The US Forest Service has released their proposals for an update to the Northwest Forest Plan:
Northwest Forest Plan & Amendment – US Forest Service
USFS ready for comments about proposed changes to its Northwest Forest Plan – KDRV Newswatch 12
Forest Service begins comment period for Northwest Forest Plan amendment – Bend Bulletin
After 30 years they are looking into updating the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan….but different people have very different ideas regarding how it should be updated. In response, the US Forest Service has created four different proposals for the direction of action.
The Salem Statesman Journal did a helpful summary of these four proposals. As I am not deeply familiar with the amendment options, I wanted to post their summary verbatim:
Alternative A (no action alternative)
This action would leave the national forest plans essentially as they are now.
“The 1994 NWFP would not be amended, and the 17 affected national forests would each continue to be managed in accordance with the plan direction in their existing land management plans.”
Alternative B (committee recommendation)
This plan came from recommendations developed by a federal advisory committee that “brought together diverse perspectives” to provide input. The plan is presented as a compromise between groups calling for more active forest management and those wanting to maintain current levels of protection on Northwest forests.
It would alter the original Northwest Forest Plan in a few ways. It would create a “new approach to tribal inclusion” and “move beyond consultation with Tribes and include specific, actionable strategies to incorporate Indigenous knowledge in decision making and provide opportunities to expand co-stewardship with Tribes.”
In addition, the plan would seek to conserve and recruit mature and old-growth forest conditions, restore ecosystem resilience to wildfire made worse by climate change and provide a predictable supply of timber to “support community sustainability,” the plan said.
The plan would prioritize reducing wildfire risk in areas that affect communities and infrastructure, seek to adapt to climate change and “establish desired conditions for carbon stewardship for both dry and moist forests.”
It would also seek “to improve the consistency and reliability of timber harvest and forest restoration and resiliency projects that support local job opportunities, businesses, and economies.”
Alternative C (less logging, more natural processes)
This alternative was developed in response to public comments supporting emphasis on natural processes for forest management. Pedery said it was the best alternative to focus on what the Northwest Forest Plan was supposed to do, which is “recover mature and old-growth habitat for threatened and endangered species.”
“To this end, Alternative C would employ more restrictive limits on the use of commercial timber logging for vegetation management and ecological restoration and would reduce active forest management relative to Alternative B,” the plan said.
Alternative D (more forest management)
This alternative responds to public comments supporting more forest management to reduce wildfires and increase “predictability of timber outputs,” the plan said.
The plan would give “more flexibility in forest management activities,” including additional fuels treatment and more flexibility for dry forest restoration treatments, among other activities. It’s a plan that more closely reflects the idea that more aggressive and active forest management is needed to limit wildfires while also providing logs to local mills.
The Forest Service already held an online session last week to share about the amendment, but there will be a second session next week on Thursday, December 5. You can register at the following link:
There is a 120-day public comment period for those who would like to comment on the plan. After that period, they will attempt to formulate a final proposal in 2025. Public comments on the plan can be submitted here:
https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?Project=64745
Please take a look and share your thoughts!
Wild Columbia County 