General Comments

Comment:

Section 251.54(h)(1)(vi) of the proposed rule required an authorized officer to determine that a proposed activity did not involve military or paramilitary training or exercises by private organizations or individuals unless such training or exercises were federally funded.

Eight respondents commented on this provision. One respondent stated that if this type of military or paramilitary activity is already prohibited, then it does not have to be prohibited again. One respondent commented that this provision is a general prohibition with no bearing on the regulation of time, place, or manner.

Two respondents stated that the federal government should not exempt itself from its own regulations. One of these respondents stated that this provision gives official military activities a preemptive or exclusive right of access to the national forests. Three respondents commented that there should be no military or paramilitary training on national forests. One of these respondents stated that this provision authorizes exercises by police S.W.A.T. units and by the Drug Enforcement Administration and training of counterinsurgents for political terrorism. Another stated that the Forest Service could deny a permit for government troops to train in the national forests.

One respondent commented that this provision is too vague and broad and could be used to bar such paramilitary groups as football teams, the Salvation Army, Rainbow Hug Patrols, or the Boy Scouts of America or to bar such activities as aikido, tai chi, or nonviolence training for civil disobedience.


Response

The Forest Service Manual prohibits non-federally funded military or paramilitary training or exercises by private organizations or individuals because this type of use is often potentially damaging to forest resources and may endanger other users of National Forest System lands.

The agency authorizes military or paramilitary training or exercises by governmental entities and federally funded military or paramilitary training or exercises by private organizations or individuals because when conducted under such auspices, this type of use is justified for national security purposes and is not as dangerous to other users of National Forest System lands.

Section 251.54(h)(1)(vii) of the final rule incorporates longstanding agency policy and gives it the force and effect of law. Section 251.54(h)(1)(vii) of the final rule provides the frameworknecessary for applying this policy to noncommercial group uses.

The rule does not apply to official U.S. military activities, nor does it grant a preemptive or exclusive right of access for paramilitary uses of the national forests. Under Sec. 251.54(f)(5) of the final rule, applications will be processed in order of receipt, and the use of a particular area will be allocated in order of receipt of fully executed applications, subject to any relevant limitations in Sec. 251.54.

The Department believes that this is a narrowly tailored restriction that has no bearing on the content of expressive activity. ``Military'' means ``of, relating to, or typical of soldiers or the armed forces,'' ``performed or supported by the armed forces,'' or ``of or relating to war.'' Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary 752 (1984). ``Paramilitary'' means ``of, pertaining to, or designating forces organized after a military pattern, esp. as a potential auxiliary military force.'' Id. at 852. The Department believes that the terms ``military'' and ``paramilitary'' do not apply to groups such as football teams, the Salvation Army, Rainbow Hug Patrols, or the Boy Scouts of America, or to activities such as aikido, tai chi, or nonviolence training for civil disobedience, nor does the Department intend to apply these terms to these types of groups or activities for purposes of Sec. 251.54(h)(1)(vii) of the final rule. Under current policy, for example, adventure games (sometimes called survival or war games) are not considered military or paramilitary activities and may be authorized [FSM 2724.31].

Having considered the comments received, the Department has retained without substantive change in the final rule Sec. 251.54(h)(1)(vi) from the proposed rule.

Section 251.54(h)(1)(vii)

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