Revision Reporter
Custer National Forest - Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest - Nebraska National Forest
August 1996
Volume 1, Number 3
Public Shares What's Important to Them
Comments Help Refine Revision Topics
B
etween October 1995, and
May 1996, planning team
members and other Forest
Service staff met with several
hundred people in Nebraska,
North Dakota, South Dakota,
and Wyoming to introduce team
members and the planning process and record comments.
We appreciate the time many
of you spent with us to share
your thoughts.
With the comments we
recorded and those sent in,
we’ve received over 200
responses. Some people
covered several topics, while
others mentioned only a single
topic.
We’ve read through the
letters and coded them into
topic categories. The coding of
comments into topic areas helps
us make sure the right people are
seeing your comments. For
instance, comments related to
wildlife are given to the team’s
wildlife coordinator, Greg
Schenbeck, for him to consider as
he works on the wildlife analysis.
Sorting the comments into topic
categories also helps us get a feel
for the level of interest and
spectrum of views on a particular
topic. We’ve used the comments to
check whether we were correct in
our earlier definition of revision
topics—focus areas for Management
Plan revision. Based on what we
heard, here's what we've defined as
major revision topics:
resource management will be reviewed and revised, as appropriate.
The five topic areas that received
the most comments were:
Biodiversity
Livestock Grazing
Plant and Animal Control
Recreation
Travel Management §
Major Management Plan
Revision Topics
Northern Great Plains
Management Plans Revisions
is a combined planning effort to
revise long-range management plans
for the Cedar River, Grand River,
Little Missouri, and Sheyenne
National Grasslands, managed by
the Custer National Forest; Thunder
Basin National Grassland, managed
by the Medicine Bow-Routt National
Forest; and Buffalo Gap, Fort
Pierre, Oglala National Grasslands,
Bessey and Pine Ridge Ranger Districts,
Samuel R. MeKelvie National Forest,
and Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery,
managed by the Nebraska National
Forest. Although the three managing
National Forests are collaborating to
share information, analyses and expertise,
separate Management Plans will result.
For further information, contact:
Northern Great Plains Planning Team
USDA Forest Service
125 North Main Street
Chardon, NE 69337
(308) 432-0300 or
(308) 432-0434 (answering machine) §
• Biological Diversity
• Community and Lifestyle Relationships
• Livestock Grazing
• Oil and Gas Leasing
• Plant and Animal Control
• Recreation and Travel Management
• Special Area Designations
Several of these topics include
many subtopics. For instance,
Special Area Designations includes
roadless/undeveloped areas, research natural areas, wild and scenic
rivers.
Another thing to keep in mind is
that other direction in the Management Plans will be updated based on
new laws, knowledge, technology,
etc. For example, heritage resources
is not among the seven major revision topics, but direction for heritage
Other News
REGIONAL FORESTERS APPROVE
PURPOSE AND NEED
PARTNERS ARE VALUABLE IN
INFORMATION GATHERING
Rocky Mountain Regional Forester Elizabeth Estill and
Northern Regional Forester Hal Salwasser have approved the purpose and need document for Management Plan revision. In doing so, they recognized the
economic and social importance and ecological significance of these public lands in the Northern Great Plains.
They also acknowledge the need for changes in the
existing Management Plans.
Some principles that will be applied to the revised
Management Plans include:
• integrating ecosystem management;
• linking management to communities and places;
• collaborating between the three National Forests
and two Forest Service Regions, and with partners,
research, and the public.
Copies of the purpose and need document are
available by contacting the planning team at the address/
phone number on the front page. §
Because ecosystems cross land ownerships, jurisdictions, and administrative boundaries, the Forest Service
managers will look beyond their own administrative
boundaries as they revise the Management Plans.
Numerous assessments are underway to fill in information gaps. Other agencies and organizations can also
benefit from the information gathered, so many have
either contributed money for assessments or are conducting the assessments. Partners helping gather information include:
Bureau of Land Management
Department of Defense
Environmental Protection Agency
National Biological Service
National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation
National Park Service
Natural Resources Conservation
Services
The Nature Conservancy
US Geological Survey
US Fish and Wildlife Service
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Center for Grassland Studies
We'll feature their efforts and results in future Revision
Reporters. §