On, January 23, 2025, I attended a public meeting at Shasta College in Redding where the Northwest Forest Plan Amendment Draft Environmental Statement (DEIS) planning team gave an update on the planning effort. Approximately 50 stakeholders from across the North state attended the meeting to learn more about the DEIS and to share their views and concerns about current and proposed management of their National Forests.
By Don Amador
Several of the key concerns expressed by public statements or in discussions were about the truncated plan timeline, missing significant issues such as Recreation/Transportation Road and Trail System due to self-imposed narrow timelines, and questioned the practical value of this multi-state regional planning document given the critical staff shortages and other factors at the Forest level, which severely limit the agency from implementing current on-the-ground forest health and fuel projects.
I think Don Yasuda, one of the Amendment’s planning leads, did a good job explaining how the agency developed its “Dry” and “Moist” forest management strategies that do reflect a lot of careful consideration of science, lessons learned from the 1994 Forest Plan, and public input. Yasuda also noted the important role that tribes and local stakeholder collaboratives have and will continue to have in forest management.
Of keen interest for off-road trail enthusiasts was the comment by Yasuda that that local forest plans will also rely on other documents and studies to guide their decision-making process. One of those pro-trail guides is the Trails and Resilience: Review of the Role of Trails in Climate Resilience and Emergency Response, prepared by the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center for the FHWA Office of Human Environment in March 2023.
The Trails and Resilience abstract states: Shared use paths and other trails are key pieces of transportation infrastructure that can also provide recreational opportunities and, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, improve health and wellbeing during a public health emergency. Additionally, trails can become critical infrastructure during an emergency when other transportation facilities are inaccessible, and can support activities including evacuation and search and rescue.”
In addition, the Trails and Resilience abstract recognizes that trails (and, by extension, recreation) can benefit resilience, provide tools to respond to weather and fire events, and be designed in such a way as to mitigate impacts from climate change. It believes that this is where the Forest Service should start in any rulemaking, policy, guidance, or amendment process since Forests exist to provide for recreation and other multiple uses.
While appreciating the work put into the plan so far, I asked the question about why the plan did not appear to analyze post-fire restoration and forest management on the millions of acres of National Forest lands that were nuked by massive wildfires during the 2018—2021 fire seasons.
It seemed the answer to that question about why that issue was not analyzed in detail and a subsequent strategy developed was due in part to the compressed timeline and overwhelming size of the three-state planning area.
Several people in attendance expressed doubt about the future of the process given the Trump Administration’s “pause or hold” on NEPA plans until after appointees have time to review them.
The FS Planning Team leads and representatives from the Mendocino, Six Rivers, and Shasta Trinity National Forests should be commended for fielding a lot of questions from the audience and sticking around to engage in meaningful dialogue with the public.
It was great to be joined by Mendo 4×4 Club conservation lead Allen Schrage and his family where he continued his strong advocacy efforts in support of agency partnerships and managed OHV recreation on public lands.
I encourage the recreation community to remain engaged in the planning process and to submit substantive comments on the DEIS. The future of our forests and recreation opportunities in the Pacific Northwest depends on your participation.CN
Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for over 33 years. Amador is President of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC. Don serves as the Western States Representative for the Motorcycle Industry Council; is Past President/CEO and current board member of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance; is a Co-Founder and Current Core-Team member on FireScape Mendocino; served as a North Zone Fire Cache AD Driver for the 2022 to 2024 fire seasons; writes from his home in Cottonwood, CA. Amador can be reached via email at: damador@cwo.com
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