The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a proposed rule Thursday to establish a national framework to develop land management plans to protect 155 National Forests across the country and fight climate change while also creating jobs.
The USDA Forest Planning Rule provides new provisions to guide forest and watershed restoration and resilience, habitat protection, sustainable recreation, and management for multiple uses of the National Forest System, including timber. Specifically, forest managers will be required to integrate multiple forest uses, including outdoor recreation, range, water, wildlife, wilderness, timber, energy, mining, and ecosystem services.
"This proposed planning rule seeks to conserve our forests for the benefit of water, wildlife, recreation and the economic vitality of our rural communities," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The proposed rule will provide the tools to the Forest Service to make our forests more resilient to many threats, including pests, catastrophic fire and climate change."
The USDA intends to make formation of the final rule a collaborative process. It is currently seeking public comments on the proposed rule, which can be made here. On March 10 it will hold an open forum in Washington, D.C., and developments in the crafting the rule can be followed at the USDA Forest Planning Rule blog.
A timeline for creating the rule can be viewed here.
Mary Wagner, USDA Forest Service associate chief forester, delivered this overview of the proposed rule.
