Regional News

Travel Management Open Houses for National Forest Begin This Week

Jun 20, 2016

Starting June 20, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest will conduct five Open Houses in communities up and down the eastern Cascades and one community on the west side of the Cascades to answer questions about the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for Motorized Travel Management.

“We encourage the public and stakeholders to attend the Open Houses for more information about the Preferred Alternative in the draft Environmental Analysis,” said Mike Williams, Forest Supervisor of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. “It is important the public understand the Preferred Alternative and the process moving forward. We are looking for comments on the proposed Environmental Analysis, those who provide comment will be a part of the process moving forward.”

The meetings will be held in the towns of Yakima, Ellensburg, Cashmere, Okanogan and Mercer Island. The comment period on the draft Environmental Analysis opened on June 8 and will close 30 days from that date. Members of the public and stakeholder groups are encouraged to attend the Open Houses to ask questions about the alternatives and analysis in the EA. Forest service employees and specialists will be on hand to answer in-depth questions pertaining to the analysis. Employees will also help the public understand the comment process, and how to comment successfully on the Preferred Alternative and the EA.

Each open house will last from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 pm.

- Yakima Valley Museum in Yakima, WA on June 20

2105 Tieton Dr, Yakima, WA 98902

- Mercer Island Community Center in Mercer Island, WA on June 21

8236 SE 24th St, Mercer Island, WA 98040

- Kittitas County Event Center in Ellensburg, WA on June 22

901 E. 7th Avenue, Ellensburg, WA 98926

- Apple Annie’s in Cashmere, WA on June 23

100 Apple Annie Ave, Cashmere, WA 98815

- Okanogan PUD building, in Okanogan, WA on June 24

1331 2nd Ave N, Okanogan, WA 98840

After the comment period closes, the project lead and the Forest Supervisor will review the comments to determine if changes to the EA need to occur. Those who comment within the thirty day time frame will be eligible for standing in the objection process. For more information please visit the Travel Management project webpage here: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/home/?cid=fseprd504482 or call Project Lead, Jennifer Zbyszewski, at 509-996-4021.