The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced its final planning rule for the country's 193 million acres under the National Forest System, bolstering protections for trees, water and wildlife, and requiring that the best available scientific information be used in decision making. The updated planning rule replaces a rule set in 1982, and it allows for individual management plans for 155 national forests and grasslands across the country.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced its final planning rule for the country's 193 million acres under the National Forest System, bolstering protections for trees, water and wildlife, and requiring that the best available scientific information be used in decision making. The updated planning rule replaces a rule set in 1982, and it allows for individual management plans for 155 national forests and grasslands across the country.
"This new rule provides the framework we need to restore and manage our forests and watersheds while getting work done on the ground and providing jobs," said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The collaboration that drove this rulemaking effort exemplifies the America's Great Outdoors initiative to foster conservation that is designed by and accomplished in partnership with the American people."
Land management plans under the final rule will include:
- Mandatory components to restore and maintain forests and grasslands.
- Requirements to provide habitat for plant and animal diversity and species conservation, intended to keep common native species, contribute to the recovery of threatened and endangered species, conserve proposed and candidate species, and protect species of conservation concern.
- Requirements to maintain or restore watersheds, water resources, water quality including clean drinking water, and the ecological integrity of riparian areas.
- Requirements for multiple uses, including outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife and fish.
- Requirements to provide opportunities for sustainable recreation, and to take into account opportunities to connect people with nature.
- Opportunities for public involvement and collaboration throughout all stages of the planning process. The final rule provides opportunities for Tribal consultation and coordination with state and local governments and other federal agencies, and includes requirements for outreach to traditionally underrepresented communities.
- Requirements for the use of the best available scientific information to inform the planning process and documentation of how science was used in the plan.
Mark Barford, executive director of the National Hardwood Lumber Association is skeptical that the new rule will help his constituents. "Over the years we have stayed very involved with the planning rules on the hope [they] could be made easier to use and easier to draw a consensus. We are hopeful yet uncertain that these changes will achieve that end," he said.
Also, Andy Stahl of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics told The Missoulian, "Anyone who thinks this rule will make forest plans quicker to develop is naive. It requires more process than its predecessor."
Meanwhile, The Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and The Nature Conservancy, among other groups, have voiced support for the new planning rule, saying it provides better protections for forests, water, wildlife and the economic vitality of rural communities.
