Forest to Hold Public Meeting on Draft Environmental Assessment on Greenwater Area Roads

Release Date: Apr 26, 2016

 

US Forest Service

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Contact: Tracy O'Toole  Office: 425-783-6015

 

 

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The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is taking a closer look at the Forest road system in the Lower Greenwater River Subwatershed and portions of the Upper White Subwatershed and is looking for feedback from the public. USFS will hold a public meeting on the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) as part of the Greenwater Access and Travel Management Project on the Snoqualmie District of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Date and location are as follows:

• May 11,  6-8pm: Greenwater Community Center, 59707 Hwy 410 E, Greenwater, WA 98022

Maintaining roads across the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie has been challenging as budgets decline. Less maintenance can result in more effects on the environment—such as more sediment in streams that are home to salmon, for instance—and also reduces the reliability of access for forest users. The Draft Environmental Assessment considers access needs for a range of forest uses—recreation, forestry, and traditional and cultural uses—in balance with reducing impacts to the land as well as better aligning with the Forest Service budget. The final decision, expected this summer, would include a range of possible actions, from possibly improving some roads to decommissioning or storing others.

Currently, approximately 2,500 miles of roads crisscross the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, from the Canadian border to the Mt. Rainier National Park on the western Cascades. The USFS can afford to maintain about a quarter of them. In September 2012, the Forest collected information through public forums and from resource specialists to develop a plan for roads, called the “Sustainable Roads System,” or SRS. The SRS identified minimum access needs, or road maintenance levels, based on access needs of recreation, fire, cultural resources, and vegetation management. The SRS plan was used as an information source for one of the proposals under analysis for the project area. Scoping comments and Tribal input were considered as the project's interdisciplinary team developed another alternative, completed the analysis and prepared the draft EA. 

Information about commenting on the Draft Environmental Assessment:

The Draft Environmental Assessment is available for review and comment on the project website under the heading “Analysis”. In an effort to reduce paper use, the Forest will emphasize electronic correspondence throughout this project. Please include with your comment: a valid e-mail or mailing address. The project website will be the primary avenue through which the Forest Service will provide information about the project. Electronic comments are preferred and should be submitted with the following subject line, “Greenwater ATM” in the subject line, and as part of the actual e-mail message, or in another readable format such as plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), .pdf, or Word (.doc or .docx) to: comments-pacificnorthwest-mtbaker-snoqualmie-snoqualmie@fs.fed.us.

Written comments should be mailed or dropped off in person to:

Office hours for submitting hand-delivered comments are 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Oral comments can be provided at the Snoqualmie District (address above).

Comments received, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the Project Record and available for public review. For more information contact: Karen Chang, Interdisciplinary Team Lead at 425-888-8758.

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