*********** NOTICE: THIS IS A FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** 
============================================================================
			    RKBA-ALERT Digest 536
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) ALERT: Hunters - Forest Service Seeks Public Comment by NRA Alerts 
alerts>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic No. 1
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 15:50:02 -0500 (EST)
From: NRA Alerts 
To: rkba-alert-real.nra
Subject: ALERT: Hunters - Forest Service Seeks Public Comment
Message-ID: 
March 3, 1998
                     ** ATTENTION HUNTERS **
       FOREST SERVICE SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON ROADS PROGRAM
     The US Forest Service (FS) has published a Notice of Intent
in the Federal Register announcing its intention to develop a
national policy and revise its regulations in order to create a
science-based managment approach to its transportation system. 
FS system of roads covers nearly 380,000 miles, a system larger
than the national interstate system.  In revising its approach to
roads management, FS' objective is to build fewer and more
ecologically sound roads, remove unneeded and environmentally
damaging roads, and making the most frequently used roads safer
(nearly 80% of public use occurs on 20% of forest roads).  The
driving forces behind this initiative are: 
     *  a $10.5 billion backlog in road maintenance that the FS
     cannot meet with exisiting funds
     *  impacts on the environment and wildlife because of poorly
     located, constructed or maintained roads
     *  funding that only provides for adequate maintenance of
     40% of FS roads
     *  importance of evaluating and meeting the needs of rapidly
     growing numbers of recreational users
     *  controversial nature of new road construction, especially
     in "roadless" areas 
     The NRA is posting this Notice because of its importance to
the hunter.  In 1994, the most current year for data, the FS
hosted 16.2 million days of hunting.  When it comes to hunting,
roads can be both a benefit and a detriment.  On the plus side,
roads provide crucial access to hunters of all abilities.  But
roads can also cause crowding for those hunters who want a more
isolated experience and roads can also be detrimental to game
species that need unfragmented or secluded habitat in order to
florish.
     Hunters have an important stake in the outcome of the FS'
transportation policy.  Hunters have long been at the center of
conservation efforts in our country.  Your input is crucial to
shaping the kind of policy that will protect public, including
hunter, access and protect our wildlife resources.  Key questions
that hunters need to answer for the FS are:
     *  What criteria should guide decisions about when, where,
     and how the FS constructs roads?
     *  What criteria should guide FS decisions about which roads
     are no longer needed and should be decommissioned?
     *  What should guide FS' decisions in setting road
     maintenance priorities?
     *  What are some innovative ways for the FS to fund its
     transportation system?  For example, should it be funded
     with increased Congressional appropriations or from funding
     generated by the existing gas tax like other public
     highways?
     The FS is also proposing an 18 month suspension on the
construction of new roads in roadless areas.  That proposal was
also published in the Federal Register for the public to comment. 
The comment period for both proposals closes March 28th.  The
text of both proposals is available from the FS at
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/roads.
     NRA's submitted comments on the roads policy can be found at
http://www.nra.org/ila/fsroads.html.
=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.
This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is
available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org
------------------------------
End of RKBA-ALERT Digest 536
****************************
...          ******** NOTE: THIS IS A FORWARDED MESSAGE ********
--- FMail 1.22
---------------