Forest Service Grants Cantwell's Request for More Listening Sessions

Press Release

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) today announced that the U.S. Forest Service has agreed to hold additional listening sessions on the proposed Northwest Forest Plan, including some regions explicitly requested by Sen. Cantwell.

Last month, the senator expressed concern to the U.S. Forest Service regarding the limited number of listening sessions being held in Washington state on the agency's proposed Northwest Forest Plan revision. In a letter addressed to United States Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Robert Bonnie, Sen. Cantwell requested additional listening sessions in areas near the impacted National Forests, including Port Angeles, Aberdeen, Montesano, Mount Vernon or Darrington. The Forest Service recently agreed to her request and will hold sessions in Mount Vernon, Issaquah and Olympia, as well as to-be-announced sessions near the Gifford Pinchot and the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests.

"I am pleased that the communities directly affected by the agency's decisions will have a chance to have their voices heard," said Sen. Cantwell, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. "The previous plan would have posed a hardship on the residents who live and work far from Seattle and limits their right to public comment as citizens. This is important in making sure the Forest Service is responsive to public concerns."

The current Northwest Forest Plan provides a framework and rules for how several of the National Forests in the Pacific Northwest are governed. The Forest Service is soliciting comments on how to revise or reshape that plan.

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