Speak Up Now to Protect the Carson National Forest

From: "Center for Biological Diversity"
Date: 20 февраля 2009 г. 13:08

The Carson National Forest has just released a travel-management plan to decide which routes, trails, and areas will be open to motorized use and off-road vehicles. The Forest Service will use this plan to determine which areas of the forest will be protected for quiet recreation and preserved as habitat for threatened and endangered species.

The Carson is home to some of New Mexico's finest rivers, including hundreds of miles eligible for Wild and Scenic River designation. Mexican spotted owls, goshawks, southwestern willow flycatchers, and recently reintroduced river otters call these riparian areas home and could be put at risk.

Now is the time to contact the Carson National Forest and voice your concerns about off-road vehicle use. At the request of the Center for Biological Diversity, the Forest Service has extended the comment deadline until March 20 -- which means you have the chance to speak up and make a difference in how your forests are managed and endangered species are treated.

Click here to find out more and take action.

Sample letter:

Subject: Carson National Forest Travel Management

The travel-management planning process is the Carson National Forest's opportunity to designate a fiscally responsible motorized route system that can be managed to protect threatened and endangered species habitat, riparian areas, and quiet recreation. I'm concerned with several aspects of the proposal, including the plan to designate numerous routes along rivers that are eligible for Wild and Scenic designation.

The proposal does offer some protection for Mexican spotted owl and northern goshawk by keeping their habitat largely free of motorized routes. I support the protection of these areas and ask that any routes in the forest that still enter or bisect these areas be removed. Specifically, please remove the portion of route 578D31 that bisects a goshawk post fledgling area. Please remove routes that would allow dispersed camping corridors into these areas, or if these routes are of tremendous value to the public, do not allow dispersed camping corridors along these routes. I am specifically concerned with routes 310, 311, and 312 (all segments). Route 357 (all segments) enters Mexican spotted owl Protected Activity Centers and critical habitat and should be removed unless it is of extremely high value to the public. Instead of camping corridors, designate terminal routes or spurs that provide access to campsites or allow camping adjacent to designated routes.

In light of the need to designate a minimal route system to protect resources and decrease budget demands, I was surprised to see that the Forest Service has planned additions to the system. This is especially shocking given that the Carson National Forest Transportation Analysis reveals that the forest can afford to maintain just 17 percent of the proposed system and has millions of dollars in backlogged maintenance projects.

As a local user of undisturbed areas, I feel strongly that more closures are needed, not more roads. I avoid areas used by off-road vehicles, which kick up dust clouds, fill whole drainages with noise, harm habitat, and pollute water. Non-motorized areas like the Pecos Inventoried Roadless Area and the Cruces Basin Wilderness Area are sources of clean water and great recreation including hiking, camping, hunting, and horse-riding. The peace and quiet of these areas is crucial to their role as refuges for people and vanishing wildlife.

The practice of allowing excessive cross-country travel to dispersed camping sites is harmful, and the extent of corridors proposed by the Forest Service alarms me. The designation of these corridors in the Camino Real and Jicarilla Ranger Districts will result in wildlife habitat destruction, damaged archeological sites, destroyed vegetation and increased soil erosion. These areas should not be subject to off-road use.

Please designate a motorized system that 1) does not include additions to the system; 2) closes routes that are degrading the land and travel through the habitat of endangered species such as the Mexican spotted owl, goshawk, lynx, river otter, and southwestern willow flycatcher; 3) strictly limits the designation of areas for dispersed camping; 4) does not permit cross-country motorized big game retrieval; and 5) is fiscally responsible.

Please take action by March 20, 2009.
Click here to find out more and take action.
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