Local News

Forest Plan Revision Listening Session Schedule in Okanogan

May 20, 2015

The Forest Service is beginning a public conversation on the process forrevising forest land management plans in the Northwest Forest Plan amendment area. The land management plans within the Northwest Forest Plan area guide how resources will be managed for 15 to 20 years.

The Forest Service is currently in the pre-plan revision stage and is holding listening sessions to begin sharing information with the public and gathering feedback on things like how you would like to be engaged in plan revisions. Public feedback will be incorporated in different ways depending on the phase of plan revision.

The Forest Service held a series of preliminary listening sessions in March in Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; and Redding, CA and additional listening sessions were held throughout Oregon and Washington in April and May. The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest held one listening session in Wenatchee, WA on May 5.

.“We received much interest in holding an additional session in Okanogan County,” said Jason Kuiken, Deputy Forest Supervisor. “We’ve scheduled an evening session for June 11 to honor that request and to further our commitment to engaging with and listening to the concerns of our communities.”

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest will host a Listening Session in Okanogan, WA on June 11, 2015, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Okanogan County PUD Auditorium, 1331 2nd Ave North, Okanogan, WA

The purposes of the sessions are to:

· Share our current thinking on plan revision,
· Share how science will inform the process, and
· Listen to ideas and thoughts about how to approach public engagement for forest plan revisions on each National Forest.

For more information please visit Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Forest Plan Revision website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/okawen/plan-revision or Spring 2015 Project Newsletter:http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3835961.pdf

National Forests throughout Oregon and Washington have been hosting listening sessions. Additional information about the sessions is available here: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/landmanagement/?cid=stelprd3831710