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Q1. Why was the decision reissued?Due to a technical error in the documents, the USDA Forest Service reissued its September 20, 2005, decision on land management plans for the four national forests in southern California (Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, and San Bernardino National Forests). Public comments on wildlife issues and the agency’s responses were inadvertently omitted from the printed and e...
Q2. Is a different decision being made?No, the Regional Forester has selected Alternative 4a for implementation in the four new Forest Plans. The omitted material was fully considered in the decision-making process, so the decision itself will remain the same. The only differences between the 2005 Records of Decision and the reissued decisions are the new signature dates and minor edits in the Implementation an...
Q3. How does this affect the appeals process?A new 90-day appeal period began upon publication of the legal notice of the reissuance decision in the Sacramento Bee on April 21, 2006. The end of the period to file appeals will be July 20, 2006.
Q4. What happens to appeals that are already filed?Those appeals already submitted on the record of decision dated September 20, 2005 will be carried forward: the Appellants do not need to re-submit appeals. However, Appellants have the option to withdraw the appeal and submit a new appeal during the filing period, or simply submit another appeal. Appellants may appeal just one decision (one forest) or any combination of d...
Q5. How do I file an appeal?An appeal notice must be submitted in writing, in duplicate, to the Reviewing Officer (Chief of the Forest Service). The appeal must contain sufficient narrative evidence and argument to show why this decision should be changed or reversed. At a minimum, the written notice of appeal must: Identify the document in which the decision is contained by title and subject, date o...
Q6. How were interested persons notified of this reissuance?In addition to announcing this in the Federal Register and newspapers of record, the Forest Service notified those on the project’s mailing list by letter.
Q8. Where can I find the material that was originally omitted?All of the plan revision documents (plus the new Record of Decision signature page for each of the four forests and updated errata) are posted on the internet at www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr and are also available for review in Forest Service offices and public libraries throughout southern California. The material that was originally omitted may be found in the errata. Copies o...
Q10. What do the new Forest Plans emphasize?The new plans emphasize recreation use while restoring forest health and protecting the unique biological resources of southern California. The selected alternative has been modified from the preferred alternative identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement to reflect comments received from the public, tribal governments, other agencies, scientific review, agenc...
Q12. What will be different under the new plans?Land Use Zones - The new Forest Plans apply land use zoning that includes: Developed Area Interface, Back Country, Back Country Motorized Use Restricted, Back Country Non-Motorized, Critical Biological, proposed Recommended Wilderness, Existing Wilderness, and Experimental Forest (Angeles NF only). Recreation - The new plans recognize our growing populations and provide st...
Q13. How did you decide which areas to propose for recommended Wilderness?The decisions on which areas to recommend for Wilderness designation were made after careful consideration of factors specific to each area. Wilderness evaluations were prepared as a part of the planning process and included examining Wilderness characteristics and manageability (capability); weighing if the value of Wilderness offset other foregone values including other ...
Q14. How does Wilderness get designated?The Department will submit its administrative recommendation for Wilderness to the President and Congress for congressional action. The Congress has reserved the authority to make final decisions on Wilderness designation. In the interim, the plan directs that Wilderness characteristics be protected in the areas until Congress takes final action.
Q15. What activities are allowed in Wilderness?Wilderness is managed to protect the primitive character and natural condition of the area. Hiking and equestrian use are allowed, while motorized use and mechanized activities such as mountain bicycles are not permitted. Developments such as power lines, pipelines, and other utilities are generally not permitted. Fire suppression in Wilderness is allowed and protocols exi...
Q16. What happens to the inventoried roadless areas?The inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) will be managed according to the Forest Plan direction (see land use zone map, Plan, Part 2), as modified by the Regional Forester’s commitment relative to road construction in IRAs, together with laws and all other overarching management direction (see Plan, Part 3, Appendix A). The new plans require that motorized use be limite...
Q17. How do the new plans address unauthorized vehicle use?Both the prior plans and the new plans require that vehicles operate only on designated routes; however, in some areas, improvements are needed in the system to help discourage unauthorized use. Although none of the four Forests intends to make large additions to their OHV systems, all may eventually need to make some adjustments. The Back Country zone provides the flexibi...
Q18. Are any new areas being opened to off-highway vehicles?The new Forest Plans do not open any new areas to off-highway vehicle use. In fact, the plans require that vehicles be operated only on designated routes. The current status of designated OHV routes (roads, trails and limited areas on the Angeles and Cleveland Forests) is unaffected by the new Forest Plans. All designated routes or areas are in zones in which public motori...
Q19. Why do the Forest Plans designate Critical Biological zones?The designation of Critical Biological zones is intended to provide an added measure of protection in the most important areas for management of species which are most at risk. The zones are focused on areas where there are active conflicts between certain listed species and existing facilities or activities such as campgrounds, road crossings, and grazing allotments. More...
Q20. What is the Forest Service doing to protect habitat linkages?The new Forest Plans address the areas where additional habitat linkage is needed to connect National Forest land with other important habitat areas. Because the Forests have limited funding to acquire linkages, and because the Forest Service does not normally acquire lands outside the National Forest boundary, the Forests must work in partnership with state and local agen...
Q22. What monitoring is planned?Monitoring and evaluation are key elements of the new Forest Plans and are intended to help us determine whether the desired results are being achieved. The results of our monitoring will determine whether changes are needed in the plan. This process is called adaptive management. The public is encouraged to assist in the monitoring effort.
Q23. Where can I get a copy of the Forest plans?The plans are available on this website, at many southern California libraries, on the southern California national forests web sites, or contact your nearest forest service office.
Q24. The published documents include a "Reading Room" - what is that?The reading room, our electronic reference library, contains technical reports which were used in the course of our environmental analysis as we developed these land management plans. We are making them available to you because a lot of people find them interesting. Our scientists and specialists used their considerable expertise to consolidate, analyze, and report on an o...
Q25. What happened with the comments I submitted on the draft documents?Your input had significant impact on our final documents and on how the southern California national forests will be managed into the next decade. Our interdisciplinary team of scientists and specialists read your comments and made a lot of changes to all the documents based on your input. The environmental impact analysis and the forest plans are now final - any future ch...
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A Letter to You From Regional Forester Bernie Weingardt