The Forest Service is seeking to reduce public comment opportunities yet again.The proposed changes would all but eliminate public notification and would limit public comment to a single 10 day period. Currently, the Forest Service sends out project notifications to local newspapers and to anyone who signs up for their contact list. The new policy would dictate no further public notification other than posting to the website of the National Forest in question, and there are 174 national forests and grasslands.
Why This Matters for All of WNC
There are six national forests in the Southern Blue Ridge – the Chattahoochee, the Cherokee, the Sumter, the Nantahala, the Pisgah, and the Jefferson – and many people in our region are interested in all of them. Rather than receiving automated notices, members of the public will have to check those websites daily to make sure they have enough time to read hundreds of pages of documents and submit comments within a 10-day window.
The final proposed change would be to remove an impartial reviewer from the administrative review process, and leave any changes to projects up to the official that decided to approve the project in the first place.
The Asheville Watchdog had a great article about how this is playing out locally. Please comment by March 9th to oppose these damaging changes!
What You Can Do Today
Let the federal government know that this is an unacceptable loss of accountability. These public lands belong to all of us and we have the right to know and comment on any proposals that could cause them harms, with enough time to make our voices heard.
Click either button to link to the official comment page. Write your own comment, or use this one:
Dear Federal Government,
There is no good reason to further reduce opportunities for the public to review and comment on proposals from the US Forest Service. Previous changes have already reduced comment periods on projects from three (Scoping, EA, and Decision) to one (Decision only). The new proposed changes would reduce the comment period from 30 days to 10 days. This is simply an unrealistic amount of time for the public to read and meaningfully comment on documents that are often hundreds, if not thousands, of pages long.
Furthermore, ending public notice in favor of posting to obscure government websites will prevent many people that are currently on the US Forest Service mailing list from ever learning about projects that affect their water sources, recreational opportunities, livelihoods, and cultures. There is no reason to discontinue public notice except to exclude citizens and taxpayers from decisions affecting land that they own.
Please abandon this ill-conceived proposal and continue to notify the public of projects on US Forest Service Land and allow ample time for meaningful public input.
Sincerely,
