The Dolores Ranger District is seeking public input and ideas regarding a vegetation management proposal for an area 20 miles northeast of Dolores around Taylor and Stoner mesas.

The national forest project will be designed to increase the health and resilience of spruce, fir and aspen forests, increase the percentage of young aspen stands to improve diversity, and to support the timber industry. These goals could be accomplished through a commercial timber sale, stewardship project, or mechanical and hand thinning. Slash piles may be burned, but area-wide prescribed burning is not proposed. In aspen stands, 33 units are proposed for treatment, ranging in size from about seven to 40 acres and totaling about 900 acres. In spruce and fir stands, 26 treatment units are proposed, ranging in size from 31 to 252 acres and totaling approximately 2,500 acres.

Public comments on the scope of issues to be studied in the analysis for the project will be accepted until Thursday, July 14, and will become part of the public record. Project proposals and maps can be obtained from the Dolores Public Lands Office, 29211 Colorado 184 or by visiting the project webpage at http://1.usa.gov/1tmyDTB.

An electronic comment form is also available on the website.

For more information, contact David Casey, timber staff officer, at 970-882-7296 or email djcasey@fs.fed.us