Find a Forest (NF)
or Grassland (NG)
U.S. Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Region
740 Simms St
Golden, CO 80401
303-275-5350
Telephone for the
Hearing Impaired
303-275-5367
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How to Comment on NEPA Projects
The Forest Service routinely requests public comment on its projects
proposals both when a project is initially proposed (scoping) and
when an environmental assessment (EA) or a draft environmental
impact statement (EIS) is published. These documents contain standard
wording about "agency and commenter" responsibilities. Comment
form and content explanations follow:
Ways to send comments:
To comment, it's best to use the postal service with a legible name and postal address (not e-mail).
E-mail cannot be guaranteed as to receipt, which presents problems concerning our National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) compliance and your assurance that we consider your input.
If you provide e-mail comments, please be aware of this limitation.
We will accept and acknowledge e-mail, but for you to receive correspondence
about a project and have legal standing to appeal
a decision, we must have your name and postal address.
Comment content:
Different land management views mean people may disagree with the present legal mandate
under which the Forest Service operates. Comments along those lines
certainly tell us how you feel about the Forest Service and its mission,
but they do not help us perform an effective NEPA analysis that results
in a reasonable and considered decision.
In response to scoping statements, we need comments that will help
us formulate specific alternatives to the proposed action and perform
analysis that is meaningful to both the decision maker and the public.
When you submit your comments during scoping, give us your concerns
about the project in general and any specific ideas or information
you'd like us to consider. When we review comments on a project, we
determine the issues and concerns relative to a proposed action.
Significant issues are then addressed by formulating alternatives to
the proposed action.
Many times, people provide comments on the basis of some source other
than the scoping statement we issue. We encourage you to obtain original
scoping statements from us so you can review the proposed action first-hand.
Sufficient information should be provided in the scoping statement for
you to be able to provide the kind of comments that we need. If not,
the name of a contact person is always provided so you can find out
more. We also encourage you to ask any questions prior to submitting
any input.
In response to published environmental documents, either draft EISs
or EAs, we need comments on the proposed action, the merits of the alternatives,
and the adequacy of the analysis displayed. Such comments should be
as specific as possible, allowing the interdisciplinary team to address
or respond to the need effectively and efficiently. It is also appropriate
to point out factual errors, methodological errors, or discussions which
are unclear to the reader. Our objective is to produce a logical document
that links problems to possible solutions and clearly discloses possible
environmental effects, thus providing a basis for good decision making.
All Forest Service proposed actions and environmental documents comment
invitations include the following:
Comments received in response to a solicitation for information, including
names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of
the public record on this proposed action and will be available for
public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted
and considered; however, those who only submit anonymous comments will
not have standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Part
215. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request
the agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing
how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality.
Persons requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under
the FOIA, confidentiality may be granted in only very limited circumstances,
such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service will inform the
requester of the agency's decision regarding the request for confidentiality,
and where the request is denied, the agency will return the submission
and notify the requester that the comments may be resubmitted with
or without name and address within a specified time period.
We want your ideas and comments on all our NEPA projects.
Do you have additional questions about NEPA work in the Rocky Mountain
Region?
Please contact:
Diana Menapace |
NEPA Coordinator - 303-275-55156 dmenapace@fs.fed.us |
Sharon Friedman |
Planning Director - 303-275-5161 sfriedman@fs.fed.us |
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