The U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Revised Land Management Plan for the Gila National Forest: Deputy Regional Forester Kristin Bail, Reviewing Officer.

Southwestern Regional Forester’s list of species of conservation concern for the Gila National Forest: Associate Deputy Chief Jacqueline Emanuel, Reviewing Officer.

On July 30, 2024, the US Forest Service published a legal notice in the Silver City Daily Press (newspaper of record) initiating a 60-day period to file objections to the revised Land Management Plan and the Regional Forester’s list of species of conservation concern for the Gila National Forest. The revised Land Management Plan, final Environmental Impact Statement, and draft Record of Decision were simultaneously released for public review. The objection filing period ended on September 30, 2024. The Forest Service received approximately 15 eligible objection letters from individuals and organizations. These objections and a list of topics are available for review at: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?Project=51887.

Publication of the notice of objections filed in the Silver City Daily Press initiates a 10-day period during which individuals or organizations with a particular interest in resolution of the objection(s) may request to participate in meetings between the objector(s) and the Forest Service, as an interested person (36 CFR 219.57). The purpose of this opportunity is to better assure that efforts to resolve objections are conducted in an open and collaborative forum. Interested persons must have provided substantive formal comments during an opportunity for public participation provided during the planning process as provided in 36 CFR 219 Subpart A. Substantive comments are within the scope of the proposal, are specific to the proposal, have a direct relationship to the proposal, and include supporting reasons for the responsible official to consider (36 CFR 219.62). Documents and information on how to submit an interested person request can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=51887 and electronic submissions via this project webpage are preferred.