Cibola National Forest Seeking Comments on Travel Management


Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,


The Mountainair Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, located in central New Mexico, is proposing changes to its motorized travel system to comply with the national Travel Management Rule. The Rule, published in the Federal Register in 2005, requires each National Forest to identify and designate roads, trails and areas suitable for motorized use, and prohibits use of motorized vehicles that are not on the designated system. The designation process is for all motorized vehicles, such as full-sized vehicles, ATVs and motorcycles, and may include the identification of the class of vehicle and possibly the times of year when use will be allowed.

The outcome of this process will be an amendment to the Cibola National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan and the publication of a Motor Vehicle Use Map for the Mountainair Ranger District that will show a designated system for motorized use. Once the official map is published, areas outside the designated system will be closed to motorized vehicles.

The Scoping documents and maps for the Travel Management Proposed Action are available online at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/cibola/travel-management/tm_mt_air/proposed_action/index.shtml 

The development of the Proposed Action begins the process required in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Scoping is a step to determine the range of actions, alternatives and impacts of the project to consider. Scoping includes an initial period when interested citizens can review the Proposed Action and provide comments, concerns and suggestions.

This comment period will end on Friday, May 1, 2009. Information received during Scoping in response to the proposal will help the Forest Service refine the proposal and identify alternatives to the Proposed Action.

The District will also hold open houses to discuss the Proposed Action. You are invited to attend one the open houses, listed below, to learn more about the Proposed Action. There will be opportunity to make comments.

If you need assistance with special needs for the open houses, please contact Nancy Brunswick by calling (505) 346-3900 or email mountainair_travel_management|removethispart|@fs.fed.us . The open house dates, times, and locations are as follows:

Tuesday, April 14, 2009              6p.m. - 8p.m. 
Belen Senior Center
715-A South Main St.
Belen, New Mexico       

Wednesday, April 15, 2009         6p.m. - 8p.m.               
Corona Senior Center
451 Main St.
Corona, New Mexico

Tuesday, April 28, 2009                6p.m. - 8p.m.       
Mountainair Senior Center
107 N. Summit Ave.
Mountainair, New Mexico

Please be as specific as possible in your comments to the proposal and include road numbers, local place names as well as starting and ending points. Comments will be accepted at any time throughout this process, but in order to feed information into the development of alternatives, they should be received no later than May 1, 2009.

Mail Comments To:
          Roxanne Turley, Travel Management Team Leader
          Mountainair Ranger District
          Cibola National Forest
          2113 Osuna Rd. NE
          Albuquerque, NM 87113

Email Comments To:
          mountainair_travel_management|removethispart|@fs.fed.us

COMMENT DEADLINE IS MAY 1, 2009