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Shelly
Baldy Peak, South Fork North Creek,
Tushar
Mountains
Proposed Wilderness, Fishlake National
Forest.
© by Utah Forest Network |
National Forest Planning (Back to Forests Program Index)
The National Forest Management Act of 1976 requires that each National Forest develop and maintain a Land and Resource Management Plan, or “forest plan,” to guide the location and intensity of all aspects of Forest management—from timber, livestock, and recreation management to the protection of cultural resources, scenic values, and wilderness. These plans, which are essentially forest management blueprints, are to be revised every 10-15 years according to new resource conditions, science, and public values. During the next two years, each of the six National Forests on the Colorado Plateau will begin revising their Forest Plans. This process affords conservationists a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape forest management over coming decades.
With that opportunity in mind, Grand Canyon Trust, in cooperation Red Rock Forests, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and other members of the Three Forests Coalition, drafted and submitted a comprehensive conservation alternative for revision of the Manti-La Sal National Forest’s forest plan in December 2004. Coined the “Sustainable Multiple Use Alternative,” the plan addressed all aspects of Forest management that would be included in a Forest plan revision. The plan advances a vision for the Forest that places the needs of species and ecosystems as the first priority of forest management. The Sustainability alternative is built on the explicit notion that economic and social dimensions of sustainability ultimately depend upon ecological sustainability. Grand Canyon Trust and other coalition members submitted our forest plan for consideration in the Manti-La Sal National Forest’s revision process. Contrasts between the Sustainability alternative and the Forest Service’s preferred alternative will clearly display where the Forest Service is deviating from precautionary conservation science in their planning, and thus serve as a tool to focus public and organizational attention throughout the planning process.
Grand Canyon Trust will continue to engage the six National Forests of the Colorado Plateau as each begins its respective revision process. The Dixie and Fishlake National Forests, both located in southern Utah are expected to initiate their revision processes in 2005. The three Forests in Arizona, the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, and Kaibab are expected to initiate their revision processes in 2006.
(Back to Forests Program Index)
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