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The Spring Hollow and Grass Valley Mountain Biking Proposed Project is situated north of the community of Pine Valley and north of St. George, Utah, and the Red Cliffs Reserve. The project is located on   Federal National Forest System lands. These Federal lands are managed by the Pine Valley Ranger District (PVRD) of the Dixie National Forest (DNF). The PVRD conducted an Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the effects of the project. The EA, draft Decision Notice (DN) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) are now available for public review and objections. The draft DN, FONSI, EA and specialist reports are posted on the Dixie National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=58618.

The following changes have been made since the project was initially scoped:

• Approximately 1.3 miles were dropped from the Spring Hollow Trail System. Trails were also modified on the higher elevations to lower trail density. The proposed main trailhead was also moved out of inventory roadless area (IRA). These changes were made in response to scoping comments and wildlife specialists' input.
• In response to concerns received during the scoping process regarding grazing and pastoral values in the town of Pine Valley, trail miles were reduced from 15.02 miles to 11.5 miles. The proposal was refined by eliminating the westernmost trails of the Grass Valley System to reduce conflicts with wildlife, hunters, cattle, motorized trail users, and road traffic. This modified/updated proposal reduced the number of fence crossings and eliminated one proposed new trailhead. 

Based upon my review of the Spring Hollow and Grass Valley Mountain Biking Proposed Project EA, comments received from the public, and internal input from an interdisciplinary team of Forest Service resource specialists, I intend to implement Alternative Number Two, the Modified Proposed Action. The Modified Proposed Action, as analyzed in the EA, was altered based on public comments received during scoping, resource specialist input, and refined accuracy of on-the-ground data collection. The following is the updated summary of the Modified Proposed Action:

The Grass Valley Trail System consists of:

• 9.75 miles of new single-track mountain biking trails.
• A 1.75 mile reroute of the existing Cemetery Trail to increase trail sustainability and make it suitable for mountain bike use.
• Expansion of the existing Cemetery trailhead (adjacent to the Pine Valley Highway FS035).
• No event areas are proposed for the Grass Valley Network.

The Spring Hollow Trail System consists of:

• 43.7 miles of new single-track mountain biking trails.
• Construction of up to three new trailheads.
• Improvement and expansion of existing Blake and Gubler Trailhead.

• Approximately 20 acres identified and surveyed for use as temporary day or weekend special events, including races and competitions. These special events would need to be approved through the Forest Service permit process.

   

Administrative Review

The Spring Hollow and Grass Valley Mountain Biking Project is now subject to a pre-decisional administrative review process, also known as an objection process (36 CFR 218, Subparts A and B). Objections will be accepted only from those parties (as defined by 36 CFR 218.2) who have previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project during the 30-day Legal Notice Scoping and Notice of Opportunity to Comment period (August19, 2020). This is in accordance with §218.5(a). Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted comments, unless those comments are based on new information that arose after the designated opportunities to comment (36 CFR § 218.8).

Contents of an Objection

Incorporation of documents by reference in the objection is permitted only as provided for at §218.8(b). Minimum content requirements of an objection identified in §218.8(d) include:

• Objector's name and address with a telephone number if available; with signature or other

  verification of authorship supplied upon request;

• Identification of the lead objector when multiple names are listed, along with verification

  upon request;

• Name of project, name, and title of the responsible official, national forest/ranger district of

  project;

• Sufficient narrative description of those aspects of the proposed project objected to, specific

  issues related to the project, how environmental law, regulation, or policy would be violated,

  and suggested remedies which would resolve the objection; and

• Statement demonstrating the connection between prior specific written comments on this

  proposed project and the content of the objection unless the objection issue arose after the designated opportunity for comment.

             

Filing an Objection

Written objection documents (including supporting documents) must be filed (postal mail, fax, email) with the Reviewing Officer (Regional Forester) at: Objection Reviewing Officer, Intermountain Region USFS, 324 25th Street, Ogden, Utah 84401; or fax to 801-625-5277; or by email to: objections-intermtn-regional-office@usda.gov within 45 days (§218.32) following the publication date of the legal notice in The Spectrum, which is the newspaper of record. Due to the pandemic, hand-delivery of objection documents is not an option at the moment. Objections delivered by mail must be postmarked or received within 45 days from the date of publication of notice in the newspaper of record. The date of the legal notice is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Those wishing to object may not rely upon dates or timeframes provided by any other source.

Electronic objections must be submitted in a format such as an email message, pdf, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), and Word (.doc or .docx). Please add " Objection: Spring Hollow and Grass Valley Mountain Biking Project " in the subject line. Business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. It is the responsibility of objectors to ensure their objection is received in a timely manner (§ 218.9).

Implementation/Objection Review and Final Decision

If no objections are filed within the 45-day time period, the Final Decision Notice will be signed indicating approval of the project, and the project may be implemented five business days following the end of the objection filing period. If an objection is filed, then a resolution meeting with the objector(s) will be completed within another 45-day period, which follows the objection-filing period. At the discretion of the objection-reviewing officer, the review period may be extended up to another 30-day time period, if needed. In either case, according to regulations (36 CFR 218), no legal notice is required once a Final Decision is signed.

For further information concerning the Spring Hollow and Grass Valley Mountain Biking Project, contact me: Nicholas Glidden, Pine Valley District Ranger, at 435-652-3101 or via email at nicholas.glidden@usda.gov.