A pair of public meetings outlining the next steps of the plan revision process for the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 in Franklin and Asheville, respectively. 

Currently, the U.S. Forest Service is working to identify lands to be recommended for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System and to identify rivers that should be included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 

Information about how the Forest Service proposes to evaluate wilderness and wild and scenic rivers is now online, with feedback from the public requested on these draft evaluation questions, as well as on information about the specific lands and rivers that might inform the evaluations. 

The purpose of the meetings is to go over the evaluation information, provide a general update about the forest plan evaluation process, give the public a chance to talk with Forest Service employees and discuss how best to provide feedback. The content of the two meetings will be the same. 

• 6-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at Tartan Hall on 26 Church Street in Franklin

• 6-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, in the Mountain View Room of Kimmel Arena at University of North Carolina Asheville

Once completed, the forest management plan will guide land use and management decisions in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests for the next two decades, impacting everything from recreation to habitat restoration to logging restrictions. The last management plan was completed in 1987, with major amendments added in 1994. 

The Forest Service is expected to release information about its proposed alternatives for how to manage the forests in early 2016, with public input requested leading up the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement in spring 2016. The Draft EIS will go through a 90-day formal comment period before being revisited to develop a final version, to be issued in fall 2017.

Information regarding this next step is online at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ nfsnc/nprevision.