A Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Tahoe National Forest Travel Management process will be available for review and comment beginning today through April 12. This SDEIS builds on and updates the previous Draft EIS released for public comment in 2008.

Based on public comment which questioned the status of some of the roads and trails in the 2008 DEIS, the Forest Service reviewed older project decision documents for the past 15 years and the Rights-of-Way Atlas to verify road and trail status information. This review corrected some errors found in the various data bases including the number of miles of roads and trails in the existing National Forest Transportation System (NFTS) for the Forest. Because of this new data the Forest Service decided to issue a Supplemental DEIS so the public could review it as well as some additional changes made to the preferred alternative based on public suggestions.

Three open houses will be conducted to explain the data changes and how that affects the alternatives. These open houses will be drop-in style meetings with the opportunity to view displays and maps and talk individually to members of the interdisciplinary team. The open houses are scheduled from 3:30-7:30 pm at the following locations:

March 2 – Sierraville Ranger Station, Sierraville – in the conference room

March 4 – The Ridge Golf Club – 2020 Golf Course Road, Auburn

March 10 – Tahoe National Forest Headquarters – 631 Coyote St., Nevada City – use upper parking lot.

The SDEIS will address the following decisions:

• The prohibition of cross country travel off designated NFTS roads, trails and open areas

• The addition of unauthorized motorized routes to the National Forest Transportation System

• The establishment of motorized “Open Areas”

• Changes to the National Forest Transportation System of roads and trails

• Changes to the class of vehicle allowed on NFTS roads and/or trails

• Seasons of use to minimize wet weather erosion and water quality concerns

• Reopening of Maintenance Level 1 roads (those that had been closed) for public use.

Public comments need to be postmarked by April 12. Comments can be sent to the: Tahoe National Forest, Travel Management Team, 631 Coyote St., Nevada City, CA 95959 or via email to tnf_rte_desig@fs.fed.us .

For more information, the full DEIS is available here. For additional information, all (530) 265.4531.