Concern 4: There needs to be a limit on service days by activity (e.g., no more new hunting guides should be considered; or a very small proportion of service days should be allocated to additional hunting and fishing days).
Response: This is a
reasonable suggestion and something that should be described in public comment during this 30-day public comment period. Limiting service days by activity or by location (Forest Plan landscape, or particular areas on the national forest, etc.) is within the scope of this decision and can be considered by the decision maker.
Concern 5: This project is commercializing the national forest.
Response: The decision maker is not interested in commercializing the BDNF at all. The intent of the project is quite the opposite as the agency wants to be thoughtful in how it considers future outfitting and guiding proposals and how to respond to those proposals in a sustainable manner. This EA allows the decision maker to look at outfitting and guiding as a whole (forest-wide) rather than on a case-by-case basis (i.e., individual categorical exclusion projects on each district, which do not account for capacity nor lend itself to coordinating decisions on outfitting and guiding authorizations across district boundaries in a larger, programmatic context). The decision maker wants to maintain the predominantly non-commercial recreation setting the BDNF is known for. This Proposed Action would result in changing the proportion that commercial outfitting and guiding represents of our overall recreation use from 1.8% to 4%.
Concern 5: The 2015 Needs Assessment and Capacity Analysis is outdated and should not be used for the basis of authorizing outfitting and guiding.
Response: Needs assessments and capacity analysis documents do not constitute an agency decision. They are long-term vision or planning tools that help inform decisions but are not meant to be used as a singular point of reference for decision making. They represent one factor of many when considering where and when to authorize outfitting and guiding activities. Visitor use patterns can change quickly, and it would be impossible for the Forest to update a needs assessment and capacity analysis in a timely enough manner to respond to the frequency of changing recreation demands. This EA is intended to provide the decision maker with sufficient flexibility in the administration of the BDNF’s outfitting and guiding program while also including site-specific analysis required by NEPA to allow the agency to respond more efficiently and effectively to incoming proposals. Proposals received in response to the Forest’s 2017 solicitation letter reflect a dramatic shift in visitor use preference. For example, hunting and fishing no longer represent the majority of new outfitting and guiding requests.
In summary, electronic means of communication allows us to send project correspondence to a wider audience and earlier this year the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest transitioned to this method of sending project information. We continue to see success in increasing our public outreach with the public subscribing to their preferred projects or districts. Earlier communication for this project was done by mailings, which can be challenging with outdated mailing lists and short staffing. Please navigate to the following website for general Forest Service subscription management :
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFS/subscriber/new
Once you enter your email, it takes you to a page where you can customize and save your subscription preferences, organized roughly by forest, district, and purpose.
On the Outfitter and Guide project website (
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/bdnf/?project=56926), there are three folders of information available for review:
Analysis – this folder has the revised draft environmental assessment, all of its appendices including a multitude of maps, and the specialist reports such as the revised recreation analysis.
Scoping- this folder has the cover letter announcing the new comment period and the legal notice that was posted in the newspaper of record.
Supporting- this folder has supporting documents, such as the 2015 Needs Assessment and Capacity Analysis.
We hope these clarifying points serve the information needs for this project. Thank you again for your interest in managing your public lands.
Sincerely,
Lisa Timchak, Forest Supervisor
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
