The Manti-La Sal National Forest will be hosting an open houses in Castle Dale on September 20 at the Emery County Courthouse and in Price on September 21 at Carbon County Events Center, both of the events will begin at 5:30 pm running till 7:30 pm. Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Public Services Staff Officer, Andrew Orlemann to get all the details.

The open house will be an opportunity for residents to voice their comments on the Land and Resources Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement that was drafted on August 18. “The reason that we need to do it right now is because our original Forest Plan which was written in the 1980s is getting to be a little dated and so its time for us to update our plan. So we call this Forest Plan Revision where we are revising our older Forest Plan, and we would like to have a new forest plan in place to guide us for the next 15 or 20 years,” said Orlemann. If you would like to see the proposed Forest Plan you can see do so at any Forest Service Office in Price or Ferron.

“We’re a multiple use agency and so our Forest Plan covers all of the things that we manage including recreation, including timber production, livestock grazing, fire management as you mentioned, preservation of culture and historical artifacts, so the entire group of both social, economic, and environmental things that the Forest Service manages,” said Orlemann. Officials ask that those interested in the management of forest lands comment during this period to help develop the best plan for our forest lands.

“These meetings are an opportunity to provide comments, we’re in a 90-day comment period and so for 90 days, we’re listening to the public. All the in-person meetings are at the same time and that’s from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. On the 20th we’re going to be at the Emery County Courthouse Building in Castle Dale. Then we’ll be at the Carbon County Events Center here in Price,” said Orlemann. Land Management plans provide direction for how public lands are managed in the long-term. The formal comment period is from August 18 to November 15, 2023.

To learn more visit the Manti-La Sal National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/mantilasal