Wild & Scenic Rivers Draft Eligibility Study Documentation Available Online

Release Date: Oct 16, 2017

PHOENIX, October 16, 2017—For Immediate Release. Forest officials are accepting public comments from October 16 thru November 6 on the draft Wild and Scenic Rivers eligibility documentation and eligible segments.

The documents – Tonto National Forest Draft Wild and Scenic Rivers Eligibility Study, and a Forest Service-produced spreadsheet – offer the public an opportunity to provide feedback on segments deemed eligible as well as those segments deemed ineligible. The documents are located on the Tonto National Forest website’s Wild and Scenic Rivers page.

The 2012 National Forest Planning Rule requires the Tonto National Forest to analyze rivers and streams that may be eligible for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. This system was created by Congress in 1968 to preserve rivers that contain outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing system, and are for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

In addition to free-flowing, eligibility requires a river to possess one or more remarkable values. These include scenery, recreation, fish, historic and cultural, geography, and other values. Further information on the process of selecting National Wild & Scenic Rivers can be found in Chapter 80 of the Land Management Planning Handbook.

Forest officials have identified 20 potentially eligible segments from the 2,500 miles of named streams on the Tonto National Forest. Documentation outlines the process that Forest Service officials took to determine the eligible segments, as well as provides the basis for making the eligibility determination.

The spreadsheet provides information to support why or why not a segment was determined eligible for all 2,500 miles of named streams on the forest, and provides rationale for given classifications of eligible segments.

Once eligibility is determined, management direction for the eligible segments will be provided in the revised Tonto National Forest Plan. This will aid the Forest Service in managing these segments to protect the segments’ remarkable values for which they are eligible and to retain their identified possible classifications.

Comments can be submitted in the following ways:

• By e-mail to: tontoplan@fs.fed.us
• By mail to: Tonto National Forest, Tonto Plan Revision, 2324 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85006

The public will have additional opportunities to provide input throughout the Plan Revision process. To learn more about the Wild and Scenic Rivers eligibility process and be involved in the Tonto National Forest Plan Revision, visit the project website at http://www.tontoplan.org.