February 2001

White River National Forest Plan Update

By Kim Hedberg

The White River National Forest is currently revising its Forest Plan which spells out all uses that will be allowed on the Forest for the next 10 to 15 years. The Forest Service's preferred alternative (Alternative D) in the Draft Plan restricts winter motorized recreation on 537,000 acres of public lands outside Wilderness areas and limits snowmobiles to designated routes on 505,000 acres outside of Wilderness.

This is the first time the Forest Service has proposed any large-scale limitation on snowmobile use on any national forest in Colorado. We urge you to support this proposal by sending your comments as soon as possible. The WRNF is accepting comments until May 9, 2000. More details and how to submit comments.

Please tell your friends about this and ask them to write letters too!