May 12, 2009
Medicine Bow Clearcuts Shelved
Forest Service Now Protects Homes First
~ Thank the Forest Service and Offer Comments ~
Good News!
Prompted by input from BCA and Med Bow private property owners, Forest Service efforts to protect private property from wildfire are now being directed away from backcountry clearcutting and toward fire prevention, where it counts most--nearest private property in a zone called the Wildland-Urban Interface.
Under a new name, but within the Shellrock Fuel Reduction and Bark Beetle project area, the Forest Service is seeking comments on its new Laramie District South Wildland-Urban Interface Project.
How do these projects differ? For starters, the Shellrock project proposed nearly 13 times more logging than proposed in the new Wildland-Urban Interface project.
The original Shellrock project:
- proposed backcountry clearcuts and other logging methods totalling up to 7,000 acres.
- required miles of road building in backcountry
- delayed and complicated immediate protection of private property by including unnecessary backcountry logging
- destroyed thousands of acres of wildlife habitat
The new Wildland-Urban Interface project:
- protects most wildlife habitat - proposes no clearcuts
- proposes only 554 acres of thinning and other fuel reduction treatments
- focuses exclusively on protecting homes and other private property
- improves and assures safe access for firefighters to fight wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface
- speeds up much needed on-the-ground work to make "Firewise" the Wildland-Urban Interface in the following Medicine Bow communities:
Wold Tract, Miller Lake, Ox yoke, Gramm/SU Cabin Group, Bear Creek-Beehive SU Cabin, Fox Park, Chimney Boy Scout Camp and Foxborough Subdivision
NOTE!
The larger Shellrock project might still be revived by the Forest Service later this year, but for now the news is good.
In your Laramie District South Wildland-Urban Interface project comments please tell the Forest Service:
- Thanks for backing away from clearcutting in the backcountry, which was never going to reduce wildfire risks in the first place.
- Please abandon the original Shellrock project and all of its unnecessary backcountry clearcutting.
- Keep the focus on protecting private property from wildfire where it matters most, in the Wildland-Urban Interface zone (typically a zone of 200 feet from the nearest private home or structure.)
COMMENT DEADLINE
June 1, 2009
Mail Written Comments to:
Melissa Martin, ID Team Leader
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests
2468 Jackson Street
Laramie, WY 82070
Submit Comments Online at: comments-rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-laramie@fs.fed.us
Please remember to offer a BIG THANK YOU to the Forest Service for shelving clearcuts and more effectively protecting private property.
For more information contact Duane at: duane@voiceforthewild.org (307) 742-7978
Thank You for Using Your Voice for the Wild!
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