Northwest Forest Plan Amendment Frequently Asked Questions
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Fact Sheets: Draft Environmental Impact Statement
FAQs: Northwest Forest Plan and Planning Basics
The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) was approved in 1994 to conserve habitat for threatened and endangered species that depend on old growth forests while contributing to social and economic sustainability across the NWFP region. The NWFP provided specific management direction and guidance for 17 national forests and a national scenic area across 19 million acres of Forest Service managed lands in Washington, Oregon and northwestern California within the range of the northern spotted owl. The NWFP amended the individual land management plans of these national forests: Deschutes, Fremont-Winema, Gifford Pinchot, Klamath, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie, Mt. Hood, Okanogan-Wenatchee, Olympic, Rouge River-Siskiyou, Shasta-Trinity, Siuslaw, Six Rivers, Umpqua, and Willamette National Forest.
Land management plans — commonly called forest plans — set the overall management direction and guidance for our national forests and grasslands. Land management plans don’t provide site specific direction, such as where to put a recreation trail – rather, they provide the framework for these types of decisions to be made later as projects are proposed.
A forest plan is like a city plan that helps guide land use and development. In the same way your town or city designates where specific uses (such as industrial and residential uses) may occur, forest plans identify areas intended for specific uses such as timber harvest, recreation, or rare plant protection. Like a city plan that prohibits a commercial facility being built in an area for residential use, a forest plan could identify an area as not suitable for motorized recreation.
Land management plans are required by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.), and planning regulations set forth at 36 CFR 219. Each of the 17 national forests in the Northwest Forest Plan region have their own land management plans amended with supplemental direction by the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan and 2001 ROD and Standards and Guidelines for Amendments to the Survey and Manage, Protection Buffers, and other Mitigation Measures.
A plan amendment is a formal process to add, modify, or remove one or more plan components. An amendment can also change how and where one or more plan components apply to all or part of the plan area ranging from one Forest to a combination of Forests. The proposed amendment applies on a regional scale to the units within the Northwest Forest Plan area. Amendment of the Forest land management plans could include adding, modifying, or removing plan components that apply to those 17 national forests.
Over the past 30 years, significant changes in local economic, social, environmental, and cultural conditions across these landscapes have occurred — including changes in risks to forests and communities from severe wildfires. Amending the land management plans covered within the NWFP area will provide an updated framework to all national forest lands within its footprint to guide management using current science and local economic, social, and environmental conditions.
As outlined in the Notice of Intent to amend the land management plans within the NWFP footprint, five areas are the focus of the amendment process, including how to: 1) Improve fire resistance and resilience, 2) provide a predictable supply of timber and non-timber products, and other economic opportunities to support the long-term sustainability of communities; 3) restore and conserve habitat for at-risk species; 4) meet the agency's general trust responsibilities and incorporate Tribal governments, representatives, and communities into planning and implementation; and 5) strengthen our capacity to adapt to a changing climate.
FAQs: Land Management Planning
The 2012 Planning Rule sets process and content requirements to guide the development, amendment, and revision of land management plans to maintain and restore National Forest System land and water ecosystems. The planning rule helps ensure plans:
- Contribute to a sustainable flow of benefits, services, and uses of National Forest System lands that provide jobs and contribute to economic and social sustainability of communities.
- Provide for the sustainability of ecosystems and resources by providing for ecological integrity.
- Meet forest restoration and conservation, watershed protection, and species diversity and conservation needs.
The 2012 Planning Rule also provides for robust public engagement in the planning process. This includes developing an engagement plan, providing opportunities for public participation, and increasing engagement with those historically absent from the planning process — including youth and underserved communities.
When proposing a land management plan amendment, the 2012 Planning Rule ( 36 CFR 219.13) requires that we identify which of the specific substantive requirements within §§ 219.8 through 219.11 of the rule are likely directly related to the amendment. The following provisions are likely directly related to the proposed amendment of the 17 land management plans within the Northwest Forest Plan area: 1) ecosystem integrity and sustainability, 2) social and economic sustainability, 3) ecosystem integrity of plant and animal communities, 4) ecosystem diversity of plan and animal communities, 5) plan components to contribute to recovery of federally listed species, 6) multiple us of habitat conditions and observing subsistence activities, 7) system drivers including dominant ecological processes, 8) management of areas of tribal importance, 9) timber harvest for purposes of timber production, and 10) timber harvest for purposes other than timber production.
For context, all of the individual land management plans and subsequent NWFP range-wide amendments were completed under the 1982 Planning Rule which is why some of the plan content looks different from plan content being proposed under this amendment.
The Northwest Forest Plan amendment does not replace the need for updated land management plans on individual national forests. The plan provides specific direction to all the forests or portions of forests within the NWFP area, but individual forests still require comprehensive forest plans. Revisions of individual forest plans are anticipated to begin after this amendment to the land management plans in the Northwest Forest Plan area is completed, though timelines will vary for each national forest.
Individual forest plan revisions will provide guidance on issues not included in the scope of this amendment.
Best available scientific information is high-quality information that draws logical conclusions based on reasonable assumptions and explains information gaps and inconsistencies. Best available scientific information is also peer reviewed, placed in the proper context, and cites reputable references. However, not all information needs to meet all these characteristics to be considered best available scientific information.
At a minimum, scientific information needs to be available, accurate, reliable, and relevant. Available means the Forest Service does not need to create new scientific information and conduct new research but should use current information. Finally, effective use of scientific information relies on transparency. The 2012 Planning Rule requires the Forest Service document and summarize how the best available scientific information was identified and how it informed the planning process.
