Lincoln National Forest seeking public comment on grazing allotment, tree planting

ALAMOGORDO — The Lincoln National Forest's Sacramento Ranger District is seeking public comments on two environmental issues affecting the forest.

The first public comment is regarding a draft environmental assessment (EA) for the Scott Able Grazing Allotment Management Analysis and the other public comment is in reference to restorative tree planting.

Scott Able Grazing Allotment Management Analysis

The draft EA compares the environmental effects of implementing three alternatives: No action (continue current management), proposed action and no grazing (phase out livestock grazing over a two-year period).

The proposed action includes issuing a new term grazing permit for the Scott Able grazing allotment for a period of up to 10 years, which would authorize up to 100 cow/calf pairs permitted from May 20 to Nov. 15 annually.

The new permit would authorize maintenance or replacement of existing range improvement structures and construction of new range improvements.

The allotment is about 15 miles south of Cloudcroft and lies within all or portions of Township 17 South, Range 12 East, Sections 32-33; Township 18 South, Range 12 East, Sections 3-10, 15-22, 27-36, within Otero County.

The draft EA describing the proposed action, with maps, and the stakeholder letter describing how to comment are available online at https://fs.usda.gov/project/?project=22893.

Specific written comments will be accepted for 30 calendar days following publication of the legal notice in the Alamogordo Daily News. For more information about the project or how to comment, or to request a hard copy of the EA, please contact Ciara Cusack, NEPA Planner, at 682-2551 or email ccusack@fs.fed.us.

LNF Restorative Tree Planting 

The LNF is also proposing to authorize restorative tree plantings in areas showing slow natural recovery following disturbance events including but not limited to wildland fire, insect infestation or disease.

This project would also allow for restorative planting in other disturbed sites where natural regeneration is not occurring at high enough rates for forest cover to return within acceptable time frames.

Insects, disease and wildfire events are becoming more frequent and severe throughout the southwest. Severe disturbance events can remove forest cover from the landscape. Most conifer trees are poor seed dispersers and seeds are stored only for brief periods within the soil, requiring either an adjacent seed source or planting for reestablishment.

Without this action, it often takes multiple decades longer for the forested landscape to become reestablished and many more decades to grow into a mature forest.

The purpose and need for this project is to aid in the restoration of landscapes in situations where these high severity events have reduced the natural ability of the forest to reestablish itself over time.

This project will accelerate the return of disturbed landscapes to conditions that provide habitat for forest dependent species, maintain watershed function and soil characteristics, provide for future timber resources as well as providing aesthetic benefits to residents and visitors.

Lastly, this project also complies with National Forest Management Act requirements for reforestation. The project areas would be located on the Guadalupe, Sacramento and Smokey Bear Ranger Districts as needs are identified by forest officials.

Additional information regarding these actions can be obtained from Andrew Ellis, 901 Mechem Dr., Ruidoso, NM 88345; 257-4095 or email at AndrewEllis@fs.fed.us. More information canbe obtained on the LNF projects website at http://fs.usda.gov/projects/lincoln/landmanagement/projects.

How to submit comments on tree planting

Electronic comments including attachments may be submitted by email in word (.doc), rich text format (.rtf), text (.txt), or hypertext markup language (.html) to comments-southwestern-lincoln@fs.fed.us and include the project title in the subject line.

Written comments may also be addressed to Jodie Canfield, District Ranger, c/o Andrew Ellis, 901 Mechem Dr., Ruidoso, NM 88345; or faxed to 575-257-6174.

Oral or hand-delivered comments must be received within the normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Smokey Bear Ranger District, call 257-4095.

Anyone submitting a comment is asked to provide their name and postal mailing address so that they can be added to the project mailing list. Comments submitted anonymously will be considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide the agency with the ability to provide the respondent with subsequent environmental documents.

For more information about the Lincoln National Forest, visit http://fs.usda.gov/lincoln.