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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Comment on Cibola Travel Plan Ending

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service issued the Travel Management Rule in 2005, which directed each national forest to designate roads, trails and areas suitable for motorized use.
    Since then the Cibola National Forest has held open houses and public workshops to answer questions and address proposals for eventual publication of a motor vehicle use map (MVUM) by the forest service, said Mark Chavez, public affairs specialist.
    On Feb. 20 about 100 people showed up at an open house meeting in Tijeras to get more information on motorized travel in the Cibola National Forest.
    The meeting was hosted by national forest officials, who held another open house meeting the following night in Albuquerque. About 25 people attended that event, Chavez said.
    Public gatherings were held beginning in October 2006 with the last gathering held last week before a final decision on the MVUM is made later this spring.
    The comment period is open until today.
    Last week in the Roosevelt Middle School cafeteria in Tijeras, about 13 forest service specialists sat at tables positioned around the room to answer questions and take comments from the public about the MVUM and their various specialties.
    Many people left after the half-hour presentation by the forest service, but a few clustered around the tables.
    The gathering was a relatively quiet affair.
    Residents in the Tablazon area have expressed concern that the forest service proposed a trail in their neighborhood. Those residents, if present, were not heard at last week's open house meeting.
    The forest service has received over 1,000 public comments in the form of letters, e-mails and phone calls, Chavez said.
    Cibola National Forest Supervisor Nancy Rose oversees six ranger districts and grasslands, an area totaling 1.9 million acres, in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
    Rose will publish two MVUM maps each year and plans to finish maps for her entire national forest area by the end of 2009.
    There is already a MVUM map produced for Black Kettle National Grasslands.
    After the MVUM is published, travel off the designated route system will be prohibited unless authorized by a permit.
    The final decision will be made by Rose in time for publication of the MVUM sometime this spring.
    A public comment period for Mountainair Ranger District will be held later this spring, Rose said.