USDA News:
SANTA FE — The Carson, Cibola and Santa Fe National Forests and Kiowa National Grasslands are soliciting public input on a proposal to restore riparian, wetland and aquatic ecosystems in Northern New Mexico to improve habitat, watershed health and water quality.
A 30-day public comment period on the draft environmental assessment (EA) opened Friday.
In order to comply with current federal directives and New Mexico public health orders to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the forests and grassland are hosting an ongoing virtual “public meeting” at https://www.virtualpublicmeeting.com/nnm-rawr-ea.
This interactive website allows visitors to review project information, ask questions and submit comments electronically. Information is also available on the Forest Service project website.
Although only 2.5 percent of the 4.8 million acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands in Northern New Mexico are wetlands or riparian areas, they provide essential ecological functions far beyond their small footprint on the landscape. Riparian zones provide the highest plant, bird, insect, reptile-amphibian and mammal biodiversity on the forests. At the same time, they have been impacted by significant stressors, including climate change, uncharacteristic wildfire, agriculture and grazing, urbanization, recreational use and invasive species.
The three forests collaborated on the draft EA under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to increase the pace and scale of riparian, wetland and aquatic ecosystem restoration, restore watershed health and water quality, and recover riparian and aquatic species.
Proposed projects range from channel reconstruction and streambank restoration to planting riparian species and restoring beaver habitat.
The proposed action addresses substantive comments received during the earlier scoping period. Timely, specific comments received by June 1, 2020, will give individuals and entities eligibility to file an objection to the final EA and draft decision notice. Comments may be submitted:
- Through the virtual public meeting at https://www.virtualpublicmeeting.com/nnm-rawr-ea-providing-comments
- By email to SM.FS.NNMRAWR@usda.gov with the subject line “Northern New Mexico Riparian, Aquatic and Wetland Restoration Project”
- Through the Comment and Response Analysis Response (CARA) online application at https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?Project=56975
- By postal mail to Joshua Hall, Ecosystem Staff Officer, Santa Fe National Forest, 11 Forest Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87508