March 1997
Volume 2, Number 1
Down the Road to Revision
O
ver the past year, we've
been preparing for our
journey down the road to
revision. Our destination is
revised LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
PLANS for planning
units of the Custer,
Medicine Bow-Routt,
and Nebraska
National Forests (see
box next page).
Regional foresters
Elizabeth Estill and
Hal Salwasser,
Rocky Mountain and
Northern regions
respectively, published their intent to revise the
Management Plans in the February
26, 1997 Federal Register. This
action moves the analysis under
the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA, pronounced Neepa)
requirements.
A first NEPA requirement is to
define the scope of the analysis.
One definition for scope is the
"extent of treatment, activity, or
influence." Defining the scope
early helps avoid the traps of
irrelevant information and needless
analysis. In the same light, relevant
information needs to be identified.
In the past year we've gathered
information and talked with many
people; we have a better idea what
SCOPE includes:
interested in what you're thinking.
We welcome your written comments,
visits, and phone calls. We've
provided a comment sheet for your
convenience. You can also contact
your local Forest Service office or
call the information warm
line at (308) 432-0343 to
leave comments or request
information. If you know
something important to our
analysis, please let us know.
• the area under analysis,
• the decisions to be made,
• potential management approaches,
• connected issues and influences.
SC
needs to be changed in the current
Management Plans. We'll soon be
designing management alternatives
and describing the effects of those
alternatives on the people, the land,
and the resources. We don't want to
study more than we need to, but we
also don't want to overlook anything.
That's where you come in. We're
OPI
We w
elcome yyour
our
welcome
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the analysis process.
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Y 31, 1997, so w
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can get on with this important analysis and down the
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Questions
Concerns
Ideas
Values
SpecialPlaces
Revision Reporter
1
From the Forest Supervisors
Nancy Curriden,
Custer National Forest
"The Northern Great Plains planning effort supports the
Forest Service mission and land ethic. We are working
collaboratively to integrate science and people into multipleuse management."
Jerry Schmidt,
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest
"The way we are doing this planning is
helping us all understand and consider the
issues better from both the broad and local
perspectives; it also ensures that we accomplish this work in an even-handed and a costefficient manner."
Mary Peterson,
Nebraska National Forest
"Our ecological stewardship goal is to
manage these National Forests and
Grasslands to meet human needs while
maintaining the health, diversity, and
productivity of ecosystems. We want
to work collaboratively with people
and communities to understand
human needs as well as biological
objectives for our Nation's resources."
The Planning Units
Custer National Forest Units
• Cedar River National Grassland
• Grand River National Grassland
• Little Missouri National Grassland
• Sheyenne National Grassland
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest
Unit
• Thunder Basin National Grassland
Nebraska National Forest Units
• Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery
• Buffalo Gap National Grassland
• Fort Pierre National Grassland
• Nebraska National Forest
• Oglala National Grassland
• Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest
2 Revision Reporter
Topics
Under
Study
R
evising the Management Plans does not mean starting from scratch. Forest Service employees and the
public have an important history working together in carrying out the existing Management Plans. The
revisions will focus on areas where change is needed. Below are topics or focus areas for revision. We've
made some changes to these topics over the past year from what we heard and learned. The topics could
change from further public comment.
Rangeland and Forest Health
This topic includes:
• Vegetation production, soil stability, nutrient
cycling
• Water and air quality
• Native and non-native plant and animal
species and communities
• Ecosystem recovery after major disturbances
(fire,
floods, drought)
• Other measures of ecosystem health
Community and Lifestyle
Relationships
This topic includes:
• Past and current uses of the land
• Diversity of jobs and income
• Social and demographic changes and trends
• Quality of life factors
Livestock Grazing
This topic includes:
• Rangelands available for livestock grazing
• Livestock grazing management
• Integration of livestock grazing with other
multiple uses
• Fences, water developments, etc.
Oil and Gas Leasing
This topic includes:
• Areas available for oil and gas leasing
• Leasing conditions for available lands
Plant and Animal Control
This topic includes:
• Noxious weeds, invasive plants, and other plant and
animal species causing property or resource damage
• Environmental risks and benefits
Recreation and Travel Management
This topic includes:
• Diversity and quality of recreation opportunities
• User satisfaction
• Scenery management
• Travel and access restrictions and opportunities
Special Area Designations
This topic includes:
• Wilderness recommendations
• Wild and Scenic River recommendations
• Research Natural Areas
• Special recreation areas with scenic, historical,
geological, botanical, zoological, paleontological,
archaeological, or other special considerations
Revision Reporter
3
THE J o u r n e y
Planning can be a very long road. Ecosystems are complex--essentially
all the parts that make-up life. There are dependencies and vital connections between the elements of ecosystems--like the interstate highways
and trade centers and farmers and ranchers we rely on for our food and
goods. When there are breakdowns, there are effects throughout the
web of connections.
4 Revision Reporter
Making decisions that set a course
for some future outcome takes
careful thought and consideration. It
also takes understandings for the
many connections. We want to
make stops along the road to get to
know the land and its many connections.
Here's the course for our
journey and a few of the
major stops.
How to reach us. . .
NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS PLANNING UNITS
CUSTER NATIONAL FOREST
Supervisor’s Office
PO Box 2556
Billings, MT 59103
Telephone: (406) 657-6361
FAX: (406) 657-6444
Nancy Curriden, Forest Supervisor
Mary Lunsford, Public Affairs Specialist
Cheri Bashor, Forest Planner
North Dakota Legislative Coordinator
1511 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58501
Telephone: (701) 250-4443
FAX: (701) 224-8511
Steve Williams, North Dakota Coordinator
Arlis Waltos, Assistant
Grand River and Cedar River National
Grasslands
PO Box 390
Lemmon, SD 57638
Telephone: (605) 374-3592
FAX: (605) 374-5575
Forest Morin, District Ranger
Medora Ranger District
161 21st Street West
Dickinson, ND 58601
Telephone: (701) 225-5151
FAX: (701) 225-8634
Larry Dawson, District Ranger
McKenzie Ranger District
HC02, Box 8
Watford City, ND 58854
Telephone: (701) 842-2393
FAX: (701) 842-3308
Spike Thompson, District Ranger
Sheyenne Ranger District
700 Main Street
Lisbon, ND 58054
Telephone: (701) 683-4342
FAX: (701) 683-5779
Bryan Stotts, District Ranger
MEDICINE BOW-ROUTT
NATIONAL FOREST
Supervisor’s Office
2468 Jackson Street
Laramie, WY 82070-6635
Telephone: (307) 745-8971
FAX: (307) 742-0398
Jerry Schmidt, Forest Supervisor
Elrand Denson, Public Affairs Specialist
Lee Kramer, Forest Planner
Thunder Basin National Grassland
2250 East Richard Street
Douglas, WY 82633
Telephone: (307) 358-4690
FAX: (307) 358-3072
Fall River Ranger District
209 North River
Hot Springs, SD 57747
Telephone: (605) 745-4107
FAX: (605) 745-4179
Bob Childress, District Ranger
Fort Pierre National Grassland
PO Box 425
Pierre, SD 57501
Telephone: (605) 224-5517
FAX: (605) 224-6517
Tony Detoy, District Ranger/
South Dakota Legislative Coordinator
Malcolm Edwards, District Ranger
NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST
Supervisor’s Office
125 North Main Street
Chadron, NE 69337
Telephone: (308) 432-0300
FAX: (308) 432-0309
Mary Peterson, Forest Supervisor
Jerry Schumacher, Public Affairs Officer
Dave Cawrse, Planning Staff
Bessey Ranger District
PO Box 38
Halsey, NE 69142
Telephone: (308) 533-2257
FAX: (308) 533-2213
Mack Deveraux, District Ranger
Bessey Nursery
PO Box 38
Halsey, NE 69142
Telephone: (308) 533-2257
FAX: (308) 533-2213
Clark Fleege, Nursery Manager/
Nebraska Legislative Coordinator
Pine Ridge Ranger District
116524 Hwy 385
Chadron, NE 69337
Telephone: (308) 432-4475
FAX: (308) 432-0375
Pat Irwin, District Ranger
Wall Ranger District
PO Box 425
Wall, SD 57790
Telephone: (605) 279-2125
FAX: (605) 279-2725
Bill Perry, District Ranger
NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS
PLANNING TEAM
USDA Forest Service
125 North Main Street
Chadron, NE 69337
Telephone: (308) 432-0300
Answering Machine: (308) 432-0343
FAX: (308) 432-0309
e-mail: /s=p.gardner/ou1=r02f07a@mhsfswa.attmail.com
Dave Cawrse, Team Leader
Pam Gardner, Public Affairs Officer
Revision Reporter
5
The National Grassland Story
The National Grasslands’ history is a fascinating story.
