Medicine Bow - Routt National Forests
Thunder Basin National Grassland

USDA Forest Service
Medicine Bow-Routt
National Forests,
Thunder Basin
National Grassland
2468 Jackson Street
Laramie, WY 82070
307-745-2300

Telephone for the
Hearing Impaired
307-745-2307

News Release

USDA Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Region
Medicine Bow & Routt National Forests, Thunder Basin National Grassland

Contact: Melissa Martin 307-745-2371

 

Spruce Gulch Bark Beetle and Fuels Reduction
Draft EIS available for public comment

(Laramie, Wyo. June 30, 2008) – The Forest Service is seeking comments on the Spruce Gulch Bark Beetle and Fuels Reduction Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The Draft EIS discloses the environmental effects of a proposal to harvest beetle-killed trees in the Spruce Gulch area of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests. The proposal also includes reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire by removing dead and dying trees in proximity of private lands and communities in and adjacent to the analysis area. The Spruce Gulch analysis area is 40 miles southwest of Laramie, Wyoming and 35 miles north of Walden. The analysis area encompasses roughly 32,322 acres.

The Forest Service received 33 comment letters in response to collaboration and public involvement efforts during the past several months. Information contained in the letters was used to define significant issues related to the project proposal. The DEIS has two alternatives in addition to the Proposed Action. Alternative 1 -- No Action; Proposed Action -- Forest Health Emphasis (4,372 acres); and Alternative 2 -- Fuels Management Emphasis (2,352 acres). Adaptive management prescriptions include salvage, sanitation/salvage, shelterwood, group selection, individual tree selection, commercial thinning, and overstory removal.

The analysis was completed using streamlined National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) authorities offered by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. While the streamlined process shortens the timeline for project completion, it does not cut corners on public involvement, analysis, or full disclosure about the project.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement and instructions for commenting are available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr/projects/foresthealth/index.shtml

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests Thunder Basin National Grassland

2468 Jackson Street, Wyoming 82070-6535

www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr