The U.S. Forest Service, Laramie Ranger District, is seeking public input on the proposed Fox Creek Vegetation Management Project in Albany County.
This project is separate from the ongoing Medicine Bow Landscape Vegetation Analysis. The Fox Creek project decision will utilize Farm Bill categorical exclusion authority, with an open public process for determining the scope of issues addressed.
The project area is located about 30 miles southwest of Laramie, within the Lower Douglas Creek Geographic Area, as defined by the Forest Plan. That location is near the Foxpark community and in the Medicine Bow National Forest, which has a high level of mortality in mature lodgepole pine due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
The main purposes of the project would be to address the need to restore forested lands due to declining forest health, accomplish localized fuels reduction, and reduce public safety risks from dead snags. The project would promote a resilient forest through vegetation treatments on up to 3,000 acres of Forest Service-managed lands. As appropriate for the forest type, the project would maximize retention of large live trees. It would also prohibit establishing permanent roads and would decommission temporary roads created by the project within three years of project completion.
Public comments would be most helpful by Fri., March 23, 2018. A public open house for those interested in treatment area details will take place on from 4 to 7 p.m. Wed., March 21 at Laramie Fire Department Station #3 in West Laramie. Comments received prior to the open house will be used to guide discussions at the event. The initially advertised, comment submission date of March 5 was deemed too early for the desired level of public participation.
Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) are being conducted concurrently. NEPA scoping letters and notices which invite public comment as part of the NEPA process also serve to notify and invite public comment on the proposal as stipulated by the NHPA.
The project web site is located at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=53419.
Feedback can be mailed or hand delivered to - U.S. Forest Service, attn .: Laramie District Ranger Frank Romero, 2468 Jackson St., Laramie, WY, 82070.
For additional information or to email comments, contact Ranger Romero, at [email protected] or 307-745-2337.
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