Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Forest Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fall River County Commission urges faster review of national forest land-use plan, adopts resolution
Summary
The county commission passed a resolution asking federal agencies and South Dakota's congressional delegation to enforce statutory review timelines for the Nebraska National Forest and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands land-use plan and to begin NEPA scoping without further delay.
The Fall River County Commission voted to send a formal resolution to federal officials and South Dakota's congressional delegation asking the Nebraska National Forest to begin a full land-use plan revision immediately and to comply with federal environmental statutes.
The resolution, passed unanimously at the commission meeting, says the Nebraska National Forest has failed to revise its land-use management plan at the statutorily required intervals and requests that members of Congress and the governor use available tools, including budget riders, to ensure compliance.
County officials said the 2001 land-use plan has not been updated on the 15-year schedule required by the National Forest Management Act and that the Forest Service's letter of Jan. 27, 2025, which delays data collection by two to four years, would stretch the revision timeline to nearly 30 years. The draft resolution cites the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act and the National Forest Management Act as authorities it expects the Forest Service to follow.
Commission discussion focused on ecological and wildlife impacts the commissioners said flowed from decades without a full plan update. The resolution cites episodes in which prairie dog population changes and sylvatic plague were linked in county materials to declines in vegetation and to an incidental take of black-footed ferrets. Commissioners said piecemeal amendments and delayed scoping have left large management questions unresolved.
Commission members agreed to send copies to U.S. Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, Representative Dusty Johnson and Governor Kristi Noem and to coordinate with neighboring county commissions on similar language.
The commission chair put the resolution to a voice vote; commissioners present voted aye and the motion carried.
County staff said they will provide the signed resolution to county counsel for distribution to the listed federal and state officials.
