Alert on Idaho roadless areas-
On December 26, 2007, the Forest Service released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that seeks to weaken protections for much of Idaho’s 9.3 million acres of roadless lands. Nearly 6 million acres of those lands would be opened to potential logging and mineral development. An additional 600,000 acres in Southeast Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem would be virtually unprotected, opening these backcountry lands to phosphate mining.
The details of the roadless plan for Idaho are available on the National Forest Service’s website:
More information about roadless areas, and their importance to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, is available on the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s website.
A more comprehensive web site for all the roadless areas (it’s an interactive site) is at http://roadlessland.org/index.php
Please attend and participate in the upcoming public hearings in your area. Times and locations of meetings in northern Idaho are below.
And finally, feel free to contact me if you have questions.
Kit McGurn
GYC Conservation Coordinator- Idaho
208 522-7927
==================================================
Forest Service Public Meetings to hear comments on proposed management of Idaho’s roadless lands:
February 20, 2008
Idaho Falls
Shilo Inn
Grand Teton Room
780 Lindsey Blvd
Idaho Falls, ID 83401
6:00 PM
February 21, 2008
Pocatello
Holiday Inn
1399 Bench Road
Pocatello, ID 83201
6:00 PM
