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SUMMIT COUNTY — A good deal of public response on a proposed forest health logging project has spurred the U.S. Forest Service to rethink its proposal.
Some residents of the Peak 7 neighborhood are concerned the extensive logging proposed goes too far. Other locals have written letters of support for the project, saying the Forest Service needs to clear out dead trees to allow for new growth.
“I was so pleased to have such a large turnout at our open house for the project,” said Dillon District Ranger Jan Cutts. “One concern that I heard more than once was that you wanted more time to consider and understand the proposal,” she wrote to citizens who attended a Nov. 17 open house.
“In presenting you the proposal on (Nov. 17), the open house format did not work as well as it usually does when we have a typical showing of about a dozen people. Therefore I would like to give you another opportunity to hear a presentation on the proposal with ample time and space to ask questions and give us your comments,” she wrote.
The Forest Service is still looking for written comments to be submitted by Dec. 3 to help move the process along.
Cutts said the Forest Service will schedule another meeting in early January when the agency has refined the plan to address some of the early public concerns. Additionally, the agency will hold a site visit to give people a chance to see the landscape. Cutts said the dates under consideration for the field trip are Dec. 5 or Dec. 7 between
10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Cutts previously said the up-front input will help the Forest Service balance citizen concerns with the agency's need to treat the area for forest health and regeneration.
As laid out in its earliest form, the Breckenridge project would encompass about 5,700 acres stretching from Farmer's Korner to the Golden Horseshoe and Hoosier Pass to the south.
The Forest Service will evaluate the project under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which limits public comment and expedites the review and approval process.
People interested in attending the site visit should call the Dillon Ranger District by Wednesday at (970) 468-5400 to help pick the date and to sign up.
A full packet of information on the preliminary proposal is online at: http://bit.ly/8hYXXB
Read a previous Summit Daily story on the proposal here: http://bit.ly/6pXlEW
Some residents of the Peak 7 neighborhood are concerned the extensive logging proposed goes too far. Other locals have written letters of support for the project, saying the Forest Service needs to clear out dead trees to allow for new growth.
“I was so pleased to have such a large turnout at our open house for the project,” said Dillon District Ranger Jan Cutts. “One concern that I heard more than once was that you wanted more time to consider and understand the proposal,” she wrote to citizens who attended a Nov. 17 open house.
“In presenting you the proposal on (Nov. 17), the open house format did not work as well as it usually does when we have a typical showing of about a dozen people. Therefore I would like to give you another opportunity to hear a presentation on the proposal with ample time and space to ask questions and give us your comments,” she wrote.
The Forest Service is still looking for written comments to be submitted by Dec. 3 to help move the process along.
Cutts said the Forest Service will schedule another meeting in early January when the agency has refined the plan to address some of the early public concerns. Additionally, the agency will hold a site visit to give people a chance to see the landscape. Cutts said the dates under consideration for the field trip are Dec. 5 or Dec. 7 between
10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Cutts previously said the up-front input will help the Forest Service balance citizen concerns with the agency's need to treat the area for forest health and regeneration.
As laid out in its earliest form, the Breckenridge project would encompass about 5,700 acres stretching from Farmer's Korner to the Golden Horseshoe and Hoosier Pass to the south.
The Forest Service will evaluate the project under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which limits public comment and expedites the review and approval process.
People interested in attending the site visit should call the Dillon Ranger District by Wednesday at (970) 468-5400 to help pick the date and to sign up.
A full packet of information on the preliminary proposal is online at: http://bit.ly/8hYXXB
Read a previous Summit Daily story on the proposal here: http://bit.ly/6pXlEW
