The Forest Service (FS) has released their draft plans for motorized travel management on the Black Hills National Forest. Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) are coming due and this is the last chance to let the FS know about any issues you have with the new plan.

The DEIS is available for review on the Black Hills National Forest's website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills/recreation/travel_management/ohv.shtml. Comments received on the DEIS will be used to further refine alternatives for the Final EIS.

They plan to release a final decision in late 2009 and implement the decision in 2010 with the publication of the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM).

Comments must be in writing (paper or electronic) and must be received by May 18, 2009.

Send Comments To: 
          BHNF Travel Mgmt Plan DEIS
          P.O. Box 162909
          Sacramento, CA 95816-2909

E-mail Comments To: 
          BHNFcomments@fscomments.org

Fax Comments To:
          916-456-6724

Delivered in person: At Black Hills National Forest offices located in Newcastle, WY; Sundance, WY; Custer, SD; Rapid City, SD; and Spearfish, SD.

For more information, call Travel Planner Tom Willems or Forest Planner Frank Carroll at 605-673-9200, or visit the Black Hills National Forest website at:  www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills

We've gone over the details and included some suggested comments in our Action Alert below.

THE DEADLINE IS MAY 18, 2009, SO PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE AND SEND
THE FOREST SERVICE YOUR COMMENTS

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact BRC.
Thanks in advance for your support,
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102

BRC ACTION ALERT
COMMENTS NEEDED ON BLACK HILLS TRAVEL PLAN

SITUATION
The Black Hills NF is accepting comments on their Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The comment deadline is May 18, 2009. For more information, call Travel Planner Tom Willems or Forest Planner Frank Carroll at 605-673-9200, or visit the Black Hills National Forest website at www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Please send an email to the Black Hills National Forest. Use the comment suggestions below. Be sure to add a bit of personal information.

THE COMMENT DEADLINE IS MAY 18, 2009

MAIL WRITTEN COMMENTS TO: 
          BHNF Travel Mgmt Plan DEIS
          P.O. Box 162909
          Sacramento, CA 95816-2909

EMAIL COMMENTS TO: 
          BHNFcomments@fscomments.org

 Acceptable formats for electronic comments are text (.txt), MS Word or higher (.doc), Portable Document Format (.pdf), or Rich Text Format (.rtf). 

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO EMAIL YOUR COMMENTS TO THE BLM:

NOTE: Please be polite and make your comments as specific as possible.

STEP 1: Open your email program and start a draft email.
               Address it to BHNFcomments@fscomments.org.

STEP 2: Use the comments below as a guideline for comments in your email. Cut and paste is okay, but try to make your comment letter as personal as possible.

STEP 3: Take just a minute to add a bit about where you live and where you like to ride. Be certain to include your name and address. A return email address is NOT sufficient! ("anonymous" emails are often discarded). Then click "send" and you're done!

COMMENT SUGGESTION:

Of the Alternatives presented, I strongly encourage the agency to adopt Alternative C.

I strongly oppose Alternatives D and E. As a forest visitor who depends on motorized vehicles for access and recreation, these two alternatives are completely unacceptable.

I support more trail mileage in the Hell Canyon Ranger District. OHV users prefer the trail experience to the road experience.

With very few trails designated in the southern hills, the plan is too dependent on mixed-use roads for OHV opportunity. This is not very family oriented because, even managed as mixed-use, you still need a valid operator license to travel on the road; this minimizes youth opportunities.

It would appear that some routes submitted by the public were not looked at or considered for various reasons such as not enough time, not having seen those trails in the map data, and mitigation issues.  Those routes should be flagged and kept as part of the inventory as "designated but not open to vehicle use" until mitigation or analysis can be completed.  These trails should not be automatically slated for closure until they have been looked at. 
  
There are minimal meaningful connections of the trail system to gateway communities such as Deadwood-Lead, Sturgis, Hill City, and even Spearfish.  For a successful trail system, both community and enthusiast need to have access to the community services such as fuel, food and lodging.

We support the comments and information submitted to the Forest Service by the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), the South Dakota Off Highway Vehicle Coalition (SDOHVC) and The Off-Road Riders Association (ORA).