The National Forest Service (NFS) proposed a rule on February 14 (www.fs.usda.gov/planningrule) aimed at bringing its nearly 30-year-old land management planning process into the 21st century. The proposal is designed to guide NFS land management plans that promote “healthy, resilient diverse and productive” national forests and grasslands. NFS lands include aquifer systems, streams and lakes that together serve as “the source of drinking water for more residents of the U.S. than any other source.”
The rule proposes an adaptive management framework aimed at enabling more frequent updates of management plans as on-the-ground conditions change. The proposal cites climate change as a potential cause of changing environmental conditions. Under the rule, land management plans would include components to maintain, protect and restore water supplies, ground water and sole source aquifers on NFS lands. The rule would require plan components that address maintaining or restoring ecosystem and watershed health and resilience. Plans would also include components to contribute to social and economic sustainability.
Comments on the proposal are due May 16, 2011. The NFS is hosting public meetings around the country about the proposal throughout the comment period. Additional information about the public meetings is available online.