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National Grasslands need your help



Comment period has been extended until Feb 3.
1. NATIONAL GRASSLANDS MANAGEMENT
Very little wild prairie remains from the vast and rich sea of native
grasses and wildlife that Lewis and Clark encountered 200 years ago on the
Great Plains. Most of what remains can be found on National Grasslands,
administered by the U.S. Forest Service.  Now the Service is reevaluating
how it will manage these grasslands for the next 10-15 years, and has
developed a draft Northern Great Plains Management Plan covering 2.9
million acres of public lands in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and
Nebraska.

While a step in the right direction, even the best "alternative" outlined
in the draft needs improving.  We urge you to contact the Forest Service at
http://www.wilderness.org/grasslands/ and ask them to strengthen the plan.

BACKGROUND
As our nation expanded westward over the last 200 years, prairies were
plowed under, grazed, drilled for oil and gas, and swallowed by urban
sprawl -- dramatically reducing native plant and animal life.

In the draft Grasslands management plan, the Forest Service's recommended
management alternative, Alternative 3, is a good start toward managing our
public grasslands for both people and wildlife.  But all of the proposed
alternatives, even Alternative 4, the most wildlife- and
recreation-friendly alternative, fall far short for protecting wilderness
and endangered and threatened species.

TAKE ACTION
The Management Plan revision process is our best chance to protect wildlife
and conserve the wildlands of our nation's prairie grasslands.  Please
write the Forest Service by January 13 and ask them to *select Alternative
4* in the final plan, but only with the following points to strengthen it:

- WILDERNESS: All remaining roadless grassland areas should be recommended
for Wilderness designation. (Only 574,000 acres remain, about 20% of public
land area and only a tiny fraction of the northern Great Plains region.)

- BIODIVERSITY/ENDANGERED SPECIES: Managing for a full complement of native
species on all National Grasslands, including imperiled and sensitive
species, should be a priority. Prairie dogs and the highly-endangered
black-footed ferrets should be reintroduced wherever feasible.

- BISON: Wild bison should be restored on our National Grasslands, through
reintroductions to complement existing herds on adjacent public lands.

- WILD WATERS: Streams and rivers need better protection.  The Cheyenne
River should be evaluated for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act.

- OIL & GAS: Oil and gas development should be prohibited where it is
incompatible with other uses, such as proposed Wilderness areas.

- GRAZING: Livestock grazing should be better controlled to protect
riparian areas, wetlands, and wildlife habitat.  To this end, one-third of
National Grasslands should be rested from livestock grazing annually to
allow adequate amounts of taller grasses necessary for several wildlife
species.

Please send your comments by January 13th, 2000.  You can send a
pre-written message to the Forest Service from
http://www.wilderness.org/grasslands/, or send your own comments directly
to:

Northern Great Plains Planning Team
125 N. Main St., Chadron, NE 69337
FAX: (308) 432-0309
EMAIL: ngpmail/r2_nebraska@fs.fed.us


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