Pacific Southwest Region

Planning Principles

Planning Process | Planning Principles | History of Planning

The first priority for planning to guide management of the National Forest System is to maintain or restore ecological sustainability of national forests and grasslands to provide for a wide variety of uses, values, products, and services. The benefits sought from these lands depend upon long-term ecological sustainability. Considering increased human uses, it is essential that uses of today do not impair the functioning of ecological processes and the ability of these natural resources to contribute to sustainability in the future.

• Planning provides the guidance for maintaining or restoring the diversity of plant and animal communities and the productive capacity of ecological systems, the core elements of ecological sustainability.
• Planning is based on science and other knowledge, including the use of scientifically based strategies for sustainability and benefits from independent scientific peer review.
• Planning is based on the temporal and spatial scales necessary for sustainability.
• Planning includes the monitoring and evaluation of the achievement of goals.

Planning contributes to social and economic sustainability by providing for a wide variety of uses, values, products, and services without compromising the basic composition, structure, and function of ecological systems.

• Planning recognizes and fosters a broad-based understanding of the interdependence of national forests and grasslands with economies and communities.
• Planning fosters strategies and actions that provide for human use in ways that contribute to long-term sustainability.

Planning is efficiently integrated into the broader geographic, legal, and social landscape within which national forests and grasslands exist. Other agencies, governments, corporations, and citizens manage land in and around the national forests and grasslands. Planning, therefore, is outward looking with the goal of understanding the broader landscape in which the national forests and grasslands lie.

• Planning fosters coordination among all affected federal agencies.
• Planning proceeds in close cooperation with state, tribal, and local governments.
• Planning recognizes the rights of American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives.
• Planning is interdisciplinary, providing analyses and options that are responsive to a broad range of ecological, social, and economic.
• Planning acknowledges the limits and variability of likely budgets.

Planning meaningfully engages the American people in the stewardship of their national forests and grasslands. Just as the Forest Service can help the American people learn about the limits and capabilities of the national forests and grasslands, managers also should be guided by the knowledge and values of the American people.

• Planning encourages extensive collaborative citizen participation and builds upon the human resources in local communities and throughout the nation.
• Planning actively seeks and addresses key issues and promotes a shared vision of desired conditions.
• Planning and plans are understandable.
• Planning restores and maintains the trust of the American people in the management of the national forests and grasslands.

Planning is an ongoing process, where decisions are adapted, as necessary, to address new issues, new information, and unforeseen events.

• Planning is innovative and practical.
• Planning is expeditious and efficient in achieving goals.

Planning seeks to manage National Forest System resources in a combination that best serves the public interest without impairment of the productivity of the land consistent with the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960.