North Savery project opens to public input

One of Governor Mead's priority areas for analysis and treatment of insect and disease infestation will be discussed at two upcoming public meetings to be held by the U.S. Forest Service.

The proposed North Savery project, located about 15 miles west of Encampment, is primarily concerned with silvacultural treatments, but also includes travel and recreation management on the Brush Creek/Hayden Ranger District.

District ranger Melanie Fullman explained, "Whenever we are doing any type of major activity, and I think this would certainly qualify, we are going to include travel management as part of it, just like we are also including some recreation management in here."

The North Savery analysis area is comprised of about 45,000 acres in the Sierra Madres. According to a Nov. 23 scoping letter, "The proposal includes about 6,500 acres of silvacultural treatments, including salvage of 5,500 acres of mountain pine beetle-killed lodgepole pine, 1,000 acres of precommercial thinning, and hazard tree removal." Tree removal is intended to prepare the area for future commercial harvesting, enhance and protect undergrowth and make travel safer along road and trail systems. The expedited process under the 2014 Farm Bill and amended Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 allows earlier implementation of timber sales that provide valuable lumber to local mills before standing dead timber becomes unmerchantable, according to the scoping letter.

Part of the travel management plan includes closing roads in areas that cross permanently wet areas and connecting existing roads to convey traffic around the boggy areas. Conversely, there are several "user-created" trails that will be enhanced and brought in to the designated road system. New ATV trails and a trail to connect the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail to the Jack Creek Campground are also being considered according to Fullman. "What we've proposed a lot of in here, in terms of travel management, are reroutes and better locations of roads," Fullman said.

The recreation management aspect of the project ties with formalizing user-created trails and roads in order to keep dispersed campsites in dry, open areas available to the public.

The North Savery Project Scoping Document contains detailed project components and is available at http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=47913. "We have also identified in our proposal the exact reason for each road closure, in advance," Fullman said.

Public meeting information is as follows:

Rawlins

5:30-7:30 p.m., Dec. 9 at the Bureau of Land Management Rawlins Field Office, 1300 North 3rd St.

Saratoga

5:30-7:30 p.m., Dec. 10 at the Platte Valley Community Center, 210 W. Elm Ave.