Correspondence on Bonneville Unit of Central Utah Project

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meet the needs of the people, we believe a balanced land management program is needed in the interest of society. It is for this reason that we have been evaluating the comments and ideas provided by the public, without considering only the pressures of special interests. Considerable information is currently available for the inventoried roadless areas. The areas have been visited and used over the years by the land managers, back country enthusiasts, wildlife management professionals, geologists, ecologists, and other scientists. These people have a considerable fund of knowledge about the areas. A basic purpose of the involvement process is to consolidate as much infor­mation as possible about these areas as a basis for making decisions on whether further study is warranted. Such determination is neces­sarily based on less detailed data than required for formal classification, The main reason for moving ahead now with the review process is very basic. There is urgent need to provide continued strong protection from any activity which would Jeopardize Wilderness values for those areas which deserve further study during the next decade. This does not mean that every area left off the list of study candidates will be immediately subject to development activities. Before any activity is undertaken on National Forest lands, the multiple use planning process is followed to assure that all resource values are considered in making management decisions. Public involvement is an important part of the decisionmaking process on all land areas. We appreciate your concern that time has been limited for examining conditions on the ground and for stating your views at public meetings. There is, however, no intent to preclude further expressions on the subject of roadless areas. The Chief of the Forest Service will review the information collected thus far and will propose a list of areas for further study as Wilderness. Publication of this list will be on or about January 1, 1973. At that time, he will again encourage interested persons such as yourself to review and comment on these proposals. A final list of New Wilderness Study Areas will be announced sometime in the spring next year. Each New Wilderness Study Area will be managed to exclude any activity which would depreciate its potential value as Wilderness until it is fully studied. Studies of the selected areas are expected to be completed by 198U. The Forest Service sincerely believes the review process now under­way and the time schedule set for its completion will best serve the public interest in the long run. For this reason, everyone concerned is urged to become involved to the fullest extent possible. Sincerely, VERN HAJMRE ' Regional Forester