NO JOB TOO LARGE OR SMALL use, love and know the forest, the better the plan can be.” To provide the most effective feedback, Kelly suggests, stakeholders should take time to research the details of the proposal and be as specific as possible. “If you are concerned about a particular place, name that place. If you are concerned by a particular proposed rule in the plan, cite that rule, the page it’s on and provide language you think would be better,” he says. Kelly also encourages participants not to view commenting as a voting exercise among the plan’s four proposed alternatives. Because the final plan will never echo a draft version verbatim, he suggests that commenters “mix and match” the alternatives to help the Forest Service pull together a version with the best aspects of each. There’s no limit to the number of comments any person or organization can submit, so thoughts
can be updated through the end of the comment period. In the spring of 2021, the Forest Service plans to release a final draft of both the management plan and its environmental impact statement. Before those documents can be implemented, Aldridge explains, there will be one final five-month objection period for “individuals and entities who have submitted substantive formal comments” to flag any remaining issues. However, she emphasizes, that window is not intended to replace the current comment period. Whatever form the new plan eventually takes, Aldridge is optimistic that it will represent a positive evolution of sustainable activity in Pisgah and Nantahala. “We want to make sure that the things people value now, and love, are still going to be sustainable for not just their kids, but their kids’ kids,” she says. X
FATHER AND SON
Home Improvement Billy & Neal Moxley
100 Edwin Place, AVL, NC 28801 | Billy: (828) 776-2391 | Neal: (828) 776-1674
How to comment Online: The U.S. Forest Service’s preferred method for receiving comments is its online comment analysis and response application, available at avl.mx/6zz. Comments, which will be made publicly available online, can be submitted as plain text, Microsoft Word documents and PDFs. By mail: Comments can be mailed or delivered to Michelle Aldridge, ATTN: Plan Revision Team, National Forests in North Carolina, 160 Zillicoa St., Suite A, Asheville, NC 28801. In person: Six public meetings about the draft plan are currently scheduled throughout Western North Carolina. • Thursday, March 12, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the N.C. Arboretum Education Center, 100 Frederick Law Olmstead Way, Asheville. (The arboretum will be open to attendees as early as 4:30 p.m. The parking fee is waived, and each attendee will receive a parking pass.) • Monday, March 16, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Rogow Family Community Room, Brevard Library, 212 S. Gaston St., Brevard. • Thursday, March 19, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Brasstown Community Center, 255 Settawig Road, Brasstown. • Tuesday, March 24, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church’s Tartan Hall, 26 Church St., Franklin. • Thursday, March 26, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Bentley Fellowship Hall, 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill. • Tuesday, March 31, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Four Square Community Action Center, 196 Knight St., Robbinsville.
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MARCH 11 - 17, 2020
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