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SALT LAKE CITY — The Ashley National Forest hosts more than 2 million visitors a year and is home to some of the state's most spectacular scenery that includes the High Uintas, part of Flaming Gorge and King's Peak, the state's tallest mountain at more than 13,500 feet in elevation.
The forest system, which spans a portion of southwest Wyoming, is also in need of a makeover to design the best long-term management strategies that will carry it into the next 15 or 20 years.
With an eye to balancing use of U.S. Forest Service resources with recreation, grazing, timber harvests and high conservation priorities in mind, the federal agency is kicking off its efforts to prepare that plan with a first round of public outreach meetings.
"It is really about introducing people to the process that we will use," said Ashley National Forest spokesman Louis Haynes. "We are asking for folks to tell us what information we should use like any new research or the latest studies to form the basis for our scientific assessment."
The management plan, which takes four years to finish, will establish guideposts for the desired conditions in the forest and provide guidance for projects. It does not provide site-specific decisions or require any specific actions, but lays out the framework for decision-making.
The Ashley National Forest last had its management plan adopted in 1986, so it is in strong need of an update to reflect what changes may have played out over the past three decades, Haynes said.
"We want people to get involved with us early, understand the process and let us know what areas we should engage in that are important to them."
In this phase, described as a rapid assessment of the research that has been done in the arena of cultural, economic and ecological resources, the agency is urging other government groups, the public and nongovernmental organizations to bring forth information.
Meetings have been set for 6 to 8 p.m. on the following days and locations:
• July 14 — Daggett County Commission chambers, 95 N. 1st West, Manilla.
• July 19 — Uintah Basin Applied Technology Center, multipurpose room 1, 450 N. 2000 West, Vernal.
• July 20 — Salt Lake City Main Library, fourth floor, 210 E. 400 South.
Earlier this year, the Ashley National Forest and the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest began an environmental impact statement probing impacts of domesticated sheep grazing on 10 allotments spanning about 160,000 acres.
Five of those allotments in the Ashley National Forest are the painter basin, Tungsten, Oweep, Ottoson Basin and Fall Creek.
The Forest Service is proposing to continue the allotments, but it reviews grazing periodically to evaluate rangeland conditions. It will take about three years to complete.
Another round of meetings on the management plan will begin in August, focusing on the inventory and evaluation of lands that may be eligible to be protected as wilderness.
