LEXINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service will start a series of workshops to get input on the management of Daniel Boone National Forest in the wake of recent fires there.

        “This sets the course of management of the national forest for at least the next 10 or 15 years,” said Kevin Lawrence, a senior planning officer for the forest.

        The workshops begin today. The resulting plan will replace one that went into effect in 1985.

        The Forest Service had wanted to replace the old plan by 1998, but Mr. Lawrence said a number of things got in the way, including lawsuits that shut down most logging in the forest.

        The call for input comes a month after a rash of fires began in eastern Kentucky. The fires have charred more than 173,000 acres of forest.

        The Forest Service wants input on other issues, too, including the amount of logging it should allow and whether it should ban trails for off-highway vehicles.

        The Kentucky Forest-watch Coalition, made up of environmentalists and oth ers, advocates less commercial logging in the forest and is eager to offer its input.

        “The upsetting thing is the Forest Service has let so much time pass that it's going to be hard getting momentum going again,” said Martina Hines, a leader of the coalition.

        Also in line is the Daniel Boone Forest Alliance, made up of hunters, loggers, off-highway vehicle enthusiasts and others who stress the “multiple use” role of national forests.

        The groups won't see quite the same management plan they were ready to consider in the mid-1990s.

        Since then, more restrictions have been put on where off-highway vehicles can be ridden, and, in response to a lawsuit, the Forest Service amended logging policies to better protect endangered species.

        The Forest Service will produce a draft environmental impact statement after the workshops. The service wants to have the statement by next October. Another round of comments will follow and the final product is expected in 2003.

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