Why the Forest Plan Revision Matters

The Forest Service is in the initial stages of updating the Forest Management Plans for the Wallowa-Whitman, Malheur, and Umatilla National Forests. Rather than revising each plan separately, they are merging all three into a comprehensive plan known as the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision.

Why is this important to you? Simply put, this revision process will establish policies within the plan that will significantly limit, or even eliminate, motorized access to about 95% or more of the public lands in Eastern Oregon.

This means that activities like gathering firewood beyond 300 feet from a "designated route" with your pickup will be criminalized. Camping at the end of a "non-designated route" with your pickup and camper will also be criminalized. Accessing your preferred hunting spot via four-wheeler, side-by-side, jeep, or pickup on a "non-designated route" will be criminalized as well. The list continues.

What do we mean by "criminalized"? If you are found violating the rule, you could face a fine of up to $5,000 and/or one year in jail. This is for doing what your family has done for the past century.

To illustrate our concerns, we have included the picture below. The map on the left shows what the Forest Service is telling the public they plan to do. The green areas are current wilderness areas, and the gold areas are those the agency claims potentially have wilderness characteristics, but are mostly already closed to motorized use. The grey area (excluding the Hell's Canyon Recreational Area to the far right) is labeled as "general forest" for what the agency describes as multiple use.

The map on the right actually reflects the agency's true intent, which is to establish a closed motorized system on public lands. On the right, you will see the green areas are current wilderness areas, and the gold areas are those the agency claims potentially have wilderness characteristics, having been closed to motorized use for years. However, the reality is that the red areas will also be closed to motorized use; they will not remain general forest as you and your family have known them, but will become heavily restricted lands where you must be cautious of violating Travel Management. The red represents the 2005 Travel Management Rule, which dictates that you cannot go beyond a designated distance for the few roads the agency allows for forest access. In essence, if the agency decides you don't need to be there, you won't be.

This is why the forest plan revision matters to you. If adopted, you will transition from an open forest to a closed forest, and attempting to continue your traditional forest activities will result in being treated as a criminal for merely trying to survive.

Although the agency is currently in a holding pattern with the change in administration, they have swiftly moved through two critical processes to lay the groundwork for closing the forest to motorized use. Despite agency staff claims that the forest plan does not implement Travel Management, do not believe them; it's even more severe. The forest plan revision, as it is being developed, lays the groundwork for Travel Management. If adopted, it would pave the way for the agency to implement Travel Management, which, in our view, is no different.