES ARE CONSIDERABLE. THE NUMBER OF VISITORS TO THE FOREST HAS REACHED SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR, AND CONTINUES TO CLIMB. YET IN RECENT YEARS, CONGRESS HAS OFTEN FAILED TO FUND KEY AREAS, SUCH AS RECREATION MANAGEMENT, OR TIMBER HARVESTING. DODGE SAYS IF PEOPLE WANT A BETTER MANAGED FOREST, THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE INPUT TO THE PLAN REVISION PROCESS.
TAPE GIBB DODGE I?d say that a lot of things that the forest service says fall on deaf ears on the general public. If the general public would wake up, the congressmen would wake up. It?s that simple. : 12
THE NEXT STEP FOR THE FOREST SERVICE WILL BE TO SEEK PUBLIC INPUT ON A RANGE OF ALTERNATIVES WITHIN EACH BROAD CATEGORY. OFFICIALS HOPE TO RELEASE A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR. THE EARLIEST THEY EXPECT TO COMPLETE THE FOREST PLAN REVISION IS DECEMBER, 2005. FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
