Prescott National Forest

Prescott National Forest Plan Revision Update - October 2008

Contact: Debbie Maneely, (928) 443-8130

PRESCOTT, AZ, November 12, 2008 - The Forest Service is charged with developing management plans that create a framework for contributing to social, economic, and social sustainability on National Forest and Grasslands. The Prescott National Forest is in the process of meeting these requirements of the 2008 Forest Planning Rule.

The Economic and Social Sustainability Report was completed in October and is available on the Prescott National Forest webpage at www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/plan-revision/economic-social-sustainability-assessment.shtml. This assessment is based, in part, on community visions developed over the past year. These visions are on the Prescott National Forest webpage at www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/plan-revision/vision.shtml.

The Prescott National Forest is currently working on the Ecological Sustainability Assessment. The primary focus for assessing ecological sustainability is to provide for ecosystem diversity which contributes to a diversity of native plant and animal species. A draft list of species to be analyzed in the ecological sustainability process is available on the Prescott National Forest website at www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/plan-revision/species-list.shtml.

The Economic, Social, and Ecological Assessments will be combined and evaluated to determine what needs to be in the revised Forest Plan in the Comprehensive Evaluation Report. The Forest Supervisor will then approve a shorter list of high priority needs for change in our Forest Plan. These will be the areas where we will focus our efforts during development of a proposed Revised Plan.

The Prescott National Forest Planning Team has tentatively scheduled two meetings to share information with the public in January or February. Exact dates and locations will be announced.

The Prescott National Forest is expecting to publish a Notice of Initiation in the Federal Register after the public meetings to formally initiate the Forest Plan revision process. Additional public meetings will be held and the web page will be updated throughout the process.

Contact Sally-Hess Samuelson, Forest Planner, at 928-443-8216 or shesssamuelson@fs.fed.us to discuss the Forest planning process. Written comments may be submitted at www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/plan-revision/get-involved.shtml.

###

USDA Forest Service - Prescott National Forest
Last Modified: Thursday, 13 November 2008 at 12:31:00 EST