Consent 3.
Regular Board of Supervisors Meeting
Community Development
- Meeting Date:
- 03/13/2012
- Title:
- Coronado National Forest Travel Management Collaborative Alternative Process – Request for Reassessment of Schedule
- Submitted By:
- Mike Turisk, Community Development
- Department:
- Community Development
- Division:
- Planning
Presentation:
No A/V Presentation
Recommendation:
Approve
Document Signatures:
BOS Signature Required
# of ORIGINALS
Submitted for Signature:
Submitted for Signature:
1
NAME
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
Michael Turisk
TITLE
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
Planning Division Manager
Docket Number (If applicable):
Mandated Function?:
Not Mandated
Source of Mandate
or Basis for Support?:
or Basis for Support?:
Information
Agenda Item Text:
Authorize sending the attached letter requesting that the Forest Service reassess the collaboration process approach and timeline for the Coronado Travel Management Plan to help ensure adequate time for the County to review the proposed Forest Service actions and their potential impacts on the County.
Background:
The Forest Service currently manages more than 2,158 miles of roads on the Coronado National Forest to provide multiple-use access opportunities. As part of the required NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review of the Forest Service's Travel Management Plan, the Forest Service has implemented the "Travel Management Collaboration Process:"
BACKGROUND:
The Forest Service published final travel management regulations (Travel Management Rule or TMR) in the Federal Register. The TMR requires that each Forest designate roads, trails, and areas that are open to motor vehicle use by the public by class of vehicle and, if appropriate, by time of year. It also prohibits the use of motor vehicles on routes and in areas that are not designated for such use.
Past and current motorized vehicle use on the Forest off the designated road system has created many unauthorized roads that are not part of the National Forest System. Implementation of the TMR prohibits continued use of unauthorized roads unless they have been added to the NFS inventory. Although off-road motorized travel is allowed on many national forests, it has been restricted on the Coronado National Forest since 1986, with an exception that provides for off-road vehicle travel up to 300 feet for the purpose of parking or dispersed camping.
The Travel Management Rule clarifies current Forest Service policy regarding motor-vehicle use and provides management direction that allows sustainable access by motor vehicles, including OHVs, on national forests and grasslands. The Coronado has an established systems of roads, trails and areas that are managed for motorized use. Because the Coronado National Forest already has a designated system of motorized travel, the action of publishing a MVUM depicting that designated system is not subject to a NEPA review. However, proposals to add roads to the Forest travel system, remove them from the system, or change authorization of or prohibitions on motor vehicle use on a road or area are subject to a NEPA review.
Over the past 5 years the Coronado has completed Travel Analysis Plans (TAPs) on all districts in which the adequacy of the motorized travel system to meet Forest administrative and user needs was evaluated and the need for new or enhanced protection of natural resources and cultural resources was documented. Each of the five districts is currently at different stages of initiating proposed Forest Service action (NEPA) to make changes to the motorized travel system on their districts based on the analyses done through their TAPS. Completion of the NEPA process on all districts is expected in 2012.
To ensure interested stakeholders and the public have an opportunity to provide input to potential changes in the Forest’s designated road system and are well-informed about the process, Coronado Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch, the District Rangers, and Forest Service staff have asked the Udall Foundation’s U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (the U.S. Institute) to design the Travel Management Collaborative process for their proposed Travel management Plan. A “Collaborative Alternative Team” (CAT) representing a wide range of stakeholder interests was identified at a forest-wide kickoff workshop in January 2012 to serve as the consensus-building body for the five Coronado District workshops (Safford, Nogales, Santa Catalina, Sierra Vista andDouglas).
At District workshops, among the routes in the proposed action by the Forest Service, CAT members’ route preferences are organized into three “buckets” (what is called the “three bucket” approach):
1) Routes all CAT members agree with (consensus)
2) Routes all CAT members agree to with modification or mitigation (consensus)
3) Routes about which CAT members disagree/ where consensus cannot be reached (and therefore about which decisions will have to be made by the District Ranger)
Routes all CAT members participating at a workshop agree with or agree to with modification or mitigation will go into the collaboratively-developed alternative. Facilitated discussion is intended to help CAT members discuss routes about which they disagree and negotiate to achieve consensus on some of those routes. Then those routes also go into the collaboratively-developed alternative. For any routes about which there is still disagreement by the end of the workshop, the respective District Ranger will decide whether to include them in the alternative.
The collaborative process approach that has been implemented for the two workshops held thus far (Safford and Nogales) have been ineffective because of a significant lack of time during the workshops to collaborate and review the proposed actions. There is also an overall lack of information regarding the rationales supporting the Forest Service's proposed actions for the Coronado.
Because of the potentially significant implications for Cochise County, the Board of Supervisors is formally requesting that the Forest Service reassess the collaboration process and timeline in order to provide effective and meaningful input (letter attached).
BACKGROUND:
The Forest Service published final travel management regulations (Travel Management Rule or TMR) in the Federal Register. The TMR requires that each Forest designate roads, trails, and areas that are open to motor vehicle use by the public by class of vehicle and, if appropriate, by time of year. It also prohibits the use of motor vehicles on routes and in areas that are not designated for such use.
