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5 

 provisions of section 322(c) at this time. 



Appeals Under Section 217 and 251 



I would like to review briefly operations under the other appeals 

 processes, section 217 for forest plans and regional guides and 

 section 251 for permits and authorizations. 



Deciding appeals on forest plans and regional guides, other than 

 non- significant forest plan amendments covered under section 215, 

 creates a substantial workload. This is not surprising given the 

 broad scope of these documents and the controversy inherent in 

 the management of National Forests and Grasslands. We have made 

 substantial progress in eliminating the backlog of appeals. At 

 the end of fiscal year 1995, 115 appeals were pending. As of 

 June 10, we have reduced this number to 15, and we expect to see 

 further reductions in the backlog by year's end. Certainly we 

 are working to handle forest plan appeals as efficiently as 

 possible. But we also recognize that operation of any appeals 

 process that truly gives the public a voice in deciding how our 

 national forests are to be managed will necessarily require a 

 high commitment of time and resources. We are not considering 

 changes to section 217 regulations at this time. 



Appeals of permits and authorizations under section 251 are 

 materially different from project and forest plan appeals. These 

 appeals relate to Forest Service decisions on permits and 



