May 29, 2018 Joe Chavez On behalf of Eli Ilano, Forest Supervisor Tahoe National Forest 631 Coyote Street Nevada City, CA 95959 Digital copy with attachments on USB submitted via USPS priority mail; electronic version submitted via email to: [email protected], [email protected] Re: Comments on Tahoe National Forest Over-snow Vehicle Designation To Tahoe Forest Supervisor Eli Ilano: WildEarth Guardians, The Wilderness Society, Forest Issues Group, Sierra Forest Legacy, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Foothills Audubon Society, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, and Lassen Forest Preservation Group respectfully submit these comments to the U.S. Forest Service regarding its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) analyzing the Tahoe National Forest’s Over-snow Vehicle Designations. Under modified proposed Alternative 2, the Forest Service proposes to designate 406,895 acres as open to over-snow vehicle (OSV) use, 325 miles of OSV trails, and 22 Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) crossings, and apply a minimum snow depth of 12 inches for cross-country OSV use and grooming and 6 inches for OSV use over roads. WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofit conservation organization with offices in Oregon and five other states. WildEarth Guardians has more than 207,000 members and supporters across the United States and the world. Guardians protects and restores wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and the health of the American West. For many years, WildEarth Guardians has advocated for protection of wild places and wildlife from the disruption of snowmobiles. We have organizational interests in the proper and lawful management of winter motorized travel and its associated impacts on the Tahoe National Forest’s wildlife and wild places. The Wilderness Society is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness and ensure sound management of our shared national lands. We provide scientific, economic, legal, and policy guidance to land managers, communities, local conservation groups, and state and federal decisionmakers. In doing so, we hope to ensure the best management of our public lands for recreation, wildlife conservation, water quality, and the ability to enjoy public lands for inspiration and spiritual renewal. The Wilderness Society’s members in California, and members from elsewhere who visit California, enjoy the Lassen National Forest for activities such as hiking, backpacking, skiing, wildlife viewing, and camping, and for the aesthetic, spiritual, and wildlife values and opportunities it provides. Forest Issues Group (FIG) is a 501(c)3 non-profit that focuses its activities on the public lands of the sierran forests and the impact of U.S. Forest Service management and private timber sales on these forests. FIG is an organization made up of local citizens committed to healthy national forests. FIG provides community education and public review of U.S. Forest Service management of the National Forests. Sierra Forest Legacy (SFL) is a regional environmental coalition with over 50 partner groups. SFL is focused on the conservation, enhancement and protection of old growth forests, wildlands, at-risk species, protection of the region’s rivers and streams, and the ecological processes that shape the forest ecosystem of the Sierra Nevada. SFL is a leader in bringing together scientists and diverse interests on a wide range of forest issues including fire ecology, fuels management, protection of at- risk wildlife species, and socio-economic values associated with public forest management. SFL has been involved and project and land management planning on the Tahoe National Forest since 1996. Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all wild animals and plants in their natural communities. To that end, Defenders employs science, public education and participation, media, legislative advocacy, litigation, and proactive on-the-ground solutions in order to prevent the extinction of species, associated loss of biological diversity, and habitat alteration and destruction. The mission of the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society is to educate ourselves and others to the variety and the beauty of our natural environment and to protect our wildlife and natural places. We do this through classroom programs, field trips, membership programs, research support, and advocating for wildlife and natural places in our sphere of influence – Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Sierra, and part of El Dorado Counties. The Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation is a grassroots environmental organization dedicated to the protection of ecosystem values and the long-term sustainability of our natural resources for future generations. 2 Our groups submitted timely scoping comments on the Forest Service’s proposed action to designate OSV use on the Tahoe.1 Our comments urged the Forest Service to ensure the Tahoe’s OSV plan satisfies the Forest Service’s substantive legal duty to locate areas and trails designated as open to OSV use to minimize resource damage, harassment of wildlife, and conflicts with the majority of winter visitors enjoying non-motorized, quiet forms of recreation. 1. We strongly support the Forest Service’s efforts to meaningfully evaluate and manage motorized winter travel on the Tahoe National Forest. We sincerely appreciate the significant work that the Forest Service has put into the analysis in this DEIS. Overall, we believe the analysis provides a relatively thorough discussion of the impacts associated with OSV use. In particular, we are very pleased to see the Forest Service consider OSV impacts to roadless characteristics (see, e.g., DEIS at 82, 100) and wilderness attributes (DEIS at 79) under each alternative; analyze a robust range of alternatives to allow for meaningful comparison; consider classification and designation of OSV areas and trails by OSV class; and provide a clear description of the minimization criteria. We applaud the agency for identifying 21 discrete areas that better reflect the paradigm shift – from a default open unless designated closed approach, to a closed unless designated open approach – that subpart C requires. The Tahoe’s approach here is much more granular than we have seen on other forests and more closely aligns with the Travel Management Rule, executive orders, and case law. And we applaud the Forest Service for considering alternatives that protect Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs), avoid designating OSV use below 5,000 feet in elevation due to limited snow cover, and avoid designating OSV use in key deer winter range. However, Alternatives 2 and 4 continue to suffer from a number of deficiencies, including questions about whether the Forest Service has adequately minimized harm to natural resources including roadless and wilderness values, harassment of sensitive wildlife, disruption of wildlife habitat, and conflicts with non-motorized uses. We believe specific modifications from Alternatives 3 and 5 are necessary to satisfy governing legal requirements, including the minimization criteria, and provide for balanced and sustainable recreation opportunities for both motorized and non-motorized users. We encourage the Forest Service to adopt modifications from Alternatives 3 and 5, as well as remedy the following deficiencies described in more detail in the following sections: 1. Ensure that all OSV trails – including those located within open areas – that are maintained, marked on the ground, or displayed on any winter recreation guides or use maps are analyzed and designated according to the minimization criteria; 2. Better articulate how the boundaries of open areas and locations of trails were delineated to minimize damage to natural resources, harassment of wildlife and significant disruption of wildlife habitat, and conflicts with other recreational uses; 3. Ensure all areas identified as “not conducive to OSV use” are eliminated from open areas; 4. Ensure OSV designation decisions minimize impacts to roadless and wilderness values, including those identified by The Wilderness Society’s recent field-verified inventory of 1 See March 25, 2015, Comment Letter from The Wilderness Society, WildEarth Guardians, Forest Issues Group, Sierra Foothills Audubon, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, Sierra Club, and Sierra Forest Legacy on Tahoe National Forest Over-Snow Vehicle Use Designation Proposed Action, submitted to Michael Woodbridge (hereafter, “Scoping”). 3 wilderness-quality lands on the forest, and do not prejudice the future wilderness recommendation process; and 5. Demonstrate how the proposed OSV designations comply with the agency’s duties under the National Forest Management Act and Endangered Species Act. Snowlands Network and Winter Wildlands Alliance also submitted comments detailing specific recommended changes that focus primarily on non-motorized, backcountry recreation and minimizing conflicts between recreational uses. We support those recommendations in addition to what is provided in this comment. We believe that making these changes in the final EIS will result in a defensible and sustainable winter travel management plan that provides for quality winter recreation and access, adequately protects wildlife, wilderness values, and other sensitive resources, and reflects the requirements and intent of subpart C. 2. Comply with