WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, March 15, 2007
New Regulations Endanger Public Land

Groups to Protest New Forest Service Grassland Plan
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Denver, CO - The U.S. Forest Service officially released its new land management plan for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands yesterday, beginning a 30-day period in which the public can object to the plan. These National Grasslands are biodiversity and cultural hotspots in southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado that support the largest concentration of prairie dogs in the region, the largest collection of dinosaur tracks in North America, and the longest stretch of the Historic Santa Fe Trail on public land. WildEarth Guardians and other groups will be filing a formal objection to this plan that represents many steps backwards from responsible public lands management.

The Cimarron and Comanche land management plan is the first Forest Service plan developed under new planning regulations issued by the Bush Administration in January 2005. The new regulations will apply to all Forest Service managed land in the country. These dangerous new regulations eradicated provisions that held the Forest Service publicly accountable to written objectives and standards. New National Forest and Grassland plans are to be merely "aspirational;" the Forest Service claims they will make no decisions and have no environmental impacts.

"If this is true, why waste taxpayer dollars and time on this useless planning process?" asked Lauren McCain, director of WildEarth Guardians Deserts and Grasslands Program.

Previous regulations mandated a rigorous Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate potential environmental impacts of new management plans. The Cimarron and Comanche draft management plan underwent a less stringent Environmental Assessment. However, all other plans will be "categorically excluded" from any environmental review. Last December, the Forest Service issued one blanket Categorical Exclusion to cover management planning for every Forest and Grassland in the country.

This means that the Forest Service is no longer required to consider a range of sound management alternatives when revising land management plans or include public comments. The Forest Service is no longer obligated to use the best available science or maintain viable populations of native wildlife. Additionally, the new policy grants extraordinary power to District Rangers by enabling them to amend plans at their discretion, thus dismantling checks and balances and opening up decision-making to the biases and whims of these lone bureaucrats.

"The Cimarron and Comanche plan demonstrates that the new regulations were meant to dismantle a system that helped protect wildlife, habitat, historic sites, scenic beauty, and other values," stated McCain of WildEarth Guardians. "The plan, if finalized, will likely become a nightmare for area wildlife and plants imperiled by current and future land uses, and this is a scenario we can now expect to see repeated across the country."

Oil and gas development, livestock grazing, off-road vehicle use, and irresponsible recreation have taken a toll on the Grasslands' wildlife and fragile prairie ecosystem. The Cimarron and Comanche management planning process could be an opportunity for these land managers to lead the region once again in a more ecologically and economically sustainable direction. Instead the new management plan represents a missed opportunity for the region and damaging precedent for public lands throughout the country.