BSFNRRA Annouces Public Scoping for the Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment

Date: August 25, 2011
Contact: Howard Duncan, 423-569-9778

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (NRRA) announces the opening of public scoping for the Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment (EA). The scoping period will begin August 16, 2011, and extend through September 15, 2011. Comments will be used to assist the park in developing and evaluating feasible alternatives and analyzing the environmental consequences of each alternative.
Big South Fork NRRA proposes to update and improve the current Fire Management Plan to ensure compliance with recent changes to National Park Service (NPS) fire management guidance. Fire management policy has evolved since the last Fire Management Plan EA was prepared. The purpose of this planning effort is to effectively manage fire to accomplish the following goals:

• Protect human life, communities, and resources from the adverse effects of wildfire without compromising safety
• Use fire in a manner that maintains a healthy and sustainable ecosystem
• Use prescribed fire as a tool to manage vegetation within Big South Fork NRRA boundaries, and where acceptable, across NPS boundaries to attain resource management objectives
• Integrate fire as a natural process into the park's ecosystem to the fullest extent possible
• Reduce the frequency of unplanned human-caused ignitions by implementing an aggressive fire prevention program
• Promote public understanding of fire management programs and objectives
• Manage prescribed and wildland fires in concert with federal, state, and local air quality regulations to protect the air quality of the local and adjacent air sheds

The public scoping period for this EA will open on August 16, 2011, and will extend through September 15, 2011. Written comments should be postmarked no later than September 15, 2011. Comments may be submitted by mail, fax, email, or through the
Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) commenting system. Comments may be submitted by the following means:

Mail:
Superintendent
Attn: Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
4564 Leatherwood Road
Oneida, Tennessee 37841

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

eMail: [e-mail]

Visit us online at: PEPC (Planning, Environment, and Public Comment).
Access the site at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/biso