Elk Mountain meeting precedes comment period extension

The second public meeting was held in Elk Mountain April 14 to discuss the West Side Snowy Range Travel Management Notice of Proposed Action (NPA); which, consequently followed an extension of the NPA comment period until April 28.

Early on in the public question portion of the meeting, Saratoga resident Brad Cary vocalized his opinion on the necessity for an extension of the comment period. He thought that attendee’s of the Saratoga meeting deserved the right to have a couple days after the meeting to think over what happened before submitting comments. “The ability of those people who are attending the meeting in Saratoga the 21st to have enough time to sleep on it for a day or two. I think that would improve the results of the EA [Environmental Assessment],” said Cary.

To clarify, the public meeting in Saratoga was originally designated as a specific comment period—as the official comment period would have finished last Friday—previous to the added public meetings. The responsible official (Fullman) is able to allot specific times for the continuation of the comment period without extending it to a 45 or 90-day comment period, according to Monique Nelson, Environmental Coordinator for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.

Fullman, in a later press release published by the Forest Service on April 16, stated, “By adding an additional comment period, I am hoping to give sufficient time to those who are still working out what their exact statements should be.”

The second public meeting took place after press time, 5 p.m. on Tuesday at the Platte Valley Community Center. The final meeting was held 5:30 p.m. or immediately following after the Carbon County Commissioners meeting at the Platte Valley Community Center.

According to the NPA, written comments should be sent to the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, Brush Creek /Hayden Ranger District: Melanie Fullman, 2121 Highway 130, PO Box 249, Saratoga, Wyo. 82331, or fax: 307-326-5250.

Electronic comments should be submitted to [email protected].