What is the Forest Plan?

The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 requires every national forest to develop a plan. These plans provide broad direction for the management and use of the National Forest, such as:

1. What the area should look like;
2. What activities may take place and (generally) where;
3. What areas should have special management considerations;
4. What resource areas should be emphasized for the next several years; and
5. What guidelines should be used for projects that are implemented?
   

Plans are programmatic in nature, meaning they cover a large geographic area, and their management direction is broad in scope.  The Plan guides but does not propose or approve any project on the ground. It sets the stage for the actual projects that will follow the Plan direction.

In addition, every forest plan must be consistent with environmental laws and regulations such as the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act.  

Why Revise the Forest Plan?

The current Coconino National Forest Plan provides a solid foundation for forest management, but it was originally developed in 1987, over 20 years ago.  Since then, there have been many social and resource changes and scientific information and methodology have evolved. A few of these changes were addressed in amendments to the original Forest Plan; many others have not been formally recognized and incorporated. 

Instead of starting over and developing a new plan from scratch, planners will determine what in the existing plan is working - those parts will be retained. New information will be incorporated and existing direction that isn't working will be changed.

Plan Revision Timeline

Coconino National Forest planning staff are currently analyzing the current conditions of the Forest and assessing the needs for change (Phase 1 in the diagram below). 

Click the graphic for a 82kb .png file of the Revision Process. 

Public Participation Welcome!

Public participation helps promote better decisions and greater understanding of those decisions. We are currently formulating how to work actively with the public during the revision process. Please let us know your ideas of how you would like to interact with our planning team, both now and over the course of the process.