Basalt Mountain Salvage and Rehabilitation project will take place on National Forest Lands impacted by the Lake Christine Fire
BASALT, Colo. – The Lake Christine Fire started in early July of 2018 and impacted just over 8,500 acres of National Forest lands north of Basalt, Colorado, on the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District. Since the fire, the Forest Service has identified the opportunity for management actions in the area.
The Forest Service is seeking public comments on the Basalt Mountain Salvage and Rehabilitation project. The project would remove roadside hazard trees along Cattle Creek Road (NFSR 509) and Basalt Mountain Road (NFSR 524), create defensible space near homes in the Cattle Creek area, salvage burned and partially burned trees with marketable or usable value (logs and/or biomass) to local/regional industry, monitor and assess for natural reforestation, and allow for future tree planting as needed.
“We would like to address the impacts from the fire as soon as possible and take actions within the burned area to ensure long-term and reliable public access,” said Kevin Warner, acting District Ranger. “For safety reasons, we want to remove hazard trees along roadways and harvest merchantable trees in places already identified as suitable for these types of management actions.”
“Moving forward with this project quickly will help to ensure that the burned trees in the area are still useable,” said Kevin Warner, Acting District Ranger. “We look forward to hearing from the public at the upcoming open-house meeting, or through the public comment process.”
This project would be in addition to the short-term emergency actions that are ongoing by the Burned Area Emergency Response Team.
How to Comment:
The opportunity to comment is initiated by a legal notice published in the Aspen Times Weekly on Nov. 29, 2018. Specific written comments on the proposed project will be accepted for 30 calendar days following publication of the legal notice in the Aspen Times Weekly. 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.
Written comments must be submitted via mail, fax, electronically, or in person (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays) to: Karen Schroyer, District Ranger, c/o Christopher McDonald, PO Box 309, Carbondale, Colorado 81623, FAX: (970) 963-1012. Electronic comments including attachments can be submitted to Electronic comments including attachments can be submitted to https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public//CommentInput?Project=55031
Project Page: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=55031
Persons commenting should include: 1) name, address, telephone number, organization represented, if any; 2) title of project for which the comment is being submitted; and 3) specific facts and supporting reasons for the Responsible Official to consider. 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. 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. The legal notice also serves to notify and invite public comment on the proposal as stipulated in 36 CFR 800.3 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Additional information regarding this action can be obtained from: Christopher McDonald, (970) 625-6856 or email at cmcdonald@fs.fed.us
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