Act for West Slope forests and our climate! - Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action

On August 13, the U.S. Forest Service released its draft revised Forest Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement(DEIS) for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forest. This kicked off a 90-day comment period that will conclude on November 11.

Forest plans provide a general framework to guide a national forest in managing its resources, goods, and services. This process will shape the future of our forests for decades to come, from the West Elk Wilderness to the Grand Mesa to Lone Cone Mountain.

It’s perhaps never been more important that YOUR voice be heard! Please submit a comment to the agency to help ensure that the revised Forest Plan contains new wilderness recommendations, strong protections for wildlife and other important resources, addresses climate change, and much, much more. The DEIS presents four alternatives for the public to consider:

Alternative A is the “no-action alternative,” which simply reflects the current Forest Plan.

Alternative B is the alternative that the Forest Service is leaning towards (also sometimes called the agency’s “preferred” alternative or “proposed action”).

Alternative C can be broadly described as the “active management emphasis” alternative, with no new wilderness allocations, more logging, less restrictive recreation, and more motorized settings.

Alternative D can be broadly described as the “special area emphasis” alternative, with more wilderness allocations, fewer areas allocated for logging, more restrictive recreation management, and more non-motorized recreational settings.

Based upon the effects of the alternatives, and public comments submitted between now and November, the GMUG will select from amongst the alternatives to create the final revised Forest Plan.

Western Colorado Alliance leaders have been working to protect our last remaining wild places on the GMUG for over two decades. Upon our first review, we have significant concerns about the Forest Plan and DEIS:

Alternative B, the agency’s preferred or “blended” alternative, recommends just 34,000 acres for new wilderness across the entire 3.16-million acre GMUG. Compare that with the 125,000 acres that the Forest Service recommended during the Bush administration in their 2007 planning effort. Our take: The final Plan must include significantly more wilderness recommendations.
The Forest Service does not adequately consider the designations in the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative (GPLI) or Community Conservation Proposal. Our take: These must be better reflected — and incorporated — in the final Plan.
Alternative B identifies 948,200 acres of land as suitable for timber production, compared to 468,000 acres in the current plan. Every alternative in the draft plan posits a significant increase in suitable timber, which is a designation that interferes with consideration of responsible management of the forests that allow uses other than timber production. Our take: The draft Plan prioritizes logging over conservation.

We’re not alone in having these concerns. Gunnison, Ouray, San Miguel, and Hinsdale Counties united to submit a letter to the GMUG stating that “at this time we cannot support the pre-draft Plan and Preferred Alternative B as presented.”

Please submit a comment today to the Forest Service sharing these — and any other — recommendations that you might have. Commenting is not voting — you can submit as many comments on as many issues as you’d like, as long as they are substantive. Submit your comments at US Forest Service NEPA Projects Home (ecosystem-management.org).

The comment form is pretty straightforward, but if you need any assistance with it, please contact me. Thank you for all you do to protect our public lands!

About the author

Nick Allan

Before moving to Grand Junction, Nick was a teacher on the front range. His wife and he moved to Grand Junction in 2018 and have loved living here ever since. Nick has been involved in several local campaigns. Nick worked with Western Colorado Alliance in the Grand Junction community center campaign and helped during the 2020 Lobby Trip to Denver before officially becoming an organizer specializing in the areas of public lands and local foods.