Forest plan amendments are subject to administrative review of the project in response to public objections. These procedures are described in Forest Service planning regulations at 36 CFR 219. The opportunity to object on the proposed forest plan amendment ends 45 days following the date of publication of a legal notice in the Ocala Star Banner. The notice was published Dec. 27 2016 so the objection period ends Feb. 9 2017. The publication date of the legal notice is the exclusive means for calculating the time to submit an objection. Only individuals who submitted substantive formal comments during the project scoping period or 30-day notice and comment period are eligible to object to the draft decision.
Objections must be written and include the following minimum content requirements: 1. Objector’s name and address (also telephone number and email if available noting preferred method of contact) 2. Signature or other verification of authorship upon request 3. Identification of the lead objector if multiple names are listed 4. The name of the plan amendment (NFFL Forest Plan Amendment 12) and name and title of the responsible official (Kelly Russell Forest Supervisor) 5. A statement identifying the issues or parts of the plan amendment to which the objection applies 6. A concise statement explaining the objection and how the project may be improved including reference to law regulation or policy if applicable and 7. A statement that demonstrates the link between earlier substantive comments made by the objector and the content of the objection or description of objection issues that arose after earlier opportunities for formal comments. Objectors are responsible for meeting the content and timing requirements in 36 CFR 219.54-56. All objections received including the names and contact information of commenters will be part of the public record for this project.
Objections for this project will be reviewed by the Regional Forester Tony Tooke. We encourage electronic submission of objections. Objections in a common digital format (e.g. attached MS Word document plain text or pdf file or in the body of the email) may be emailed to objections-southern-regional-office@fs.fed.us with “NFFL Forest Plan Amendment 12” as the subject. Objections may also be submitted through this form. Hard-copy objections may also be submitted to Tony Took Regional Forester by mail (Attn: Objections USDA Forest Service Southern Region 1720 Peachtree Rd NW Atlanta GA 30309) or fax (404-347-5401). Hand-delivered objections must be received at the address above during normal business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday closed on federal holidays. The content requirements above apply to all methods of submitting objections.
Matthew Trager
