Santa Fe Project comments submitted by organizations
WildEarth Guardians
& Defenders of Wildlife
… Thinning is a massive disturbance, even hand-thinning, but especially mechanical thinning. With our forest in a generally dry and fragile condition, care and restraint is the best and safest policy, and the Santa Fe Conservation Alternative is designed to be light-handed and targeted to the specific limited areas that would protect valued resources from the effects of fire, and that would reduce tree density in very dense stands of trees. …
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Sierra Club
… The [Project] has been presented to the public through public forums, county commission hearings, and face-to-face meetings with many conservation organizations and concerned landowners who live in Santa Fe County. The residents who have spoken in opposition to the project represent thousands of our organizations’ local members, deeply concerned about the [Project] and its potential impact on Santa Fe’s forest, watershed, wildlife habitat, recreational values, landmark appearance, and wildfire risk. …
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New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
… NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] prohibits an agency from being “predecisional.” In other words, NEPA requires that federal agencies take a “hard look” at the issues presented, the public’s interest, the best available science, and the potential environmental impacts of various alternatives, and to actually weigh that evidence when making a decision. …
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Forest Stewards Guild
… The Forest Stewards Guild supports the proposed use of thinning and prescribed fire in [the Project] to protect important ecological and human values from increased wildfire and drought associated with climate change and a legacy of fire suppression …
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Santa Fe Forest Coalition
… Please accept these comments on behalf of the Santa Fe Forest Coalition, Wild Watershed and the nearly 500 citizens who signed the attached online and paper petitions requesting that all activities halt in the 107,000 acre Greater Santa Fe Fireshed until an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is prepared. …
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Center for Biological Diversity
… General Technical Report 310 (Reynolds et al. 2013125) is cited as a primary source for formulating desired conditions for the [Project]. We have considerable concerns with GTR-310 because it generalizes desired conditions for the entire southwest region based off of reference site studies that were predominantly completed around Flagstaff. …
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The Wilderness Society
… The Wilderness Society is generally supportive of the [Project] as currently envisioned, we have a few concerns that should be addressed in the environmental analysis and decision-making process. … we are concerned with the scoping document’s complete lack of discussion of areas with moderate or high wilderness characteristics. …
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Alliance for Wild Ethics
… why is this being rushed through, without even the research for a careful Environmental Impact Statement, when it will profoundly affect our lives, the culture of our city, and the integrity of our wildlands? To me it seems a travesty, and along with many I will stand strong against it. …
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Trout Unlimited
… Trout Unlimited appreciates your efforts to responsibly analyze, plan, and implement the restoration of frequent fire adapted ecosystems. Restoration that is anchored in science and reintroduces low to moderate intensity fire is severely needed in this landscape to avoid the potentially devastating effects on forests, wildlife, fish, and water resources. We are confident that the environmental assessment will adequately assess the proposed actions and recognize a thorough assessment as a necessary step in building public trust in this project. …
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Cleveland National Forest Foundation
& Save Our Forest and Ranchlands
… As the Project is one of the largest vegetation clearing projects ever proposed in the Santa Fe National Forest and will have impacts upon the surrounding natural and human environment, [we] are requesting that the Santa Fe National Forest … comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) by preparing an EIS. …
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Native Plant Society of New Mexico
… [We] would like to express our support for the component activities of thinning, controlled burning, riparian restoration, and road improvements and closures, in support of forest resliency. We are also pleased to learn that this project results from cooperative interagency planning by the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition.
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Dr. Dominick DellaSala, ConscientiouScience
For Santa Fe Forest Coalition
… In general, the [Project] will not achieve its stated intent to protect communities from wildfire, is based on faulty fire reconstruction sampling resulting in over-reliance on inappropriate levels of thinning and road improvements, will harm important wildlife habitat and water quality, and may elevate fire risks from increased road access. For these reasons, I am requesting that the Santa Fe National Forest publish a full environmental impact statement pursuant to NEPA. …
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Sangre de Cristo Audubon Society
… we are concerned about nesting birds … we are concerned with the possibility of soil compaction… we are concerned that the slash resulting from the thinning my remain on the ground for long periods of time prior to burning. Large quantities of green slash are likely to attract bark beetles, particularly in case of drought. This will lead to increased and unnecessary mortality in the remaining trees. … We look forward to a greater recognition of wildlife habitat needs and to working with you to achieve healthy ecosystems and a viable local economy.
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The Forest Advocate
Santa Fe, New Mexico