FOREST PLAN REVISION
What is a Forest Plan?
The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 (PDF, 60 kb) required every national forest to develop a Forest Plan and periodically revise the Plan. Today, these plans provide broad direction for managing natural resources for the American people. Plans are programmatic in nature, meaning they cover a large geographic area, and their management direction is broad in scope. In addition, every forest plan must be consistent with environmental laws and regulations such as the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act.
Why does the Forest Plan need to be Revised?
The current Coronado National Forest plan (PDF, 1.43 mb) was originally developed in 1986, over 20 years ago. Since then, there have been many social and resource changes. 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.
The current Coronado Plan provides a solid foundation for forest management. Instead of starting over and developing a new plan from scratch, planners will determine what is working in the existing plan. Those parts will be retained. New information will be incorporated. Existing direction that isn't working will be changed.
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Forest Plan Revision Update -- September 2009 |
On June 30, 2009, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a decision in Citizens for a Better Forestry v. United States Department of Agriculture ordering the Forest Service to cease the implementation and use of the 2008 planning rule*. The Forest Service is complying with the Court’s decision. On August 14, 2009, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed his vision for management of the nation’s forests. As part of his speech the Secretary requested that the Forest Service prepare a new planning rule. The Forest Service is working on that request now.
Here’s the status of the planning rule and plan revision efforts in the Southwestern Region.
- Use of the 2008 planning rule has been discontinued.
- The 2000 planning rule is now in effect. The 2000 rule was amended twice from 2001 to 2004. These changes allow the Forest Service to use the 1982 rule procedures to amend or revise plans. The Forest Service will be using procedures from the 1982 planning rule and is working on how best to transition to these procedures.
- The Coronado National Forest will continue work on revising our land management plan. Revision efforts will now continue under the 1982 planning rule procedures.
- The Coronado National Forest plan revision team remains committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders. Planning activities independent of any specific planning rule will continue while we determine how best to transition to the 1982 rule procedures.
- Plan revision work completed to date remains valid and useful. We are evaluating how to organize and convert this work to fit the framework of the 1982 rule procedures.
- Until new National Forest Management Act rule making is completed, the Coronado National Forest will use the 1982 rule procedures for revision and amendment efforts.
As information becomes available, it will be shared and posted on our web site. For additional information, please contact Jennifer Ruyle, Forest Planner, jruyle@fs.fed.us, (520)388-8351.
*A planning rule establishes a process that recognizes and documents social and economic values, and environmental protections. It directs what information is included in a forest plan and how that plan is prepared. |
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Your Participation is Welcome!
Public participation helps provide better decisions and greater understanding of those decisions. Please see the Contact Us page for more information.
Planning Process and Timeline
Follow the revision process from start to finish with our timeline of events. More>>
Revision Team Organization
A "Core Team" will be dedicated to the plan revision process; however, a constellation of other teams comprised of specialists and managers will provide professional analysis and oversight. More>>
Public Participation/Contact Us
Learn how to get involved in Forest Plan Revision. Your participation is crucial. Please contact us. More>>
Documents
Read the latest released documents or peruse our archive of essential references. More>>
Maps
View interactive or static maps. Data layer downloads are available for those who would like to produce their own maps or conduct their own GIS analysis. More>>
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