We have less than a week to submit comments on the Wayne National Forest’s Draft Assessment documents prepared as part of its planning process for a new Forest Plan. Comments are due March 23.

Please tell the Wayne to listen to public concern, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and to take the “hard look” required by NEPA at the environmental impacts of its management decisions. The Wayne’s prioritizing of logging, burning, and fracking, as spelled out in their Draft Assessment, is bad for climate, as well as for old forest biodiversity, air and water. Read a set of comments here. They incorporate language from last week’s U.S. District Court Opinion and Order in Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. U.S. Forest Service et al., which vindicate our efforts and broken-record appeals to the Wayne to use science and listen to the public as NEPA demands, especially of controversial environmental issues. The Court slams the Wayne for flimsy science and building one review on one after another equally flimsy one, like a house of cards.  Link to Court order at the Center’s press release on this win: biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/court-stalls-fracking-leases-in-ohios-onlynational-forest-2020-03-13/

Don’t feel obligated to make your comments long or fancy. Just tell the Wayne how you feel about our Forest and their management of it and that you want to be involved in the planning process and have your concerns HEARD and acknowledged.  Submit your comment here: cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?Project=53485

Ask to be added to the Wayne’s e-mail list to receive notice of future  Wayne actions and opportunities to be involved: public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFS/subscriber/new?topic_id=NEPA_453723_S

Please write to acfanohio [AT] gmail.com if you’d like to be added to our e-mail list. See acfan.org’s Wayne page for more information.

Thank you for raising your voice for our Forest, our climate, and our community!Maybe they’ll listen to the beings of the Forest better than they listen to us? Check out our VIDEO from this event now on ACFAN’s video page.