Siskiyou County is
attempting to join with a number of
other counties in a dispute with the
United States Forest Service over
Travel Management Plans in the
Shasta-Trinity and Klamath national
forests.
By David Smith,
Siskiyou Daily News Jan 21, 2011
Wanting
more outrage and more “punch,” the
Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors are
looking to send a message to United
States Forest Service (USFS) Regional
Forester Randy Moore on the new travel
plans for the Shasta-Trinity National
Forest and the Klamath National Forest.
The county’s concerns, reiterated in
draft letters to Moore and Congressman
Wally Herger, center on the elimination
of cross-country travel and the
potential effects on dispersed camping,
firewood cutting, mushroom gathering,
game retrieval and other forest
activities.
With vehicular travel limited to areas
within 30 feet from roadways, the
letters state that the county believes
that people unable to walk long
distances will be barred from camping
outside of designated campgrounds and
other activities. Included in the list
of concerns are closure of roads and
their elimination from USFS maps –
expressing the concern that more people
will lose their way and require rescue
if they find themselves on unmapped,
unmarked roads.
The county filed appeals of both
forests’ travel management plans, both
of which were denied by the USFS.
Requesting that the USFS coordinate its
travel plans with the county and other
stakeholders, the draft letters state,
“Siskiyou County believes that improved
communication and genuine coordination
between the U.S. Forest Service and the
County and users should be among our
collective goals.
“Siskiyou County believes that a
collaborative process that includes
mandated coordination would lay the
foundation for a long-term partnership
among the County, the Forest Service,
and other stakeholders would be
preferable to the current situation
which only serves to re-establish
existing barriers and create new
obstacles among the parties.”
Siskiyou County resident Mike Adams
spoke to the board at the meeting,
urging the supervisors to not sign the
letters until they “reflect the outrage
of the community,” a sentiment echoed by
Board Chair Jim Cook, who suggested that
stronger language should be used,
including a deadline for meeting the
county’s demands under threat of
lawsuit.
County Counsel Thomas Guarino told the
board that he is working on a
multi-county collaboration to respond to
the travel management plans and feels
that threatening a lawsuit within a
specific timeline will reduce the
chances of getting coordination.
“If you punch the agencies in the nose
when you walk in, it will be hard to get
dialogue,” Guarino said, noting that
each letter does detail the county’s
intention to file a suit if coordination
does not occur.
With the desire to make the letters more
forceful, the board continued the agenda
item so that Guarino could include
different language. District 5
Supervisor Marcia Armstrong suggested
that the letters include a reference to
the decision in California Resources
Agency v. United States Department of
Agriculture, in which the court ruled
that the USFS had failed to properly
display in its Environmental Impact
Statement the results of its
coordination with the state.
Other proposed changes are expected to
be submitted by Jan. 25 so Guarino can
draft another letter before the board’s
Feb. 1 meeting.
– David Smith can be reached at dsmith@siskiyoudaily.com
