From Appalachian Voices (http://www.appvoices.org/):
A new plan by the U.S. Forest Service to roll back one of America’s bedrock environmental laws would severely limit public input on how our national forests are managed.
Go to http://appvoices.org/stop-usfs-nepa-rollback/ to tell the Forest Service the American public deserves to be heard!
The National Environmental Policy Act requires that all major actions proposed by federal agencies are thoroughly studied for their impacts on the environment, including on recreational resources. The cornerstone of the law is ensuring the public has a say in that process.
In Appalachia, millions of people enjoy the beauty and bounty of national forests including the Cherokee, Nantahala, Pisgah, Monongahela and the George Washington and Jefferson. Forest Service actions that fall under NEPA include clearcutting old-growth stands, building roads or building fracked-gas pipelines — so it’s extremely important that local communities and others who enjoy these public lands have their voices heard.
Right now, the Forest Service is considering broad changes to how it implements NEPA, including expanding categorical exclusions to a wider range of projects, and eliminating the opportunity for public input on such projects. By some estimates, the changes would scale back the public process from about 93% of all Forest Service projects, and in some cases, eliminate public notice altogether. It seems a clear attempt by the Trump administration to advance corporate control over our natural treasures for sheer profit.
Leave a Reply