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NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT USDA FOREST SERVICE GRAND MESA, UNCOMPAHGRE AND GUNNISON NATIONAL FORESTS NORWOOD AND OURAY RANGER DISTRICTS SOUTH UNCOMPAHGRE HAZARDOUS FUELS AND ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCY PROJECT The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests’ (GMUG) Norwood and Ouray Ranger Districts have prepared a Final Environmental Assessment (Final EA) and Draft Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact (DN/FONSI) for the South Uncompahgre Hazardous Fuels and Ecological Resiliency (SUHFER) Project. The 267,300-acre Project area is located on the Uncompahgre Plateau within the Norwood and Ouray Ranger Districts. The SUHFER Project establishes a 20-year framework for Condition-Based Management (CBM) to increase forest and watershed resilience to environmental stressors, including insect outbreaks, disease, and high-severity wildfire. The Responsible Official for this decision is Megan Eno, Norwood District Ranger. Ranger Eno is planning to approve Alternative 2 identified in the Final EA, which includes the implementation of three primary categories of management activities, controlled by strict spatial constraints, management cards by specific treatment type, and acreage caps. Silvicultural Treatments: Authorizes site-specific commercial and non-commercial timber harvest utilizing conventional ground-based logging systems across an identified 116,300-acre Area of Opportunity (AOO). Acreage Cap: Total individual silvicultural treatments shall not exceed 50,000 acres over the 20-year lifespan of the project. Priority Focus: The Estimated Implementation Plan (EIP) identifies approximately 21,200 acres of high-priority, late-seral forested stands for targeted treatments within the first 10 years. Access Infrastructure: Authorizes up to 82 miles of temporary roads (consisting of 38 miles of existing non-system routes and 44 miles of new construction) to support EIP access. All temporary infrastructure would be fully decommissioned following treatment operations. Hazardous Fuels Reduction Treatments: Establishes a 71,100-acre Hazard Fuels Mitigation Zone (HFMZ) prioritizing Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) zones, Potential Operational Lines/Delineations (PODs), utility infrastructure corridors, and main road networks. Approved methods include broadcast burning, pile burning, chipping, mastication, and hand thinning. Wildlife Habitat Improvements: Authorizes mechanical and prescribed fire treatments primarily outside the AOO and HFMZ to restore big game winter range and Gunnison sage-grouse (GUSG) critical habitat. Ecosystem Caps: Habitat treatments are strictly capped at 8,000 acres within pinyon-juniper woodlands and 5,000 acres within sagebrush shrublands. To ensure compliance with the Final EA and avoid detrimental resource impacts, no on-the-ground activities would occur without finalizing a project checklist for all site-specific actions that includes public notification, binding Project Design Features (PDFs), and mandatory multi-tiered monitoring. Additional details can be found in the Final EA and Draft Decision Notice. The Final EA and Draft DN/FONSI for the SUHFER Project are available on the GMUG’s website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/gmug/projects/301395. Additional information regarding this proposed action can be obtained from Jonathan Tucker, Land Management Planner, at 970-573-1876 or by e-mail at jonathan.tucker@usda.gov. The SUHFER Project is implementing a land management plan subject to pre-decisional objection under 36 CFR Part 218 Subparts A and B. Objections, including attachments, must be filed with the reviewing officer within 45 calendar days following publication of this notice in the Telluride Times (formerly the Telluride Daily Planet), the newspaper of record. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Objectors should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. It is the objector’s responsibility to ensure the timely filing of a written objection with the reviewing officer pursuant to 36 CFR 218.9. Objections will only be accepted from those who have previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project during scoping or other designated opportunities for public comment in accordance with 36 CFR 218.5(a). Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted timely, specific written comments regarding the proposed project, unless the issue is based on new information arising after the designated comment opportunities. The objection must contain the minimum content requirements specified in 36 CFR 218.8(d), and incorporation of documents by reference is permitted only as provided in 36 CFR 218.8(b). Objections that do not adhere to these requirements are conditions under which the reviewing officer may set aside an objection pursuant to 36 CFR 218.10. All eligible objections are available for public inspection. Written objections may be submitted via regular mail, private carrier, or hand delivered to: Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, Attn: Reviewing Officer, Chad Stewart, 2250 South Main Street, Delta, CO 81416. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm, excluding Federal holidays, for hand delivery.