Draft Forest Plan will impact wilderness, wildlife and the places you love!

Let the Forest Service know you support the Citizens’ Proposal for the GMUG Forests today!

On April 3, the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests opened a 30-day public comment period for a few foundational parts of its revised Forest Plan. Public comments will help shape what the Forest Service introduces in the next phase of its planning process. Comments are due by June 2 on this round of scoping documents.

In an effort to organize a cohesive vision for the GMUG Forests that will protect, restore and significantly expand diverse wildlands, Western Colorado Congress and its allies have developed a Citizens’ Wilderness and Designations Proposal as part of this planning process. The Citizens’ Proposal includes recommendations on a number of areas including:

• Kannah Creek Watershed Protection Area
• Whitehouse Mountain Addition to the Sneffels Wilderness
• Unaweep, Kelso Mesa and Dominguez recommended Wilderness areas
• Flattops Special Interest Area

Let the Forest Service know you support the Citizens’ Proposal for the GMUG Forests today!

Those of you with a keen memory may recall that in 2005, WCC and its allies announced the release of Mountains to Mesas (M2m), a citizens’ management alternative rooted in conservation biology for this same GMUG Forest planning process.  Unfortunately, in 2006 the GMUG put the entire effort on hold until the Colorado Roadless Areas were defined and a final planning rule was established for the Forest Service.

Now, after over a decade of waiting, the gears are once again moving on this important Forest Plan revision process. If the process stays on schedule this time, the final Forest Plan will be released in Fall 2020. The GMUG’s current 34-year-old plan is outdated, increasingly irrelevant, and unable to manage the tremendous user growth and environmental changes that the landscape has experienced over the past three decades. It is the oldest Forest Plan in the United States.

Because Forest Plans are revised at most every fifteen years, this process will likely shape management decisions and on-the-ground conditions for decades to come across 3,161,900 acres of public land.

Wilderness and other conservation designations on the GMUG safeguard public lands, protect our communities’ heritage, sustain healthy wildlife and habitat, support a strong and sustainable economy, and preserve our quality of life for generations to come.

For more information on upcoming activities, contact Leah Lopez at 970-256-7650.

Comment today!

Learn more about the GMUG proposal and submit comments:

US Forest Service materials

Citizens’ Proposal: www.gmugrevision.com

Email comments: gmugforestplan@gs.fed.us

Mail comments: GMUG National Forests, 2250 S. Main St., Delta, CO 81416