Project News:

We have completed the Hunter-Smuggler Cooperative Plan and are now beginning the NEPA process to review projects.

• The White River National Forest has revised the Notice of Proposed Action to include recently published regulations governing the Predecisional Objection Process (36 CFR 218 Subparts A and B) and a corrected Proposed Forest Health/Wildlife Projects figure. 
• The Public Scoping Period was initiated on March 28, 2013 and will now be open through May 11, 2013. 
•  A public open house regarding this project will be held Thursday, April 11, 2013, from 3:30-6:30 pm at the Pitkin County Rio Grande Room (455 Rio Grande Place, Aspen, CO)

Project Information:

The White River National Forest, Aspen-Sopris Ranger District, is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) for a proposal submitted by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, City of Aspen and Pitkin County to implement proposed projects outlined in the Hunter Creek-Smuggler Mountain Cooperative Plan (Hunter-Smuggler Plan). The Proposed Action includes a range of projects to be dispersed throughout the project area, which is 4,681 acres of National Forest System land adjacent to Smuggler Mountain Open Space and private property. The projects range in location and purpose in order to address a variety of needs within the project area. The Proposed Action includes the following project groups: 1) Recreation Trail Improvements, Management and Maintenance; 2) Forest Health and Wildlife Habitat Improvements and Management; 3) Smuggler Mountain Road (County Road 21) Improvements and Maintenance; and 4) Outdoor Education. For details on particular projects please refer to the Project Overview page, the Notice of Proposed Action, and the Final Hunter-Smuggler Cooperative Plan.

Scoping Information:

Thank you for your interest and participation in this project. We look forward to your comments. The proposed project is an activity implementing a land management plan and subject to the objection process described in 36 CFR 218 Subparts A and B. The Forest Service is combining scoping with the legal notice and opportunity to comment, as described in §218.24. The public is encouraged to provide specific written comments on this proposal, including supporting reasons for the responsible official to consider. Specific written comments are within the scope of and have a direct relationship to the proposed action. Public questions and comments regarding this proposal are an integral part of this environmental analysis process. Input provided by interested and/or affected individuals, organizations and governmental agencies during the scoping period will be used to identify resource issues that will be analyzed in the EA. The Forest Service will identify significant issues raised during the scoping process, and use them to formulate alternatives, prescribe mitigation measures and project design features, or analyze environmental effects. 

Written comments will be accepted for 30 calendar days following the publication of a legal notice in the Aspen Times, on or about April 11, 2013. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period. The regulations prohibit extending the length of the comment period.

It is the responsibility of persons providing comments to submit them by the close of the comment period. Only those who submit timely and specific written comments will have eligibility to file an objection under §218.8.  For objection eligibility, each individual or representative from each entity submitting timely and specific written comments must either sign the comment or verify identity upon request. Individuals and organizations wishing to be eligible to object must meet the information requirements in §218.25(a)(3). Names and contact information submitted with comments will become part of the public record and may be released under the Freedom of Information Act.

To comment, please go to: https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?Project=41413. Those persons who submit comments will be placed on the mailing list for future information regarding this project. If you wish to remain anonymous, you will not receive future correspondence from the ARP. Individuals who do not submit comments but wish to remain on this mailing list should contact the Project Leader, Martha Moran, at mmoran@fs.fed.us.