Adapted from the New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance www.nmohva.org
The good news is that there is no required format. The most effective Scoping comments are those that help identify issues that we want the Forest Service to address in the new Forest Plan. And you do not necessarily have to suggest solutions to the problem (that is what the Forest Service are supposed to develop during analysis). Here are some examples of "Significant Issues" to get you started thinking:
Travel Management has reduced the amount of roads and trails available to the public for motorized recreation. This will contribute to crowding on the trails as motorized recreation continues to grow. The BLM or Forest needs more trails open to meet this growing need.
BLM and Forest budgets are shrinking, putting trail maintenance at risk. The BLM and Forest do not have an adequate plan for how it will utilize public/volunteer labor and resources to create and maintain motorized trails.
Non-motorized users have been successful in reducing motorized opportunities by claiming "conflict" with motorized users. The BLM and Forest needs to develop a plan for how it is going to educate other users and properly set user expectations in shared use environments.
Your Scoping comments can also include comments on the draft "Need for Change" statements, the Proposed Action, and even the wilderness evaluation process so far. We are currently creating content for this section. In order to be able to keep up with our high standards of service, we need a little more time. Please stop by again. Thank you for your interest!