From prehistoric Indian use, through westward
expansion, homesteading, and an
agricultural
revolution, they
have evolved with
a colorful history.
Eastward from
the Rocky Mountains sweeps a sea
of grass, the Great
Plains. To the
west are broad
intermountain
rangelands, the
Great Basin.
Within these
regions are the 20
National Grasslands—nearly 4
million acres of
public lands.
The National
Grasslands’ story
includes some
dramatic chapters
in history.
These lands
were once home
to many Indian tribes. To the Indians, grass was
eternal. Buffalo, which thrived in this country, was the
lifeblood for a number of tribes. The abundant buffalo
herds were testimony to the power of grass.
By the end of the 1870s, Indians had lost their
historic use of the lands as cattle replaced the buffalo.
Prospectors, trappers, soldiers, railroad builders, and
others seeking their fortunes in the west helped push
back the last frontier as they crossed and claimed
these lands.
Late in the 19th century, another group of people
came to the Great Plains. Under the Homestead Act
of 1862, land was provided to individuals who would
live on it and make certain improvements. The first
N
ational
Grasslands
demonstrate how
lands unsuitable
for cultivation
can provide
forage, wildlife
habitat, prairie
woodlands, energy and minerals, water and
outdoor recreation to the benefit of both the
land and people.
6 Revision Reporter
homesteaders located along the river drainages where
there was water, shelter, and wood. After the prime areas
filled in, the later homesteaders settled on land now
known as “submarginal” for farming.
The Dust Bowl, with its black blizzards, plagued the
Great Plains for nearly a decade. The financial crisis ? ?
created by the Great Depression, coupled with nature’s
intense drought, made the situation on the Great Plains
even worse. By the early 1930s, as many as 70 percent
of the homesteaders were delinquent in their taxes.
Hundreds of thousands of them were forced to leave.
The first relief came from the National Industrial
Recovery Act of 1933 and the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act of 1935. These Acts authorized federal
purchase of damaged or abandoned land for an average
of $4.40/acre. Between 1933 to 1943, the federal government purchased nearly 10 million drought-stricken and
wind-eroded acres.
Destitute families were relocated and the damaged
lands restored. Conservation efforts reclaimed hundreds
of thousands of acres. Homesteaders who survived the
difficult times helped by forming grazing associations to
administer grazing and develop conservation practices that
endure today.
The government-purchased lands, called Land Utilization Projects, were first administered by the Resettlement
Administration. In 1937, the Bankhead-Jones Farm
Tenant Act (1937) gave the Secretary of Agriculture
management authority. The project lands were transferred to the Soil Conservation Service the following year.
Management changed again in 1954. Land Utilization
Projects with specialized uses or features were transferred to the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. Other lands in the western states were
transferred to the Bureau of Land Management. The
remaining Projects were transferred to the Forest Service.
Today, nearly 4 million acres, primarily located in the
Great Plains region, are National Grasslands under Forest
Service management. The National Grasslands are the
sequel to the hard experience of the “Dust Bowl Era,” and
exemplify new thinking about natural resource management in grass country. The federal government, the
states, and local people have worked to rebuild on the
drought-stricken and wind-eroded lands.
The Forest Service Mission
The Forest Service draws passion and commitment to its
mission from its land ethic --
Promote the sustainability of
ecosystems by ensuring their
health, diversity, and productivity.
Growing understanding of the complexity of ecosystems
has expanded thinking on sustainability—from emphasis
on sustained yields of products to sustaining the ecosystems that provide a variety of benefits.
