COMMENT SUMMARY WMNF Forest Plan Revision NOI Table 1. Comment Statistics for Roadless & Comment Summaries RARE II Areas Categories What follows is a summary by subject/category Category #Comments Percent of of the public comment that was received on the Total NOI (Notice of Intent). The summaries are Comments designed to provide the reader with an 4000-General 1896 12.97 understanding of the range of comments. In 4005-Carr Mountain 2 0.01 compiling the summaries we chose to quote 4006-Wild River 796 5.45 actual comments. We hope this provides the 4007-Elbow Pond 2 0.01 reader with a flavor for the actual comments, 4008-Pemigewasset 729 4.99 rather than just the Forest Planning Team’s 4009-Sandwich Range 761 5.21 interpretation. 4015-Great Gulf Extension 3 0.02 4017-Kinsman Mountain 21 0.14 Roadless & RARE II Areas 4018-Cherry Mountain 700 4.79 (4000) 4019-Dartmouth Range 723 4.95 4028-Kearsarge 726 4.97 Overview 4029-Kilkenny 4 0.03 4035-Caribou Speckled 1 0.01 This subject covers those comments related to 4036-Pemi Extension 1 0.01 Roadless & RARE II areas on the forest. This 4040-Other Specific Areas 36 0.25 subject area received more comments than any another subject. 4050-Roadless Initiative 21 0.14 4060-Mountain Treasures 24 0.16 proposal Relationship to Revision Topics Totals 6446 44.11 The comments under this subject are Over ninety percent of the comments coded in related to topic 3.2.12 Roadless and this subject area favor protection of roadless Unroaded Areas. Many comments are also areas. related to topic 3.2.22 Wilderness Recommendation. Comments about “Please protect any remaining roadless specific roadless areas and wilderness areas in the forest.” (#3164) recommendation were coded to this subject. In discussing roadless areas the comments Some of the comments are also related to identify activities that should be excluded from 3.2.11 Recreation Opportunities and Use, roadless areas. 3.2.13 roads, 3.2.18 Timber Management, and 3.2.23 Wildlife Habitat Management. “...protect all roadless areas 1,000 acres or greater in size from logging and road building.” (#819) “I strongly believe in protecting ALL Roadless areas from logging & off road vehicles.” (#2449) Comments also identify the benefits of protecting roadless areas. “Given how rare it is to find old-growth and remote forest habitat in the Northeast, the Forest Service should place a high priority on protecting any remaining roadless areas. To put it simply, areas that cannot be reached from existing roads WMNF Forest Plan Revision NOI COMMENT SUMMARY should be removed from timber the Sandwich Range and Pemigewasset as management. Roadless areas offer plants new wilderness,...” (#819) and wildlife that prefer remote old forests Other areas that received comments include Carr the space needed to maintain viable Mountain, Elbow Pond, Great Gulf Extension, populations, while at the same time Kinsman Mountain, Kilkenny, Caribou providing the highest level of protection to Speckled, and Pemi Extension. There are also streams and rivers. Roadless areas also some comments requesting that the Zealand and offer other benefits including research, Sawyer river valleys be protected as roadless. education, wilderness recreation, and spiritual renewal.” (#459) Some comments disagree with the general theme of protecting all roadless areas. “The White Mountain Nat'l Forest is an irreplaceable resource. Keeping roadless “With respect to future management of areas is essential to preservation of existing roadless areas, the SPNHF wilderness in New England.” (#1955) supports the general balance of uses within the national forest as specified in the 1986 “It is a truly unique resource in the East forest plan. We are not opposed to further that provides ecological value and spiritual protection of some roadless areas by their renewal. This value and renewal can only removal from the timber base; however, we be maintained for future generations to believe that recent proposals for increasing enjoy if remaining roadless areas are the acreage of roadless area remove too protected....” (#325) much land from forestry and other multiple The specific roadless areas that received the uses.” (#3541) most comments include Wild River, Sandwich “Further, areas that are not currently Range, Cherry Mountain, Dartmouth Range, and allocated a management designation, such Kearsarge. as the Wild River drainage, should be “Wild River is the largest roadless area left placed in the timber base (2.1 and 3.1 in the Whites not yet designated management designations) and managed Wilderness. By recommending this area for for multiple benefits, including a Wilderness you would be taking the first sustainable supply of forest products.” step in permanently protecting an area of (#3432) unparalleled