Past and current motorized vehicle use on the Forest off the designated road system has created many unauthorized roads that are not part of the National Forest System. Implementation of the TMR prohibits continued use of unauthorized roads unless they have been added to the NFS inventory. Although off-road motorized travel is allowed on many national forests, it has been restricted on the Coronado National Forest since 1986, with an exception that provides for off-road vehicle travel up to 300 feet for the purpose of parking or dispersed camping.
The Travel Management Rule clarifies current Forest Service policy regarding motor-vehicle use and provides management direction that allows sustainable access by motor vehicles, including OHVs, on national forests and grasslands. The Coronado has an established systems of roads, trails and areas that are managed for motorized use. Because the Coronado National Forest already has a designated system of motorized travel, the action of publishing a MVUM depicting that designated system is not subject to a NEPA review. However, proposals to add roads to the Forest travel system, remove them from the system, or change authorization of or prohibitions on motor vehicle use on a road or area are subject to a NEPA review.
Over the past 5 years the Coronado has completed Travel Analysis Plans (TAPs) on all districts in which the adequacy of the motorized travel system to meet Forest administrative and user needs was evaluated and the need for new or enhanced protection of natural resources and cultural resources was documented. Each of the five districts is currently at different stages of initiating proposed Forest Service action (NEPA) to make changes to the motorized travel system on their districts based on the analyses done through their TAPS. Completion of the NEPA process on all districts is expected in 2012.
To ensure interested stakeholders and the public have an opportunity to provide input to potential changes in the Forest’s designated road system and are well-informed about the process, Coronado Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch, the District Rangers, and Forest Service staff have asked the Udall Foundation’s U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (the U.S. Institute) to design the Travel Management Collaborative process for their proposed Travel management Plan. A “Collaborative Alternative Team” (CAT) representing a wide range of stakeholder interests was identified at a forest-wide kickoff workshop in January 2012 to serve as the consensus-building body for the five Coronado District workshops (Safford, Nogales, Santa Catalina, Sierra Vista andDouglas).
At District workshops, among the routes in the proposed action by the Forest Service, CAT members’ route preferences are organized into three “buckets” (what is called the “three bucket” approach):
1) Routes all CAT members agree with (consensus)
2) Routes all CAT members agree to with modification or mitigation (consensus)
3) Routes about which CAT members disagree/ where consensus cannot be reached (and therefore about which decisions will have to be made by the District Ranger)
Routes all CAT members participating at a workshop agree with or agree to with modification or mitigation will go into the collaboratively-developed alternative. Facilitated discussion is intended to help CAT members discuss routes about which they disagree and negotiate to achieve consensus on some of those routes. Then those routes also go into the collaboratively-developed alternative. For any routes about which there is still disagreement by the end of the workshop, the respective District Ranger will decide whether to include them in the alternative.
The collaborative process approach that has been implemented for the two workshops held thus far (Safford and Nogales) have been ineffective because of a significant lack of time during the workshops to collaborate and review the proposed actions. There is also an overall lack of information regarding the rationales supporting the Forest Service's proposed actions for the Coronado.
Because of the potentially significant implications for Cochise County, the Board of Supervisors is formally requesting that the Forest Service reassess the collaboration process and timeline in order to provide effective and meaningful input (letter attached).
Department's Next Steps (if approved):
Send the attached letter.
Impact of NOT Approving/Alternatives:
The Board will not have requested the Forest Service to consider more time for information sharing, discussion of issues and concerns, and conflict resolution regarding the Travel Management Collaborative Alternative process.
To BOS Staff: Document Disposition/Follow-Up:
Please send letters on March 13, 2012 to the following:
Coronado National Forest
Supervisor’s Office
Jim Upchurch, Forest Supervisor
300 W. Congress St.
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Senator John McCain
407 West Congress Street
Suite 103
Tucson, AZ 85701
Senator John Kyl
6840 North Oracle Road, Suite 150
Tucson, Arizona 85704
The Honorable Janice K. Brewer
Arizona Governor
Executive Tower
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Congressman Raul Grijalva
738 N 5th Ave. Suite 110
Tucson, AZ 85705
Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
United States Dept. of Agriculture
Alan J. Stephens, Arizona Director
230 North First Avenue, Suite 206
Phoenix, AZ 85003-1706
Coronado National Forest
Supervisor’s Office
Jim Upchurch, Forest Supervisor
300 W. Congress St.
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Senator John McCain
407 West Congress Street
Suite 103
Tucson, AZ 85701
Senator John Kyl
6840 North Oracle Road, Suite 150
Tucson, Arizona 85704
The Honorable Janice K. Brewer
Arizona Governor
Executive Tower
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Congressman Raul Grijalva
738 N 5th Ave. Suite 110
Tucson, AZ 85705
Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
United States Dept. of Agriculture
Alan J. Stephens, Arizona Director
230 North First Avenue, Suite 206
Phoenix, AZ 85003-1706