Forest Plan Revision Meeting Called in the Jemez Valley
Controversy Rages in the Jemez Over Forest Plan Revision Is this what you want?
The public is invited to attend a meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday Sept. 19, 2016 to be held by the Jemez Ranger District at the Fitzgerald Center in Jemez Springs. Some residents in the Jemez Valley have expressed alarm that the Forest Service plans to present the public with a de facto announcement that almost all the National Forest will be closed permanently.
The Forest Service contests this claim saying that the current Forest Plan Revision is an inventory and evaluation of parts of the Forest that may or may not be suitable for designation as wilderness areas. So far 19 percent of Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) has been classified as wilderness. The areas that are being considered for the National Wilderness Preservation System can be located on a map in the pages of the Forest Plan Revision site.
Input from public meetings held in 2015 has already been included in the Forest's Assessment and Need for Change publication that can be found in the site linked to above, and currently the public will have an opportunity to attend five general and five technical meetings on wilderness evaluation. Also, seven field trips to the Jemez Ranger District areas in the Jemez are planned to see resources on the ground and have conversations with Forest officials concerning what should go into the Draft Forest Plan.
The protest circulating the Jemez Valley, on Facebook and in circulated flyers has made the news in state TV and other news media, and has drawn a response from the SFNF, who say that none of the claims in the flyer are true. While the flyer states that the Forest plans to close most of the forest, the SFNF spokesperson responded that this is just an assessment to evaluate potential places that could become wilderness.
The flyer says that the restrictions proposed by the Forest Plan will impair the quality of our lives and destroy many of the businesses in the Jemez Valley, while the Forest responds that these claims arise from a misunderstanding of the Forest Plan and assessment process. Both the flyer and the Jemez Ranger District officials stress that it is important for residents of the Jemez Valley to become informed and involved in this decision making process.
UPDATE:
Wilderness Evaluations Public Meeting Change of Venue for Sept. 19
SANTA FE, NM – Sept. 16, 2016 – For Immediate Release. We apologize for the inconvenience, however there has been a venue change for the wilderness evaluation public meetings (both the technical and general) in Jemez Springs on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. The meetings will be held at the same time (1-4:30pm for the technical meeting and 6-8pm for the general meeting) at Madonna Hall, 0040 Legion Dr. HWY 4, Jemez Springs, NM 87025. Visit the Forest Plan Revision’s website for additional information.