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The U.S. Forest Service has dismissed out of hand a slew of objections to its latest Fossil Creek Management Plan filed in December by a coalition of environmental groups.
The environmental groups objected to a plan to allow visitation during the warmer months to continue at existing levels â as well as a long-term plan to perhaps reopen the road between Strawberry and the stream to off-road vehicles.
However, Deputy Regional Forester Sandra Watts in a 13-page letter to Sierra Club chapter president Gary Beverly dismissed each of the objections.
Watts insisted that recreation is now just as important as the creekâs other âoutstandingly remarkable values,â including the unique geochemistry of the spring, the refuge for native fish, the scenic qualities and the cultural sites and spiritual importance of the creek to the Apache.