As the Forest Supervisor of the Inyo National Forest Tammy Randall-Parker is publishing the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the land management plan under the provisions of the 2012 planning rule. This Final EIS will be published in the Federal Register initiating a 30-day review period. The Federal Register notice is expected to run on September 20th.
The Forest Supervisor can sign the decision document (Record of Decision) which approves the revised land management plan at the end of the final EIS review period. The new land management plan will go into effect 30 days after the decision is signed. While the updated land management plan is posted on the website for reference it is not yet final as the decision is not yet final.
During the 30-day review period the final EIS is available for review but there are no more formal opportunities to comment on or object to this EIS. We will inform you when the Record of Decision is signed.
The final EIS and land management plan will be available on the project website the same day as the Federal Register at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/inyo/landmanagement/planning. You may request hard copies or another format by contacting the Inyo National Forest Environmental Coordinator Erin Noesser at erin.noesser@usda.gov or (760)873-2449.
The draft Record of Decision and 2018 EIS were released in August 2018 and were subject to the objection process identified in 36 CFR Part 219 Subpart B (219.50 to 219.62). We received 22 objections from the public which were reviewed by the Deputy Regional Forester and received instructions that required updating of the final EIS plan and supporting documents. We have completed changes based on those instructions.
The modifications to the final EIS clarify effects and correct errors as well as update analyses in the final EIS including its appendices. This final EIS is the result of refining our analysis guided by public comments we received throughout the seven-year planning process. The revised land management plan once approved will guide how we manage the Inyo National Forest for the next 10-15 years.
We will host an open house to share information about the land management plan and the next steps in implementing the plan on October 2 2019 5:00-6:30 pm at Cerro Coso Community College in Bishop CA.
If you’d like more information about the planning process contact Erin Noesser at erin.noesser@usda.gov; 760-873-2449 or Deb Schweizer Public Affairs Officer 760-873-2427.
Erin Noesser
