Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests Announces Proposed Change to Snowmobile Plan

| October 28, 2010 | 0 Comments

BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests Announces Proposed Change to Snowmobile Plan

Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,

The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District, is requesting public input on a proposed snowmobile parking lot they call the Columbine Access Project.  The FS is also proposing moving a groomed snowmobile trail off of a road and on to adjacent FS lands and to grooming snowmobile access to Steamboat Lake State Park.

To the agency’s credit, they have included an Alternative suggested by the Routt Powder Riders, a local snowmobile club. We are asking our members in Colorado to send an email to the FS supporting the Powder Riders alternative (Alternative 3).

Info and instructions on how to send your comment are below. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please call or email.

Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102


BLUERIBBON COALITION LANDUSE UPDATE!

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests Announces Proposed Change to Snowmobile Plan

Situation:
The Forest is proposing to move the groomed trail off FSR490 to a route on National Forest System lands maintaining groomed snowmobile access from the Steamboat Lake State Park to FSR550, north of Columbine, as well as improving year round parking.  The proposal is located in the vicinity of Columbine, CO, T10N, R 85W, and a portion of T11N, R85W, Routt County, CO.

The FS has developed three alternatives. One of the Alternatives, Alternative 3, was developed by the local snowmobile club. Please support Alternative 3. (See “What you need to do” below)

Comments received by the Forest Service on the proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action were considered and incorporated into the Environmental Assessment (EA), resulting in a modified proposed action. The Forest Service is accepting comments on the EA prior to a decision being made by the Responsible Official. Project information can be found at http://fs.usda.gov/goto/mbr/projects.

The 30-day comment period will end on November 2, 2010. This will be the final opportunity to comment on the proposal. Those commenting should include: 1) name, address, telephone number, and organization represented, if any; 2) title of the document on which the comments are being submitted; 3) specific facts and supporting reasons for the Responsible Official to consider.

Written comments should be addressed to the Responsible Official: Jamie Kingsbury, District Ranger, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, 925 Weiss Drive, Steamboat Springs, Colorado 80487.  The fax number is 970-870-2284.

Oral comments must be provided at the Responsible Official’s office during normal business hours via telephone 970-870-2299 or in person, or at an official agency function (i.e. public meeting) that is designed to elicit public comments.

Electronic comments must be submitted in a format such as an email message, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), or Word (.doc) to comments-rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-routt-hahns-peak-bears-ears@fs.fed.us. When submitting comments on the web, the SUBJECT LINE must be “Columbine Access” to ensure proper routing.

For additional information, contact Kent Foster at (970) 870-2142 or kfoster@fs.fed.us, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, 925 Weiss Drive, Steamboat Springs, Colorado 80487.

What you need to do:
Please send an email to comments-rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-routt-hahns-peak-bears-ears@fs.fed.us
DON’T FORGET TO PUT “Columbine Access” in the Subject Line!

Please tell the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests that you support Alternative 3.


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Category: Action Alerts, Southwest - Access Issues

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