30-day period to comment on Capitol Christmas Tree Project

RBC I The White River National Forest, Blanco Ranger has provided legal notice of a 30-day comment period for a Decision Memo for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree project.
The proposed action involves selecting and harvesting one tree that will travel to Washington D.C. to decorate the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol in December 2012. The tree is expected to be between 60 and 70 feet tall, and could be any of the following species: Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, lodgepole pine or blue spruce. The tree needs to be found near a main National Forest System Road, because it will involve the use of two large cranes to remove the tree, as well as a large semi-truck to transport the tree. All efforts will be made to select a tree in an area that requires minimal ground disturbance to allow equipment to access the tree. There could be a minor amount of ground leveling or other tree removal to successfully and safely remove the Capitol tree. Any ground disturbance will be fully reclaimed and seeded, and the area will be returned to its natural state. The Capitol tree would not be removed from any designated Wilderness or Roadless areas.
The proposed action description and other information are available for review at the Blanco Ranger District, 220 E. Market Street, Meeker, CO 81641. Additional information regarding this action can be obtained from: Natasha Goedert, 220 E. Market Street, Meeker, CO 970-878-6006, [email protected]
Written, facsimile, hand-delivered, oral and electronic comments concerning this action will be accepted for 30
calendar days following the publication of the legal notice in this issue of the Rio Blanco
Herald Times. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period for this analysis. Those wishing to comment should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. The regulations prohibit extending the length of the comment period. It is the responsibility of persons providing comments to submit them by the close of the comment period.
Written comments must be submitted to: Ken Coffin, District Ranger, Blanco Ranger District, 220 E. Market Street, Meeker, CO 81641, Fax – 970-878-5173. The office business hours for those submitting hand-delivered comments are: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Persons commenting should include: 1) name, address, telephone number, organization represented, if any; 2) title of project for which the comment is being submitted; and 3) specific facts and supporting reasons for the responsible official to consider.