Motorized Travel Management Draft Supplemental EIS
Alturas, Calif., Feb. 23rd, 2024— The Modoc National Forest is looking to complete some long-unfinished work because of the appealed 2009 Motorized Travel Management Record of Decision.
The Forest Supervisor signed the Record of Decision (ROD) approving the Modoc Motorized Travel Management Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on November 10, 2009. The analysis leading up to the decision and the decision itself addressed motorized travel across the Forest in accordance with the 2005 Travel Management Rule, 36 CFR 212, subpart B. The decision was appealed under the Post-decisional Administrative Review Process. A subsequent review of the appeal was made by the Pacific Southwest Regional Forester who then issued an appeal decision on March 11, 2010, which upheld part of the 2009 ROD and reversed part.
The Regional Forester reversed the addition of 331 miles of unauthorized routes to the National Forest Transportation System (NFTS) and reversed the decision to change the vehicle class on 513 miles of Management Level 3 (ML3) roads to allow for mixed use by both highway-legal vehicles and non-highway legal vehicles. The Modoc National Forest (Forest) was directed to better present a Riparian Conservation Objective Analysis with proof of compliance with the Forest Plan Standards and Guidelines as articulated in the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment for proposed additions of motor vehicle routes in Critical Aquatic Refuges and Riparian Conservation Areas; and better display confirmation that the Responsible Official met the requirements of pertinent laws, regulations, and the Forest Land Resource and Management Plan for ungulates in relation to any routes added to the NFTS, as well as any ML3 routes being changed to allow for mixed use.
The upheld portion of the ROD directed the Modoc National Forest Supervisor to implement the: Prohibition of cross-country travel; Adoption of seasonal restrictions on 312 miles of NFTS roads; Restricted use on 1.45 miles of roads 44N08 and 44N01 to highway vehicles only; Closure to public travel on road 46B29HB for resource protection; and Amendment of the Modoc National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) to conform with the Travel Management Rule and exclude system roads in the Tionesta area from bald eagle winter roost closure requirements.
This reevaluation process was started in 2010 and a Notice of Intent was published on September 20, 2011 (76 FR 58240). Over the past several years, additional surveys have been completed, maps have been updated, and resource analyses have been underway. The Forest is now at the point of crafting a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for public review. The supplement is needed to address those parts of the 2009 Final Environmental Impact Statement and ROD deemed inadequate by the Regional Forester.
The Forest is using information received during the scoping and comment periods associated with the 2009
Travel Management process; public information workshops and meetings with community groups
throughout 2008 and 2009; and ongoing engagement with state, county, and tribal governments to inform
the development of this DSEIS. The DSEIS is expected to be released in May 2024.
Additional information concerning the 2009 Motorized Travel Management Record of Decision can be found on the Forest website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/modoc/landmanagement/?cid=STELPRDB5316330. Documents concerning this SEIS will be added as they become available.