By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
There were 15 people at an open house held in Juab County
on Wednesday, June 13. To make public comment on a proposal
being made by the U.S. Forest Service. The Uinta National
Forest hosted four open houses during the month of June to
discuss the Forest Service's Draft Land and Resource
Management Plan.
"The Forest Services wants us to support their
recommendation (Alternative D), which cuts out roads, but
we, as a commission, actually support Alternative A," said
Robert Steele, commissioner.
Steele was assigned by the commission to draft a letter
for the commission to sign. That letter, it was decided
Monday during commission meeting, will indicate the
commission's strong support for multiple use of Forest
Service lands.
Most of those attending the open house in Nephi were
interested in preserving the rights of those wanting to use
the forest land for ATV sports and for motorized game
retrieval.
Once a game animal has been killed by a hunter, that
hunter should have the right to drive to the game in a
motorized vehicle, such as a pick-up truck, to load the
animal for transport.
"Most of those attending open houses have their own
agenda," said Steele. "We commissioners must try to look at
the whole picture."
Juab County has a master plan, Steele said. That master
plan supports the rights of citizens of the county to fully
utilize lands. The commission supports multiple use of land,
meaning that the land can be used for more than one purpose
at the same time.
Steele said the commission also feared that the revision
plan was, in fact, in open support of adding more lands to
the Wilderness designation.
"We get the idea that will happen," said Steele.
"The Forest Service are masters at successive
approximation," said Steele. In other words, he said,
officials in the forest service were really interested in
having more of Mount Nebo designated as wilderness.
"We strongly oppose that," said Steele.
Each open house began with a 30-minute presentation
followed by a question-and-answer period. Open house
meetings were held in Payson, Lehi, Heber City and in
Nephi.
For those wishing to comment in writing, the deadline is
Aug. 2. For more information call 801-342-5100.
Any questions on Forest Planning can be directed to:
Forest Plan Revision, Uinta National Forest, P.O. Box 1428,
Provo, UT, 84603-1428 or by telephoning 801-342-5100
(general information)
Those who are interested in further information may
contact the Forest Plan Revision Team leader: Marlene
DePietro, Team Leader, 801-342-5161,
mdepietro@fs.fed.us.
It is also possible, for those have Adobe Acrobat Reader
installed on their computer, to go to the site and read the
revision plan.
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