The Forest Plan Objection Process

The objection process allows the Responsible Official, the Reviewing Official, Interested Persons, and eligible objectors to have the opportunity to seek reasonable solutions to conflicting views of plan components before the Responsible Official approves a plan, plan amendment, or plan revision.  

The original 60-day objection period, which began on March 25, 2022, closed on May 24, 2022. The web link included in the original federal register notice and legal notice to submit objections electronically was incorrect due to a technical issue with the website.

For this reason, the Forest Service re-initiated the objection period to ensure all potential objectors have an opportunity to participate in the process. The legal notice and federal register notice of opportunity to object (NOO) was published on July 8, 2022. The objection submission period ended on September 6, 2022, with 17 objections received. Of those, 14 objections have been determined eligible to participate in the objection process in compliance with 36 CFR 219.54. You may review the eligible objections to the draft Record of Decision, Final Forest Plan and FEIS in the CARA reading room. 

A legal notice of eligible objectors was published in the Arizona Capitol Times on September 16, 2022. This publication initiated a 10-day period in which individuals or organizations who have provided previous substantive formal comments in the plan revision process could request to be an Interested Persons, as described in 36 CFR 219.57. which allows participation in meetings between the objectors and the Forest Service. The timing for implementing the new plan will depend on resolution of objections and any additional changes required to comply with resolution decisions. 

The Regional Forester hosted objection resolution meetings on February 21 & 22, 2023. The purpose of these meetings was to further discuss concerns and remedies for some of the topics raised during the plan revision objection process. These meetings were held virtually and were open to the public. No decisions were made during these meetings.

On May 19, 2023, the Regional Forester (the Reviewing Official) issued her final instructions to the Tonto Forest Supervisor (the Responsible Official) and responded to the eligible objectors. This concluded the objection process. These final instructions included changes the forest had to make to the final plan or supporting documents before the Forest Supervisor could sign the Record of Decision and implement the new plan. Appendix A of the Record of Decision details how the Forest complied with these instructions. For final versions of these documents and how the Forest complied with the Regional Forester’s instructions, see the Record of Decision, revised land management plan, and supporting documents.