Courtesy/SFNF
SFNF News:
SANTA FE—Forest Supervisor Maria T. Garcia announced today that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Southwest Jemez Mountains Landscape Restoration Project (SJMLRP) is available for public comment.
The DEIS seeks to authorize treatments that include:
- Prescribed fire;
- Mechanical forest restoration treatments;
- Meadow and riparian rehabilitation; and
- Archeological site protection within Santa Fe National Forest’s 110,000-acre portion of the project.
The public is invited to attend one of three “Open House” meetings next week to learn more about the DEIS and how to submit comments for consideration. The content will be the same at all three meetings. Anyone in need of assistance with verbal translation or accessibility should call Lawrence Lujan at 505.438.5321 before the meeting to allow for planning accordingly.
- Thursday, March 13, 6:30–8:30 p.m., AMERIND Risk Training Center, 502 Cedar Dr., Santa Ana Pueblo, NM 87004
- Friday, March 14, 10 a.m. to noon, Santa Fe Community College Board Room,6401 Richards Ave., Santa Fe, NM, 87508
- Saturday, March 15, 1–3 p.m., Valles Caldera Science and Education Center, 090 Villa Louis Martin, Jemez Springs, NM 87025
The DEIS covers a portion of the total of 210,000-acre project area. The area comprises primarily the entire upper Jemez River watershed, including the nearly 86,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve, a portion of the Santa Fe National Forest (110,000 acres), and some state, private and tribal lands.
The project is part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, a program aimed to encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes. The authorized treatments are designed to make the area more resilient to natural disturbances such as fire, insect and climate change impacts.
Obtain an electronic copy of the DEIS at http://go.usa.gov/BUVh; scroll down to the Analysis section at bottom of the page. To request a hard copy or compact disk of the DEIS, contact Chris Napp at 505.438.5448 or visit the Santa Fe National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 11 Forest Lane in Santa Fe, or the Jemez Ranger District Office, at 51 Woodsy Lane in Jemez Springs.
The Feb. 28, 2014 publication date of the Notice of Availability (NOA) for the DEIS in the Federal Register started the 45-day comment period. Only specific written comments will be accepted. Comments should be provided prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer’s concerns and contentions. The submission of timely and specific comments can affect a reviewer’s ability to participate in subsequent administrative review or judicial review.
Ways to comment:
- Email to: comments-southwesternsantafe-jemez@fs.fed.us. Comments can be included directly in the body of the e-mail message or as an attachment in Word document format (.doc, .docx), portable document format (.pdf),rich text format (.rtf), text (.txt), or hypertext markup language (.html).
- Mail to: SW Jemez Mountains Landscape Restoration Team,11 Forest Lane, Santa Fe, NM 8750
- Fax to: 505.438.5390
- Hand-deliver to: the Forest Supervisor’s Office or the Jemez Ranger District Office during business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Hand delivered comments must be provided to the Forest Supervisor’s (Responsible Official) office during normal business hours, or at an official agency function (i.e. public meeting) that is designed to elicit public comments.
