Sierra National Forest Credit: USDA
August 9, 2019 - USDA Forest Service - Sequoia & Sierra Forest Plan Revision Update.
Dear Valued Member of the Community,
We hope you received our previous emails announcing the release of the revised draft environmental impact statement and revised draft land management plans for the Sequoia and Sierra National Forests. We are currently in the middle of the 90-day public comment period, which closes on September 26, 2019.
If you have questions about these draft documents but cannot join us in person at the public workshops, then please consider joining our next Virtual Office Hours scheduled for August 14 (see below).
If you can join us in person to ask your questions, share your interests, and hear other community members’ interests, please join our public workshops on August 20 and 21 (see below).
Virtual Office Hours: The Virtual Office Hours are open format discussions intended to gather and respond to questions you have while reviewing the draft documents. Our next Virtual Office Hours will be held on August 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific Time. Early registration is required. Please register by noon Pacific Time on Tuesday, August 13 to ensure we have enough attendees to host the session (email fariba.hamedani@usda.gov to register). If we do not have at least 15 individuals registered by that deadline, we will cancel the session and respond to registrants individually.
To make the most of these virtual office hours, we encourage you to send your specific questions in advance to Fariba Hamedani at fariba.hamedani@usda.gov as soon as possible. Submitting questions early will help our team prepare more relevant, thorough responses to share during the session. If you do not submit a question in advance, any questions you ask for the first time during the session are likely to be responded to after the office hours. Please note that any questions or comments you submit for the virtual office hours will not qualify as formal written comments. Please visit the project webpage (https://tinyurl.com/USFS-r5planrevision) for information on how to submit your formal written comments.
Public Workshops (in-person): The Sequoia National Forest is hosting an in-person public workshop on August 20, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at The Station by Kern County Fire Fighters, 7900 Downing Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93308. The Sierra National Forest is hosting an in-person public workshop on August 21st, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at Clovis Veteran's Memorial District building, 808 4th St., Clovis, CA 93612.
Recorded Kick-off Webinar: The release of these revised draft documents was followed by a kick-off public webinar on July 10, to provide the public with an orientation to the plan revision effort, revised draft analysis, and revised draft plans. We covered how to submit formal, written comments in a way that is most helpful in shaping the development of final plans moving forward. You can watch the webinar and download project documents by visiting the project website: https://tinyurl.com/USFS-r5planrevision.
For further information on the plan revision effort, please contact the Team Lead, Fariba Hamedani, at 707-562-9121 or by email to fariba.hamedani@usda.gov. Thank you for your continued interest in the management of your public lands.
Sincerely,
Dean Gould, Forest Supervisor, Sierra National Forest
Teresa Benson, Forest Supervisor, Sequoia National Forest
Source: Sierra National Forest
More Meetings: Stanislaus and Sierra National Forests Host Public Engagement Session on August 12
Sierra National Forest Public Meeting on Forest Plan Revision on Wednesday, August 21
