Wyoming Stock Growers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna says he hopes to bring some common sense to the new planning rule that will guide the U-S Forest Service. Magagna is among 21 people who will serve on a national advisory committee on how to best develop and implement a planning rule.
Magagna says he wants to raise issues important to forest users in the West and not just issues concerning those involved with livestock and grazing.
“Opportunities for the timber industry and we all know how badly some of these areas need to be harvested in a sustainable way. And for recreation, I mean the thing I’m going to be vigilant toward is too much restriction."
Magagna especially opposes a federal decision on what types of areas will be declared roadless or off limits. He wants to push to allow local
superintendents to have a say over what’s best for the forest in a particular area of the country.
“I relish the days when you could get out with managers and have disagreements, have discussions, and at the end of the day come up with something that works for everyone. And it didn’t require some kind of a special designation, this is a wilderness, this is a roadless area, this is an area of environmental concern.”
He says such discussions usually lead to compromises on both sides, but a strict planning rule would not allow for those types of things. Magana will be part of a 21
-member advisory committee, and he was chosen to represent private landowners and grazing.
