To: Editorial Board Members From: Tom Fazzini, Press Secretary, USDA Re: Proposed Forest Service Planning Rule Date: February 17, 2011 Last week, the USDA Forest Service unveiled its proposed Planning Rule which would establish a new national framework to develop land management plans for our National Forests that protect water and wildlife and promote vibrant communities. The proposed rule is the result of an open, collaborative rulemaking process that began in December 2009. The rule was published in the Federal Register on Monday, kicking off a 90-day comment period ending May 16. Forest Service land management plans guide management activities on the 155 National Forests and 20 Grasslands in the National Forest System which cover approximately eight percent of our nation’s landmass. National Forests are the source of one-fifth of the nation’s drinking water and together with non-federal forests capture and store enough carbon every year to offset 11 percent of the nation’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, hundreds of millions of Americans visit National Forests and Grasslands annually, with 98 percent of these lands offering free access, and hundreds of communities depend on National Forests to support their local economy. The proposed rule aims to maintain public access to the outdoors and protect these important sources of clean air and water for future generations as well as provide a collaborative and science-based framework for creating land management plans that would support ecological sustainability and contribute to rural job opportunities. The proposed rule includes new provisions to guide forest restoration and resilience, the protection of water resources, habitat protection, sustainable recreation, and management for multiple uses of the National Forest System, including outdoor recreation, grazing, timber, water, wildlife, wilderness, energy, mining, and ecosystem services. The proposed rule would update planning procedures that have been in place since 1982. Since 1982, much has changed in our understanding of science and the land management challenges facing the Forest Service, and in our understanding of how to create and implement effective land management plans. Because planning under the 1982 rule is often time consuming and cumbersome, it has been a challenge for the Forest Service to keep plans current – about half of all plans are currently out of date. Instead of updating plans as conditions on the ground change, National Forests often wait and make changes all at once during the required revision process every 15 years. This can result in a drawn-out, difficult, and costly revision process. Plans in the interim lose much of their utility because they no longer reflect the reality on the ground. The Agency now has an urgent need to establish a stable, modern planning rule that is consistent with the current science and that protects and restores national forests and grasslands for the benefit of forest health, water resources, wildlife and local communities. The proposed rule is the product of the most participatory planning rule development process in Forest Service history. To develop the proposed rule, the Forest Service held over 40 public meetings and roundtables across the country that drew more than 3,000 participants, and hosted a blog to engage the public. Additionally, the Forest Service reviewed more than 26,000 comments on the notice of intent to issue a new planning rule. In keeping with this approach, the proposed rule would strengthen the role of public involvement in the planning process and provide numerous opportunities for meaningful public participation and dialogue. In so doing, the Forest Service hopes to build greater public support for individual forest plans, increase transparency in the planning process, and reduce potential litigation. The proposed rule requires that plans include a number of non-discretionary requirements, but allows local managers to adapt those requirements to the very different circumstances that exist across the nation’s forests and grasslands. For example, unlike the 1982 rule: · The proposed rule would require that the best available scientific information be taken into account and documented. · The proposed rule would require each plan to protect priority watersheds and to protect streamsides, riversides and other riparian areas using the best science. · Under the proposal, plans must provide for forest and watershed restoration and resilience. · The proposed rule would require forest plans to protect both wildlife and plants. Forest plans must protect the ecosystems that support wildlife and plants and provide for special actions to protect endangered, threatened, and candidate species, and species of concern – again, using the best available science. · Under the proposal, plans must also assess and plan for the impacts of climate change. · Plans must take steps to contribute to social and economic stability of local communities. · The proposal would require that plans provide for sustainable recreation. · Under the proposal, assessment and monitoring requirements would inform planning and effective management. Planning would consider the full suite of multiple uses of a plan area, including watershed, wildlife and fish, outdoor recreation, grazing, timber, energy, minerals, wilderness, ecosystem services, and other relevant resources, uses and values. The proposed rule seeks make the process by which plans are developed and amended more efficient and transparent. The proposed framework for the planning process consists of a three-part cycle: assessment, plan revision or amendment, and monitoring. These phases of the planning process are complementary and are intended to allow the Forest Service to adapt land management to changing conditions and to improve plans with more frequent amendments based on new information and monitoring. The proposed rule creates a two-tiered strategy for monitoring at each forest and at a broader, regional scale where appropriate. Monitoring would be a central part of both plan content and the planning process, allowing responsible officials to test assumptions, track changing conditions, measure management implementation and effectiveness in achieving desired outcomes, and feed new information back into the planning cycle so that plans and management can be changed as needed. All of this would be done with public input and participation. Finally, the proposed rule would create a pre-decisional administrative review process to provide individuals and groups with an opportunity to resolve areas of disagreement before final approval of a plan, a plan amendment or a plan revision. Publication of the proposed planning rule in the Federal Register will kick off a 90-day public comment period, ending May 16. The Forest Service will use comments to develop a final rule. To encourage public engagement, the Forest Service is hosting an open forum to discuss the proposed rule on March 10, 2011 in Washington, D.C. The meeting will be Web cast to allow for national participation, and there will be additional public forums held throughout the country. FOR MORE INFORMATION · The proposed rule, information about public forums, and additional background materials can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/planningrule · Press release announcing the proposed rule · Audio and a transcript of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s announcement of the proposed rule · USDA Office of Communications: (202) 720-4623 WHAT THEY’RE SAYING The U.S. Forest Service today publishes a massive planning rule that would help individual national forests tailor their uses to the needs of the day and their specific place while conforming to the law. We urge more public comment over the next 90 days. And we take the Forest Service at its word that it will further tailor its own planning rule to reflect concerns yet to be expressed from communities surrounding our cherished lands. - The Oregonian, Editorial, February 14, 2011 Bart Semcer, the senior representative of the Sierra Club in Washington, said the rule appears to be a “step in the right direction.” “We’re pleased to see that are taking a look at climate change,” Semcer said in a telephone interview. “We’re looking forward to working with the agency to make the rule as strong as possible.” - Bloomberg News, “USDA Forest Rule Aimed at Climate Change, Jobs,” February 10, 2011 Forest Service overseers seem to be "heading in the right direction," said Mike Francis, director of forest programs for the Wilderness Society, a national advocacy group. "We are encouraged." - Denver Post, “New Federal Management Plan Focuses on Forest Health,” February 10, 2011 “We look forward to working with the Forest Service throughout the rulemaking process to make sure our national forests meet the needs of the American people by providing a sustainable supply of wood fiber to support forest products mills and local economies as well as providing for wildlife, recreation and other uses,” said Jan Poling, general counsel and vice president of the American Forest and Paper Association - Helena Independent Record, “New National Forest Plan Unveiled.” February 11, 2011 Nathaniel Lawrence, director of the Forest Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, found "a lot to like" in the document. "It takes a sober view of the need to restore degraded lands and consider the future effect of major processes like climate change," he said. He called the proposal "a stark contrast from repeated efforts in the Bush administration to degrade the planning process." - LA Times, “Obama Administration Proposes New Planning Rule for National Forests,” February 11, 2011 In an e-mail, Michael Goergen, chief executive of the Society of American Foresters, said the proposed rule appears "to give discretion to land managers and requires significant collaboration with stakeholders. SAF has been calling for these elements in planning for decades. For any forest plan to be successful it must be flexible and adaptable." - LA Times, “Obama Administration Proposes New Planning Rule for National Forests,” February 11, 2011 |
