The Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest will host an open house at the Idaho Panhandle Regional Supervisor’s Office today from 5-7 p.m. to answer questions and provide information about their forest plan revision.

The office is located at 3815 Schreiber Way in Coeur d’Alene.

“The Forest Plan Revision sets the stage for management of the 4.1 million-acre Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests for the next 15-30 years,” said Zach Peterson, Forest Planner for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. “The current forest plans are from 1987.”

While only the U.S. Congress can designate wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest may advocate for additional designations within the Forest Plan.

“We term this Recommended Wilderness and Suitable Wild and Scenic Rivers,” Peterson said.

The open house will give the public an opportunity to interact with the team of specialists that developed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and draft Forest Revision Plan. Both plans encourage the forest to move slowly and involve the public in policy decision making.

“We have a range of alternatives in the DEIS,” Peterson said. “For recommended wilderness we have alternatives that have zero recommended wilderness areas and an alternative with 870,000 acres of recommended wilderness as well as two in between. We also have alternatives that allow snowmobiling in recommended wilderness areas and alternatives that do not.”

Several recommended wilderness areas still sit in limbo, waiting for congressional designation from the last forest plan, including the Great Burn or Hoodoo area.

Nearly half of Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest encompasses 2 million acres of designated wilderness including part of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, part of the Frank Church, and all of the Gospel Hump. The diverse landscape spans across north-central Idaho including the Lochsa, Selway, and Salmon Rivers. Kootenai County residents make up a portion of the Idaho residents that recreate and work in these places.

Forest plans, as a strategic document, determine what uses are suitable in what areas and provide a framework for future project decisions. They also help forests prepare for the amount of management they will need.

Since initiating the planning process, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest has met with thousands of people in Idaho and western Montana.

“Public participation in land management planning is critical to our success,” said Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests Supervisor Cheryl Probert said in a letter announcing the forest plan. “We look forward to hearing from you and we look forward to having in–depth conversations regarding management of your National Forests.”

“We are there to answer questions and make sure attendees are able to access the documents and know how to submit public comments,” Peterson said. “They will also have access to our Deputy Forest Supervisor, Kurt Steele. The open house will have a series of stations that attendees can stop by and learn more information regarding specific resources. Deputy Forest Supervisor Steele will also make some opening remarks at about 5:20 p.m.”

Since initiation of the project in 2012, the public has made comments regarding the amount of proposed timber harvest, the amount of the forest open to motorized travel, how the plan will provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and how the plan will accommodate access to active mining claims.

More information about these concerns can be found online at http://bit.ly/NezClearFPR.

The Idaho Conservation League will give a presentation about the work they have done to protect proposed wilderness areas in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest prior to the Forest Service’s open house. The presentation will be made at the Human Rights Education Institute, 414 W. Fort Grounds Drive in Coeur d'Alene. The event will begin at 4:30 p.m.