The Healthy Forest Alternative

to the Phase II Forest Plan Amendment

Welcome!

We at the Black Hills Forest Resource Association, in cooperation with the Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coalition, are happy to bring you the draft Healthy Forest Alternative to the Black Hills National Forest's "Phase II" Amendment.  We're very excited about our new Alternative to Phase II, and we believe it is a needed change to the long-term management direction on the Black Hills National Forest.  We're glad you stopped by to have a look at it, too. 

We have submitted the final version of the Healthy Forest Alternative to the Forest Service, per the comment deadline of January 14, 2005.  Here, you'll find access to several different things pertaining to the Healthy Forest Alternative.  The first is summarized background information on what the Phase II Amendment is, what a Forest Plan is, and why the Healthy Forest Alternative is needed.  The second is a slide presentation which givens an overveiw of the context, concept and some details of our proposal, with good pictures and other visual aids, in Adobe PDF format.  Third, is an executive summary of the Healthy Forest Alternative and our supporting Comments Document on the Phase II Draft EIS, also in PDF format.  There were two companion documents submitted to the Forest Service: The Healthy Forest Alternative, and the Comments Document.  You may download both of these documents in their entirety here, also in PDF format.  In essence, the Healthy Forest Alternative document lays out the strategy we propose and the justification and reasoning used in its formulation.  The Comments Document is a substantive analysis and critique of important elements of the Forest Service's Draft Phase II Amendment, as well as information and analysis substantiating the Healthy Forest Alternative.  If you have any questions about anything on this page, feel free to contact us via e-mail at bhfra@yahoo.com or call us at our office (605) 341-0875. 

What would you like to do?

Get background on Phase II and the Healthy Forest Alternative

Download the slide presentation and overview of the Healthy Forest Alternative (when you open this file, the slides will appear rotated 90 degrees.  your Adobe Acrobat Reader has a tool that will rotate the slides so they're right-side up.  we apologize for the inconvenience)

Download an Executive Summary of the Healthy Forest Alternative and Comments

Download the Healthy Forest Alternative in its entirety

Download the supporting Comments Document in its entirety

Please be patient while the files download, as some of them are rather large. 

You'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view these documents.  If you don't have it, or need to update the version on your computer, go to the Adobe website.  The Acrobat Reader software is free to everyone.

We, above all, encourage you to get involved in the decision-making process on the Phase II Amendment.  While the deadline for submitting comments to the Forest Service has closed, we still encourage you to contact your representatives in national, state, and local government, and encourage them to support the Healthy Forest Alternative.  Also, the person responsible for making the final decision on the Phase II Amendment is Rick Cables, Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region.  We encourage you to send a letter to Mr. Cables; his address is:

Mr. Rick Cables

Regional Forester, USFS Rocky Mt. Region

P.O. Box 25127

Lakewood, CO 80225-0127  

We hope you'll ask that the Forest Service to adopt the Healthy Forest Alternative in their final decision on the Phase II Amendment.  We believe the Healthy Forest Alternative is a more sustainable way of managing the Black Hills than Alternative 6 or any of the other alternatives proposed to date.  The protections it affords from mountain pine beetles and catastrophic wildfires, both for at-risk communities and for the forest as a whole, are significant improvements over any other alternative.  Wildlife species viability is much better assured, and many other aspects of important habitat are  emphasized as well.   The economic base of our local economies, including recreation, tourism, timber, and livestock grazing will be protected and maintained.  In short, the Healthy Forest Alternative is a better way of managing the forest, for all its many multiple-uses.