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Eddy Gulch LSR Project Background

In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Health Forests Initiative and Health Forests Restoration Act into law. The HFI was launched with the intent to reduce the risks posed by severe wildfires to people, communities and the environment. By protecting forests, woodlands, shrublands and grasslands from unnaturally intensive and destructive wildfires, the HFI is intended to help improve the condition of public lands, increase firefighter safety and preserve the existing landscape.

The HFI accomplishes its goals through administrative reforms and legislative action. The legislative action is the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA). The goal of t he HFRA is to reduce the threat of destructive wildfires while upholding environmental standards and encouraging early public input during the planning and review processes.

The HFRA contants a variety of provisions to speed the reduction of hazardous fuels and forest restoration projects on federal lands at risk of wildland fire and/or insect and disease epidemics. In addition, the HFRA helps states, tribes, rural communities and landowners restore healthy forest and rangeland conditions on state, federal, tribal and private lands. All this led to the Eddy Gulch LSR Project.

The Scott -Salmon River Ranger District of the Klamath National Forest has initiated the planning and environmental analysis process for the proposed Eddy Gulch Late-Successional Reserve Fuels / Habitat Protection Project (“Eddy Gulch LSR Project”). The Forest Service is working with a contractor to develop a Proposed Action and prepare the environmental impact statement and Record of Decision for the Eddy Gulch LSR Project.

The contractor is RED, Inc. Communications, headquartered in Idaho Falls, Idaho. RED, Inc.'s Interdisciplinary Team of specialists will analyze project effects on the natural and social resources associated with the proposed project, with emphasis on wildlife habitat and the fire risk in the area. The Forest Service and RED, Inc. are very excited about this project and the citizen, tribal, and agency collaboration, which is an integral part of the planning and analysis process.

Please check this website often for new information, such as fact sheets and newsletters, and for updates on the collaboration process, scoping activities, the analysis process, and project schedule. 

Thank you for your interest in the Eddy Gulch LSR Project.