I am writing to express my disappointment with the Forest Service’s draft land management plan for the Gila National Forest. I appreciate the Agency's effort to address the environmental, economic, and social challenges and issues facing the Gila National Forest, but the final forest management plan needs to include additional protections for wilderness, wildlife, water, and the climate.

I encourage you to include all Gila and San Francisco river segments that are being proposed for Wild and Scenic designation by local community members and Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich in your final plan.

I am concerned that the Gila's preferred draft management plan includes only 110,402 acres of recommended new wilderness. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) does not adequately consider a reasonable range of alternatives for recommended Wilderness.

The wild lands within the Gila National Forest support critical habitat for a variety of threatened and endangered species and species of conservation concern. I am concerned that the draft forest plan does not adequately assess ecosystem and species vulnerabilities due to a changing climate and the appropriate mitigation measures.

The Forest Service has embedded a complete herbicide plan in its forest plan DEIS. This proposed plan approves the use of 21 different herbicides across the Forest for use on non-native species and a few native trees such as oak and alligator juniper. A programmatic herbicide plan should not be nested into the draft forest plan. The Forest Service needs to focus on the revised forest plan, and proceed with the herbicide EIS in a separate process after the forest plan comment period has ended.

The Gila is also a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Visitors who come here to engage in these activities spend money at small businesses in nearby communities like Silver City, propping up the region’s growing outdoor economy.

The region also holds tremendous cultural and historical value as the home of the Fort Sill Apache, and also contains evidence of the Mogollon civilization dating back to 9500 BCE.

Robust wilderness designations are the best way to protect these natural, ecological, cultural, and historical resources. Please recommend the most wilderness possible in your final management plan, and analyze the Citizen's Proposal separately from Alternative 5 based on the extensive field work undertaken by citizens who were trained and directed under the guidelines and protocols outlined in Chapter 70 of the planning directives.

Finally, please recognize the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the general population and keep the public comment period open until citizens are able to safely and actively engage in the planning process again.