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r ~J 01) 3 e J - I'. -0 INTRODUCTION ThiS Amended Draft Environmental Statement has been prepared in accordance with Section 102 (2)(c) of P.L. 91-190. The Land Management Plan for the East River Unit will be the basic document guiding Forest Service resource management activities on National Forest System lands in the East River drainage. It includes consideration of the guidelines set forth in the interim direction in FS:l 8200 issued to implement the National Forest Management Act (P.l. 94-588) and is determined to be consistent with those guidelines. A. Proposed Action The Forest Service proposes to inplement a revised land management plan for the 179,027 acres of National Forest System lands in t~e East Rfver Unit. The Unit lies entirely within Gunnison County. The proposed land management plan wfll allocate resources on National Forest System lands within the East River Planning Unit for specific land uses in response to identified public needs. desires, and 1ssues. It gives direction and coordinating requirements for managing those land uses. The management plan will supersede t~e management direction as expressed in the Taylor River District Multiple Use Plan as it relates to the National Forest System lands within the East River Unit. The thrust of the ?lan is to give direction for managing the resources to provide ~oods and services in a balanced program which protects the environment w~ile maintaining or enhancing recreation opportunities. wild- life habitat and scenery values. The plan contains management sideboards ~ithin which specific projects must fit. The plan makes land use allocations where various land uses are suitable. capable, and compatible with other uses within the context of National, Regional and local goals and needs of the people. The Forest Service is guided by the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act of 1360. the National Environmental Policy Act of 19fi9. tf1e National Forest Management Act of 1976, and by other legislative and executive directives. The proposed plan is designed to meet that direction by using a systematic interdisciplinary planning and analysis approach. The approach considers environmental values as well as social and economic values. The process explores alternatives and uses a public 1nvolvement program in developing land management decisions. B. General Direction and Goals 1. National Direction laws of Congress. Executive Orders from the President, and court interpretations have all combined to give the Forest Service overall direction. The direction was consolidated into a Forest Service Statement of Policy fssued in 1970 in the "Framework for the Future". The document contains ~ajor o5jective statements which are guirling long-term planning efforts for which more specific goals. objectives and pro~rams can be designed and implemented. Specific objectives for the East River Unit will be developed within this national framework. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (RPA) directed the Forest Service to develop both a Renewable Resource Assessment for the nation and a Recommended Renewable Resource PrOQram for National Forest System lands and programs. These two documents. made available to the public on f1arch 2,1976, contained national direction and goals for each of the major resource elements. The President1s Water Resources Council, in Septenber 1973, established criteria which were adopted by the Forest Service for Wild and Scenic River Studies and Wilderness Studies. Enhance the quality of the environment by the management, conservation, preservation. creation, restoration, or improvement of the quality of certain natural and cultural resources and ecological systems. Enhance the national economic development by increasing the value of the nation's output of goods and services and improving national economic efficiency. The Secretary of Agriculture, in a l"1e'11O da.ted June 21, 1976, advised dgencies in the Oepartment to: Whenever possible. land use decisions should be avoided which irrevocably commit private lands to non-farmland, non~range, and non-forest land uses. thereby foreclos- ing the options of future Denerations. 2