The 2012 Planning Rule emphasizes incorporating best available scientific information into land management planning. Science builds knowledge and reduces uncertainty by testing predictions. Scientific information comes from many sources — like peer-reviewed articles, scientific assessments, expert opinion, and data from monitoring results. To meet this requirement, the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Research Stations developed and released the 2018 Synthesis of Science to inform land management within the Northwest Forest Plan area. This Northwest Forest Plan amendment effort will use information synthesized in these reports and additional sources as appropriate.
Both Designated Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers are congressional designations and cannot be changed without an act of Congress. The Forest Service will not be recommending changes to these resources as part of the amendment process. Inventory and evaluation processes to inform recommendations to Congress about additional designations are conducted as part of the forest plan revision process and are not within the scope of the amendment process.
FAQs: Amendment Effort for the Northwest Forest Plan Area
July 7, 2023: Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) convened to advise Forest Service on Northwest Forest Plan Amendment.
Dec. 18, 2023: Forest Service initiated formal amendment process with Notice of Intent (NOI) published in Federal Register. Over 9,000 public comments were submitted in response to NOI.
Winter/Spring/Summer 2024: Forest Service incorporates feedback from the FAC, public, and State, local, and Tribal governments, as well as other federal agencies to develop a proposed action and draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
July 2024: FAC submits unanimous recommendations for proposed changes to the Northwest Forest Plan direction.
November 15, 2024*: Release Draft EIS with 120-day public comment period and further tribal and public engagement to inform final EIS.
Fall 2025*: Final EIS available for review.
Spring 2026: Updated amendment complete.
*Estimates are subject to change in the project schedule.
The current work builds on prior public engagement efforts that included a series of listening sessions and stakeholder interviews in 2015.
A plan amendment is required to add, modify, or remove plan components. An amendment can also change how and where one or more plan components apply to all or part of the plan area ranging from one Forest to a combination of Forests. A plan revision would create an entirely new plan. The amendment approach allows us to keep what is working well in land management plans in the Northwest Forest Plan area and update those critical plan components most urgently needed to meet modern management challenges. The Bioregional Assessment completed in 2020 identified several provisions in the Northwest Forest Plan that are working well to achieve what was intended in the 1994 plan — such as the aquatic protections in the Aquatic Conservation Strategy. The Forest Service intends to keep those portions and anticipates much of the plan will remain unaltered.
The Forest Service is considering changes to plan components to address the need for change identified in the Notice of Intent (see question 1). We anticipate additional amendments may be needed in the future to adapt to new information and changed conditions. Individual land management plans for national forests within the Northwest Forest Plan area are also expected to undergo future plan revisions and can address some issues at a more appropriate level of detail than can be addressed in this range-wide amendment.
The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan included direction to develop and implement a robust interagency monitoring program, which the Forest Service implemented over the past 30 years. Monitoring is organized across modules: northern spotted owl population and habitat, marbled murrelet population and habitat, late successional and old growth, watersheds, socioeconomics, and federal tribal relations. Lessons learned from this monitoring data support the proposed changes in this plan amendment.
Monitoring programs evolve over time, adopting new technology and methods. As we look to the future, we’ll consider the need to update our monitoring program. Information about monitoring to date is available on the Regional Ecosystem Office website: Northwest Forest Plan - (usda.gov).
Informed by the 2018 Synthesis of Science, the Bioregional Assessment of Northwest Forests completed in 2020 identified several provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan that are working well and have largely achieved the plan’s intent. This includes some aquatic protections outlined in the Aquatic Conservation Strategy and moist forest, late successional reserve system functions. The Forest Service intends to retain the portions of the 1994 NWFP amendment and Forest land management plans that are working well and anticipates a large portion of the plan content will remain intact.
We recognize the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan amendment was developed with limited input from tribal governments. Tribal inclusion efforts seek to update management strategies to increase opportunities for tribal co-stewardship in national forests and better fulfill the federal trust responsibility to tribal nations.
The Northwest Forest Plan was also intended to use adaptive management to monitor changes and adapt accordingly. This amendment process reflects on what we have learned from decades of monitoring.
Further, to address fire risk, we need updated or new guidance to better manage forests across different fire regimes.
The proposed amendment would not eliminate the survey and manage component of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan and subsequent updates in the 2001 ROD and Standards and Guidelines for Amendments to the Survey and Manage, Protection Buffers, and other Mitigation Measures. Alternative D would include an exemption to the survey requirement of survey & manage plan components near communities for wildfire risk reduction.
Land use designations — also referred to as land use allocations — establish geographic zones where specific management direction applies to guide management activities. The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan amendment established several land use allocations — such as Late-Successional Reserves, Matrix, Riparian Reserves, and Adaptive Management Areas — to provide standards and guidelines for management within those areas.
In this current amendment process, boundaries for land use allocations are not being proposed for alteration. However, the agency will explore how management direction may be adjusted within land use allocations to better meet the goals of those designations
Addressing wildfire risk to communities and resources is a top priority for the Forest Service and is a driving factor for this amendment. The proposed amendment provides a framework to support local fire managers in making well-informed decisions about fire management and prescribed fire on the landscapes they manage. The amendment would also improve their ability to restore fire resiliency on dry, fire-frequent landscapes, and to reduce hazardous fuels around communities.
The preferred alternative refers to one or more alternatives which the agency believes would best accomplish the purpose and need of the proposed action while fulfilling its statutory mission and responsibilities, giving consideration to economic, environmental, technical, and other factors. It may or may not be the same as the agency's proposed action or the environmentally preferable alternative. The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) has not identified a preferred alternative.
The DEIS includes three action alternatives and comments received during the comment period, will assist the Forest Service in developing a preferred alternative for the final environmental impact statement (FEIS). The preferred alternative could be developed by modifying or combining the current alternatives or creating a new alternative. The selected alternative in the Record of Decision is the alternative the agency will implement, which could include a modified alternative or combination of alternatives; this may or may not be the same as the preferred alternative.