Multiple-use management of National Forest System
lands, including National Grasslands, is a mandated
authority given to the Forest Service through numerous
federal laws and regulations (see box below).
Although the National Grasslands weren't recognized
by law as part of the National Forest System until 1974
when the Forest and Rangeland Rewable Resource
Planning Act was signed, they had been recognized by
Secretarial Orders. The Secreatary’s Orders of 1960,
1962, and 1963 also directed that the Grasslands be
managed for multiple uses.
Even earlier, the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act
(1937) states the multiple-use objectives for the lands that
later became National Grasslands-. . . to correct maladjustments in land use,
and thus assist in controlling soil erosion,
reforestation, preserving natural resources,
protecting fish and wildlife, developing and
protecting recreational facilities, mitigating
floods, preventing impairment of dams and
reservoirs, developing energy resources,
conserving surface and subsurface moisture
protecting the watersheds of navigable streams,
and protecting the public lands, health, safety,
and welfare, but not build industrial parks or
establish private industrial or commercial
enterprises.
Additional statutory direction was passed in the
National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976. The
Act specifies that the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act
of 1960 applies to the National Grasslands. Among the
purposes listed are outdoor recreation, range, timber,
watershed, and wildlife and fish. The National Grasslands, as part of the National Forest System, are subject
to the NFMA planning requirements.
MAJOR LAWS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
REVISION PROCESS
National Forest Management Act of 1976
(NFMA) Requires that land and resource
management plans be developed and revised
every 10 to 15 years. Requires compliance
with other laws, such as Multiple-Use
Sustained-Yield Act, ESA, Clean Water Act,
etc.
Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937
Continuation of federal purchase of submarginal farmlands; also gave management
direction. About 7 million acres were assigned
to the Forest Service; in 1960 some were
organized as National Grasslands.
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 (RPA) Requires
inventory and assessment of the nation's
resources every 10 years and a strategic
program for National Forest System
resources.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
Permits input by elected officers of State,
local and tribal governments (or their
designated employees) in developing
regulatory proposals containing significant
federal intergovernmental mandates.
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA)
Requires conservation of federally listed
threatened or endangered species from projects
or actions that might be detrimental to them or
their habitats.
Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960
Mandates that National Forests be administered for recreation, range, timber, watershed,
wildlife and fish purposes. Multiple
purposes and resources should be sustained
over time. This was amended in 1976 to
include the National Grasslands.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 Set-up
the Wild and Scenic Rivers System and
required federal agencies to review freeflowing rivers for eligibility and suitability for
inclusion in this system. Federal agencies
make the recommendation; Congress makes
the final decision.
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA) Ensures that agencies develop
reports (like EISs) that describe expected
consequences of environmental activities;
public should be informed and involved while
developing those reports.
Wilderness Act of 1964 Set-up the National
Wilderness Preservation System and required
federal agencies to review roadless areas for
inclusion in this system. Federal agencies
make the recommendation; Congress makes
the final decision.
Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1973
(FACA) Regulates the use of advisory
committees by the President and federal
agencies for the purpose of obtaining advice
and recommendations. Goals are to reduce
special-interest influences, provide the public
equal access in policy-making process, and
control advisory committee costs.
Revision Reporter
7
We're out to meet you. . .
We hope you will take advantage of the opportunities we'll be providing to meet with us -- discuss your questions, concerns, ideas, values,
special places. Here are some places you'll find us in the next few
months.
FEB. 27-MARCH 2 BLACK HILLS SPORTS SHOW Thanks to the many of
you who stopped by our booth to discuss National Grasslands.
MARCH 1-2 LEMMON, SD FARM AND HOME SHOW Again, our thanks for
stopping by and discussing what National Grassland planning means to you.
APRIL 12-13 HOT SPRINGS, SD HOME AND GARDEN SHOW (new date because of State basketball tournament) We'll have a booth to meet you.
APRIL 21 DOUGLAS, WY OPEN HOUSE to discuss Thunder Basin National Grassland planning. Location and
time to be announced.
JUNE 9-13 NORTH DAKOTA NATIONAL GRASSLANDS will be hosting a series of public open houses across the
State. Details to be announced.
8 Revision Reporter