ecological and recreational “The Planning Board at this time cannot value.” (#1549) support the expansion of Wilderness within “We strongly support the expansion of the the Town of Lincoln. Specifically, the Sandwich Range Wilderness. The eastern expansion of the Sandwich Range United States has precious little in the way Wilderness along Scar Ridge as currently of open space. Wilderness is especially being proposed by Friends of Sandwich ‘endangered’. As population and growth Range. The proposed extension is for pressures continue, it has become 22,300 acres, the majority of which is in the imperative that we preserve what little Town of Lincoln. The current plans appear wilderness we have left. It is much more to include a part of the Loon Mountain ski economical to save now than to reclaim in area, both existing facilities and proposed the future.” (#1137) expansion.” (#2653) “...please place as your highest priority the Many comments received reference the National long term health of the forest. In order to Roadless Initiative. These comments are achieve this, the new plan should ... 2) roughly split between those that support the recommend special areas such as the Wild initiative and those that oppose the initiative. River Valley, Kearsarge, the Dartmouth There are also some comments made that range, Cherry Mountain, and lands around support the Mountain Treasures proposal made COMMENT SUMMARY WMNF Forest Plan Revision NOI by the Appalachian Mountain Club, The be removed from timber management.” Wilderness Society, and the Conservation Law (#1181) Foundation. “It is also very important that the existitng “I heartily support The Wilderness [sic] roadless areas remain roadless and Society's and the Appalaichan [sic] Clubs that areas that cannot be reached from recommendations for protecting all existing roads be removed from timber roadless areas, so that all of us in this great management.” (#3285) country, not only the Westerners, can “Please do not build anymore roads into benefit from wilderness areas.” (#2900) the WMNF. I think it is important to Category Summaries – Roadless & protect the remaining roadless areas, RARE II Areas especially Wilderness.” (#1304) “I strongly urge the Service to emphasize General (4000) the following as it writes the new plan: 1) Nearly all of the comments coded to this Permanently protecting the remaining category favor protecting roadless areas on the roadless areas from road development...” Forest. (#1777) “I ask that ALL remaining roadless areas “Please protect all roadless areas of on the White Mountain National Forest be WMNF and keep motorized vehicles out.” protected as wild, unroaded forest under (#813) the revised forest plan.” (#3098) About one third of the comments that support “Preserving what we have would be my roadless areas identify specific reasons for highest priority. This means leaving protecting roadless areas. The most commonly remaining roadless areas roadless.” (#366) mentioned reasons are that they provide remote natural areas that allow people to get away from “Please continue to protect and expand the the pressures of modern life and they provide roadless areas in the White Mountain habitat for plants and animals. National Forest. As a Westerner I see that the current demand for wild places exceeds “Roadless areas are important for solitude supply in the East.” (#3181) and spiritual renewal, which are not easy to find in the modern world.” (#362) Comments identify two different acreages when discussing the size of roadless areas. “I feel it is extremely important to protect any and all remaining roadless areas in the “Protect all roadless areas of 1000 acres.” White Mountains. These areas should be (#3109) removed from timber management. These “I support protecting the remaining areas are important to plants and wildlife, roadless areas as we need to protect and to the protection of streams and rivers. parcels of over 5,000 acres.” (#321) It is also important that I, as an individual, still have the opportunity to visit an area Slightly less than half of the comments favoring like this; it helps renew my connection to roadless protection identify specific activities nature and the natural world, it renews my that should be prohibited in roadless areas. Most spirit. It is similar to religion for me.” of these comments mention timber harvesting (#1171) and road building. Some of the comments mention off road vehicle use. “protect roadless areas for intrinsic worth, serenity, different from urban views, “The Forest Service should place a high preserve environment that's limited today” priority on protecting any remaining (#3481) roadless areas. These remote areas should WMNF Forest Plan Revision NOI COMMENT SUMMARY “Current roadless areas