In December, the USDA Forest Service
announced that it would rewrite the national forest system
land management-planning rule. The planning rule sets
priorities and defines the process for the development and
revision of site-specific management plans for every
national forest or grassland.
The Forest Service has issued three planning rules since
2000 but two of them have been struck down by legal
challenges and the 2000 rule has never been utilized because
of its "complexity". In effect most current forest plans
have been written under the planning rule of 1982.
The Forest Service raises a number of noteworthy concepts in
the scoping document (Federal Register - December 18,
2009). Foremost being the concept of "restoration" which is
heavily stressed but never defined. Nor does the document
examine how making "restoration" a priority would affect
recreation or other land uses. Rather the agency asks the
public to provide comment on what "restoration" ought to
mean. However, last August, Secretary of Agriculture Tom
Vilsack stated publicly, "Restoration means managing forest
lands first and foremost to protect our water resources,
while making our forests more resilient to climate change."
Adaption to climate change and resiliency are frequently
referenced in the document but it is left to the public to
comment on how those concepts should be applied. Similarly
the document suggests that local forest planners should not
limit themselves to planning for National Forest Service
land but should expand their efforts to include "all-lands"
or whole watersheds.
Wrongly applied to local planning processes, many of the
concepts raised in the scoping document could be very
problematic for maintaining recreational access to public
lands for a number of activities - including motorized
recreation. The AMA strongly encourages off-highway vehicle
enthusiasts to review the proposal and to provide written
comment to the agency on the importance of recognizing
recreational access in the forest planning process.
The Forest Service's Notice of Intent, background materials
and information on how to comment are available at
www.fs.usda.gov/planningrule. Comments will be accepted
until February 13
th.
The Forest Service expects to develop a proposed rule and a
draft environmental impact statement by late fall 2010. The
public will have additional comment opportunities at that
time.