The Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest (HLCNF), under the direction of Bill Avey, has decided to go against National Policy, and the direction from Region 1, by removing motorized and mechanized use in areas designated as Recommended Wilderness Areas (RWA) in the new Forest Plan. This action results in the HLCNF creating large blocks of land managed as wilderness without consent of Congress. Only Congress has the authority to create wilderness. The removal of motorized and mechanized use in RWAs by the HLCNF in their plan must be objected to and we ask all our members to file an objection to this action.
If you are a member of a group, club or organization that submitted comments during the development of the plan or you provided either written or oral comments to a Forest Service employee during the planning process, you have standing to object. Below is a template for your objection. All information on the template must be included as shown.
(If you are a member of an organization, club or group which submitted formal comments during the scoping or DEIS process, you have standing to object. You also have standing to object if you commented orally or by a written comment at any public meeting during the process.)
You can use this template by adding your information to the highlighted portions, print the objection, be sure to sign the objection, and send the objection to the "Objection Review Officer" at the Northern Region address below. You can also add additional objection points if you wish.
Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest Plan Objection
Attention: Objection Review Officer
USDA Forest Service, Objection Reviewing Officer
Northern Region
26 Fort Missoula Road
Missoula, MT 59804
Objector’s name:
Address:
Phone # or email:
Name of lead objector (if more than one):
I object to the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest Plan for the following reasons:
I formally object to the HLCNF stating in the new Forest Plan and implementing an action of removing all motorized and mechanized use in areas they designate as recommended wilderness areas.
Statement of issues and/or parts of the plan revision to which the objection applies:
The statement of "motorized and mechanized use is not suitable in areas designated as recommended wilderness" is mentioned in numerous places in the 1000s of pages of the document.
Concise statement explaining the objection and suggesting how the proposed plan should be improved:
• The reasons for this objection are:
The previous guidance initiated by Regional Forester Thomas Tidwell of removing motorized and mechanized use in areas of recommended wilderness was superseded in a letter dated April 23, 2019, by Region 1 Regional Forester Leanne Marten. This was confirmed by a letter from Chief Christiansen to Idaho Senator Risch, Senator Crapo, Congressman Simpson, and Congressman Fulcheer on August 6, 2019.
• Proposed Solution:
The language removing motorized and mechanized use in areas of recommended wilderness in the new HLCNF Plan must be removed and these uses must be allowed to continue.
Statement demonstrating the link between objection and prior formal comments:
This issue is new to the process as the suspension of this guidance was made after all formal commenting periods have ended. The HLCNF failed to include new information and guidance into the Forest Plan.
Signature: