|
Hi folks-- THIS IS FROM THE OKANOGAN- WENATCHEE NF WEB SITE ON MARCH 23, 2011 SO WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANY REQUIREMENT FOR A PERMIT TO COLLECT ROCKS ON NATIONAL FOREST LANDS BEFORE. WAS THERE ANY DISCUSSION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ROCK COLLECTORS OR KNAPPERS? IF NOT WE NEED TO CHALLEGE THIS. WHAT HAVE KNAPPERS AND ROCK COLLECTORS BEEN DOING WHILE THIS WAS GOING ON.........? IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE BEEN ALSEEP AT THE SWITCH............... OR THE FS HAS DELIBERATELY GONE BEHIND OUR BACK TO SNEAK THIS THROUGH.... WE NEED TO TAKE IMMEADITE ACTION............... NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE ...... Frequently Asked Questions 11. What are special-use authorizations? A special-use authorization is a legal document such as a permit, lease, or easement, which allows the permittee occupancy, use, rights, or privileges on National Forest system land. The authorization is granted for a specific use of the land for a specific period of time. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management maintain a Web site on special use implementation at www.fs.fed.us/recreation/permits/ 12. Can I collect rocks , pinecones, pine boughs, logs, mushrooms, etc., from the Forest? You must have a permit to remove any minerals or wood products from the National Forest. To obtain one of these permits, check with your nearest National Forest Service office . 13. Do I need a Wilderness permit? You do not need a Wilderness permit in the Pasayten or Lake Chelan Wilderness areas. However, you are required to register at the trailheads. 14. If I have an emergency on the National Forest, who should I contact? If you have an emergency on the National Forest, call 911 and they will dispatch the nearest help. 15. What is a closure? A closure is a restriction put on certain activities or public use of a defined area on the Forest . For example, closures might be implemented to help prevent human-caused fires, protect human life, or protect property. Vehicles may be restricted on certain roads when they are wet. The purpose of this type of closure is to prevent damage to the road itself and subsequent damage to soils or streams from water or mud draining off the damaged road. The buzz.... first off, I don't think we should have to deal with the seperate rules in seperate districts. At least I think there should be a a general guideline that all districts should follow such as "rock collecting should be allowed under the following guidelines." Besides that, the Road Management Plan that every FS and BLM district is required to come up with, and they are in the process of doing, has no appeal process. I have looked into this and have been told by BLM employees that once a district makes a decision and roads are closed and/or changed the only appeal will be to the local district manager. As far as I know there is no national appeal process. Totally rediculous if you ask me. Good news on The BLM rules. It would be nice to know that these are standing rules rather then something that can expire or be changed without due process. I'm going to ask the person who originally worked with the BLM to create these rules if he can look into this for us. I also like the idea of reaching out to the media. I have helped put press packets together for other endeavors. It might be nice to try and creat a little buzz now, do the letter writing campaign, reach out to other outdoor users such as the Prospectors, Horseback Riders, ATV users etc, and then hit the media hard if we can with some legislation moving next session. My two cents for now, , The BLM agreement (250 lbs/per person/per day) is still in effect. I verified this with the Oregon BLM a few months ago. In my opinion there is always a way to appeal a particular Districts regulations. It may be just going to the next level or it may require going even higher. Shining a very PUBLIC light on these practices, which have little or no rational justification, is something that we can and should do. In the words of my legislator, "That's not what their paid by the legislature to do". These days in particular, no agency or district wants to experience bad publicity. With the internet, Facebook , blogs , forums, Twitter, email, etc, we can spread the word and make everyone aware of these actions. We also need to get something going with local media outlets, especially some of the TV/radio stations and newspapers. I plan on sending our concerns to each the local TV and radio stations as well as the major newspapers. I'll write a ghost, article and see if I can't get a reporter to run with it. It never hurts to try! For those of you that did not attend the WSMC Board meeting last Saturday we did get an answer through Bob Pattie, who called this particular Forest Service office. The permit they are requiring is a Nrothwest Forest Pass, otherwise known as a trailhead parking permit, or the Golden Pass or other types of passes. I think we need to address this as well, perphaps through the ALAA.Just as we are not happy that collecting on our state lands varies from district to district I don't think we should have to do that with our national lands either. (That is what is proposed with the Road Management Plans that the national land managers are doing. There is no way to appeal the decisions except by going district to district and letting them know you don't like their decision. If the local district doesn't care that you don't like their decision too bad, there is no appeal process!) I tried to address part of this problem at the meeting on Saturday, but the meeting had all ready gone too long, but our "agreement" with the BLM regarding rock collecting in Oregon and Washington expired in 2001 and as far as I can tell there is no new rule regarding this. More work to do. Headquarters 215 Melody Lane Wenatchee, WA 98801 509.664.9200 Voice 509.664.9280 Fax 509.664.9201 TTY Okanogan Valley Office 1240 South Second Avenue Okanogan, WA 98841 509.826.3275 Voice 509.826.3789 Fax 509.826.3765 TTY Chelan District Ranger 428 W. Woodin Avenue Chelan, WA 98816-9724 509. 682.4900 Voice/TTY 509.682.9004 Fax Cle Elum Ranger District 803 W. 2nd Street Cle Elum, WA 98922 509.852.1100 Voice 509.674.3800 Fax Entiat Ranger District 2108 Entiat Way P.O. Box 476 Entiat, WA 98822 509.784.1511 Voice/TTY 509.784.1150 Fax Methow Valley Ranger District 24 West Chewuch Road Winthrop, WA 98862 509.996.4003 Voice 509.996.2208 Fax Naches Ranger District 10237 Highway 12 Naches, WA 98937 509.653.1401 Voice/TTY 509.653.2638 Fax North Cascade Smokejumper Base 23 Intercity Airport Road Winthrop, WA 98862 509.997.9750 Voice 509.997.2077 Fax Tonasket Ranger District 1 West Winesap Tonasket, WA 98855 (509) 486-2186 Voice 509.486.1922 Fax 509.486.5144 TTY Wenatchee River Ranger District 600 Sherbourne Leavenworth, WA 98826 509. 548-2550 or 548.2551 Voice 509.548.5817 Fax Forestry Sciences Laboratory 1133 N. Western Wenatchee, WA 98801 509.662-4315 Voice 509.664.2742 Fax |