| USDA United States Department of Agriculture Office of the Secretary Washington, D.C. 20250 December 14, 1999 The Honorable Judd Gregg Dear Judd: Thank you for you letter of November 24, 1999, jointly signed by several of your colleagues, requesting a 120-day extension to the roadless areas rulemaking process. I share your belief that sufficient opportunity to comment on this important effort is essential to its success, but I do not believe that a 120-day extension of the public scoping process is necessary or useful. I would like to describe for you the efforts we are making to ensure that the American people have ample opportunity to offer their opinions. The Department of Agriculture is firmly committed to following the President's directive to develop a proposal that conserves roadless areas and their important values. We are developing such a proposal through a public and open process that will culminate in an agency rulemaking accompanied by an environmental impact statement (EIS). The initial opportunity for public involvement began on October 19, 1999, with the publication in the Federal Register of the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS. Release of the NOI initiated a 60-day public scoping period, which will end on December 20, 1999. The Forest Service is only in the scoping phase of the National Environmental Policy Act. As you know, the scoping process is intended to engage all interested people in determining the scope of the proposed action, alternatives, and effects before the agency publishes a draft EIS and draft regulation. Through scoping, the Forest Service is inviting the participation of all affected state, local, and tribal governments and all interested members of the public to identify the significant issues that should be analyzed in-depth in the EIS and to identify those issues that should be eliminated from detailed study. Suggestions for alternative ways of addressing long-term protection for roadless areas are also being solicited during this period. The issue of roadless area management is not new to the Forest Service. The agency has had more than three decades of experience with public comment concerning roadless area management. We will build on the public comment received in the past, most recently in the form of more than 80,000 letters commenting on the recently promulgated interim suspension of road construction in roadless areas. Although not required by law, the Forest Service is in the process of holding scoping meetings at the national, regional, and local levels. National scoping meetings are being held through mid- December. As a demonstration of our commitment to public involvement, we are also holding local and public meetings on every national forest that contains inventoried roadless areas, although certain forests may decide to combine meetings. Certain forests are even holding multiple scoping meetings. I have enclosed a list of the regional and forest scoping meetings the Forest Service is holding. This comprehensive and extensive public outreach effort will allow interested people, including those who live near a national forest and those who do not, a chance to help shape the debate, the alternatives, and the analysis that we conduct. We encourage all people, including those who do not attend the meetings, to submit written comments to the Forest Service at the following address: USDA Forest Service The upcoming draft EIS will outline specific alternatives and provide a detailed basis for discussion with the public about how roadless areas should be managed in the future. The Forest Service will provide another period for public comment and will host another series of meetings and public involvement opportunities upon release of the draft regulation and draft EIS next year. Documents will be accompanied by information and data that Congress and the American people need to understand the potential effects of the agency's draft proposal. Because this issue is of such interest to Congress, we will ensure that you and your staffs are provided an opportunity to receive regularly scheduled briefings as we move through the rulemaking process. Thank you for this opportunity to address your concerns about the scoping process. I am sending an identical response to each of your colleagues who joined you in writing. Sincerely,
DAN GLICKMAN Enclosure |