April 2013 - Village At Wolf Creek EIS Update...

I had the opportunity to see Mike Blakeman while attending the Bark Beetle Workshop in Durango, he explained to me where the EIS process for the Wolf Creek Village was at and about the next steps in this process.  

It's fairly complicated and I asked if he might be able to send me an email outlining what he'd told me.  
Mr. Blakeman went me one better and had a Forest Service wildlife biologist do a detailed write-up.

Below I include Mike's cover letter along with the write-up.

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Hi Peter, Below is a detailed write-up about the BA/BO process written by our wildlife biologist. People would never get to read such a thorough explanation in mainstream media, so feel free to post it on your blog if you feel it would be beneficial.  

To summarize the targeted timeline (something could always impact this): Biological Assessment completed on May 1. Fish and Wildlife Service reviews the Biological Assessment (BA) (90 days) and then completes a Biological Opinion (BO) (45 days), which puts us at about mid-September. The land exchange Final (Wolf Creek Village) Environmental Impact Statement and record of decision would most likely come out sometime in the autumn or early winter. 

A citizen's review of the "San Juan Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop"

I was able to attend the 
"San Juan Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop"
highlighted in my previous post.  It was a cooperative effort between 
the Western Water Assessment (WWA), 
the Mountain Studies Institute (MSI), 
the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership, and 
the U.S. Forest Service 
for "exploring the water-related impacts of bark beetle infestations in the San Juans and the Rocky Mountain West."

The goals were:

• Share key findings and uncertainties from beetle-water research in Colorado and elsewhere in the West, and describe ongoing studies
• Seek input from resource managers on the Western Slope about their water/watershed concerns and information needs related to ongoing beetle infestations, particularly the spruce beetle infestation
• Help connect decision-makers with researchers and information resources

"San Juan Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop" 

http://wwa.colorado.edu/events/workshops/beetle-water-Durango.html 

http://wwa.colorado.edu/resources/beetle/index.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/bark-beetles.shtml 

http://mountainstudies.org 

The workshop was tailored for land managers and other professionals, but the public was invited and a few of us showed up to learn about what scientists were saying regarding the bark beetle epidemic raging throughout the Rocky Mountains... and in fact, throughout mountain forests everywhere.