USDA United States

mz;::=; Department of
Agriculture
Ms. Anne L. Weismann
Forest
Service
1400 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 450
Washington, DC 20005
Dear Ms. Weismann:
Washington
Office
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
File Code: 6270
11-1634-R
Date: :JUL 2 8 2011
This is our response to your June 23, 2011 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which
was received by our Washington Office FOIA Service Center on the same date. You requested
copies of all FOIA logs or other compilations ofFOIA requests made to the Forest Service from
January 2010 to the present, including but not limited to the identity of the requester, and the
date and subject of the request. You confirmed your request via a telephone conversation with
FOIA Analyst Latanga Rush on June 24,2011.
In response to your request, an enclosed CD contains an Excel spreadsheet ofFOIA requests
received by the Forest Service between January 1, 2010, and June 24, 2011, including the request
identification number, requester name, requester type, date request was received and request
description. Personal information has been redacted from the enclosed spreadsheet pursuant to
the 6th Exemption to the FOIA. Exemption 6 permits the Government to withhold all
information about individuals in "personnel and medical files and similar files," where the
disclosure of such information "would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy." In determining whether a particular disclosure would constitute an unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy, the Forest Service must balance the public's right to disclosure
against the individuals' right to privacy. We have determined that the release of the names of
unsuccessful applicants, social security numbers, names of third parties and similar information
would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and therefore the information
must be withheld pursuant to Exemption 6 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6).
Pursuant to 7 C.F .R. Subtitle A, Part 1, Subpart A, Appendix A, there is no charge for the
records enclosed as the amount falls below the minimum amount required for the Forest Service
to collect fees.
The FOIA provides you the right to appeal my decision to withhold information pursuant to
FOIA Exemption 6. Any appeal must be made in writing, within 45 days from the date of this
letter, to the Chief, USDA, Forest Service: by email to wo_foia@fs.fed.us, by regular mail to
Mail Stop 1143, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-1143, by Fed Ex or
UPS to 201 14th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-1143, or by fax to (202) 260-3245. The
Caring for the Land and Serving People
~
Printed on Recycled Paper .. ,
Ms. Anne L. Weismann Page2
term "FOIA APPEAL" should be placed in capital letters on the subject line ofthe email or on
the front of the envelope. To facilitate the processing of your appeal, please include a copy of
this letter and/or the FOIA control number assigned to your FOIA request 11-1634-R.
Sincerely,
fv
THELMA J. STRONG
Director, Office of Regulatory and Management Services