Blue Mountains National Forests announce forest plan revision meetings
Published 7:00 pm Monday, March 25, 2024
- The three national forests in the Blue Mountains — Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur — cover about 5.5 million acres, more than twice the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The Forest Service is waiving day-use fees at most recreation sites on national forests in Oregon and Washington on June 8, 2024.
PENDLETON — The Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests in the Blue Mountains are hosting a series of public meetings in April about the Forest Plan Revision Draft Assessment and corresponding documents.
According to a press release from the U.S. Forest Service, the Blue Mountains national forests are in the process of revising the land management plans (forest plans), which provide the overall strategic management direction and guidance for the Blue Mountains National Forests. The plans are in the assessment phase, which is the second phase of 10 steps of the forest plan revision process under the 2012 Planning Rule.
The purpose of the phase is to gather existing relevant information on forest conditions and trends and use this information to rapidly evaluate the sustainability of existing ecological, economic and social conditions and trends within the context of the broader landscape.
Public involvement will help the Forest Service gain local knowledge about existing forest conditions to help shape the draft assessment. A formal public comment period will occur later.
The public meetings schedule is as follows:
• April 2, Umatilla National Forest, Gilliam & Bisbee Event Center, 106 E. May St., Heppner.
• April 3, Umatilla National Forest, Pendleton Convention Center, West Conference Rooms, 1601 Westgate, Pendleton.
• April 4, Umatilla National Forest, Columbia County Fairgrounds Pavilion, 5 N. Pine St., Dayton, Washington.
All public meetings are 5-8 p.m. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Virtual links and information will be available at www.fs.usda.gov/detail/umatilla/home/?cid=fseprd1066821 under the “Engagement Opportunities” tab.
A draft assessment will be made available before the public meetings.
The content of the draft assessment will serve as a baseline to be further revised by these public meetings and other input working together with the Blues Intergovernmental Council, tribes and regulatory agencies resulting in a final assessment. The final assessment will include concise findings that will help inform future stages of the forest plan revision efforts.
Information about the process, public meetings, the draft assessment and supporting documents will be on the forest plan website as information becomes available at www.fs.usda.gov.
Meeting information regarding the Malheur and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests is available at the above U.S. Forest Service website or by calling 541-278-3716.
