Comment sought on winter travel plan

SANDPOINT — The U.S. Forest Service is starting its review of winter travel on national forest lands in the Sandpoint, Priest Lake and Bonners Ferry ranger districts.

The outcome of the review process will be an updated plan for over-snow travel in the three ranger districts. Such travel is regulated through road and trail restrictions and area restrictions depicted on the 2004 visitor map for the Kaniksu National Forest portion of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

The map is available at district ranger offices and the IPNF headquarters in Coeur d'Alene.

The northern part of the IPNF is highly important to a broad and growing population of year-round users. It also is home to an array of wildlife, including some which are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The goal of the plan update is to evaluate the suitability of areas for over-snow travel in a manner which integrates social and economic aspects of winter uses with the needs of wildlife and consideration of other natural resources. The analysis will consider existing laws and regulations, agency policies, existing uses, and road and trail conditions.

The Forest Service recommends people forward their comments to the agency by April 30. The Forest Service suggests people focus their comments on specific uses, areas and concerns.

Send comments to Greg Hetzler, Sandpoint Ranger District, 1500 Highway 2, Suite 110, Sandpoint, ID. 83864. Comments can also be e-mailed in Microsoft Word or RTF format (comments-northern-idpanhandle-sandpoint@fs.fed.us) or faxed (265-6670). They can also be delivered during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. Additional information about the IPNF forest plan can be found on the Web (www.fs.fed.us/r1/ipnf).