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Sustaining the People’s Lands

Recommendations for Stewardship of the

National Forests and Grasslands

into the Next Century

Committee of Scientists

March 15, 1999

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Washington, D.C.
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National Forests are made for and owned by the

people. They should also be managed by the people.

They are made not to give the officers in charge of

them a chance to work out theories, but to give the

people who use them and those who are affected by

their use a chance to work out their own best profit.

This means that if national forests are going to accomplish anything worthwhile, the people must know all

about them, must take an active part in their management.

... .

Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Forest Service (1907)

Right up front, I clearly state, without equivocation,

that these are our lands today — the lands of all the

people. These are our lands — they belong to us lock,

stock, and barrel. And they will be our lands and our

children’s and our children’s children’s lands far into

the future unless we, as a people, through carelessness or apathy or conscious choice, allow that precious heritage to be sold or traded away for pottage.

Jack Ward Thomas, Chief of the Forest Service (1996)
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Table of Contents

THE COMMITTEE.......................................................................................... VI

PREFACE ...................................................................................................... IX

SYNOPSIS.................................................................................................... XIII

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction: The Context for Land Stewardship in the 21st Century ............................. 1

The First Round of Land and Resource Plans ............................................................... 2

Recent Trends and Developments................................................................................ 2

Developing New NFMA Regulations and a New Committee of Scientists ....................... 3

Dreams and Practicality .............................................................................................. 3

The NFMA Regulations as One Piece in the Planning and Management Puzzle ............ 4

The Social and Organizational Context of Planning ..................................................... 4

Historical Uses and Current Conditions as a Context for Planning .............................. 6

Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 10

CHAPTER TWO

Sustaining the Land, Economies, and Human Communities .................................................... 13

CHAPTER THREE

Implementing Sustainability ..........................................................................................19

 3A. Ecological Sustainability .................................................................................19

The Elements of Ecological Sustainability ................................................................. 19

Factors to Consider in Implementing Sustainability .................................................. 21

How Ecological Concepts Affect Planning .................................................................. 27

3B. Economic and Social Sustainability .................................................................41

National Forests: Places Where People Work, Live, Worship, and Play ....................... 44

Variability and Uncertainty: The Realities of Economic and Social

Sustainability in a Dynamic Landscape.......................................................... 45

Assessing the Contributions of National Forests and Grasslands to Society .............. 45

Assessing the Social Consequences of Changes in Federal Land-Use

Policy to Rural Economies and Communities ................................................. 46

Considering the Economic and Social Impact of Land-Use Change in

Setting Federal Policy ..................................................................................... 51

National Forest System Contributions to Social Sustainability: The

Importance of Establishing Realistic Expectations ......................................... 54

Contributions to Communities with Specific Protections Under the Law.................... 56

Economic and Social Sustainability: When Are the National Forests and

Grasslands Fulfilling Their Responsibilities? .................................................. 61

Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 62

3C. Building the Stewardship Capacity for Sustainability .......................................63

The Eight Essential Building Blocks of Stewardship Capacity ................................... 64

Connecting the Building Blocks of Stewardship Capacity .......................................... 76

Proposed Recommendations ...................................................................................... 76

Proposed Actions Regarding Formal Advisory Boards ................................................ 77
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CHAPTER FOUR

Collaborative Planning for Sustainability .......................................................................83

4A. The Purpose of Planning ..................................................................................83

Fundamentals ........................................................................................................... 83

Key Elements of the Planning Process ....................................................................... 84

4B. The Structure of a Collaborative Planning Process ..........................................93

The Existing Approach to Forest Planning ................................................................. 93

The Assessment Process ............................................................................................ 95

Defining Desired Future Conditions .......................................................................... 98

A Spatial Approach to Decision Making ................................................................... 101

Monitoring and Evaluation ...................................................................................... 108

Adaptive Management ............................................................................................. 110

The Integrated Land- and Resource-Management Plan ............................................ 112

Adaptive Planning ................................................................................................... 114

4C. Other Considerations ..................................................................................... 114

The Role of the National Assessment, RPA Program, and Annual Report ................. 114

Integrating Budgets into Planning ........................................................................... 116

The Opportunity of NEPA ........................................................................................ 116

4D. Summary ...................................................................................................... 118

CHAPTER FIVE

Challenges of Collaborative Planning .......................................................................... 121

5A. Building Decisions on a Strong Foundation of Scientific Information ............ 121

New Roles for Scientists in Land and Resource Planning ......................................... 122

Integrating Scientific Information into Collaborative Planning ................................. 123

New Institutions Needed to Support Scientific Information and Review ................... 125

5B. Integrating Scientific and Public Deliberation ............................................... 130

A Participatory Approach Is at the Heart of Democracy ........................................... 131

Contributing to Building Decisions and Evaluating Performance ............................. 133

5C. Protests and Appeals of Federal Decisions ...................................................... 136

Appeals Process....................................................................................................... 137

Predecisional Appeals .............................................................................................. 138

Postdecisional Appeals ............................................................................................ 141

5D. Global Commitments Regarding Sustainability ............................................. 141

5E. Summary ....................................................................................................... 144

CHAPTER SIX

Implementing the Laws and Policies Governing the National Forests and Grasslands

in the Context of Sustainability ............................................................................145

6A. Ecological Sustainability as the Foundation of National Forest Stewardship . 145

6B. Water and Watersheds .................................................................................... 152

The Legal Mandate to Conserve Watersheds ............................................................ 153

Watershed Integrity and Restoration ....................................................................... 154

Key Elements in a Strategy for Conserving and Restoring Watersheds..................... 156

6C. Identifying the Suitability of Lands for Different Types of

 Resource Management ................................................................................... 159

6D. The Role of Timber Harvest in Achieving Sustainability ................................. 160

Silvicultural Aspects of the National Forest Management Act .................................. 160

Silviculture.............................................................................................................. 160

Timber Removals, Sustained Yield, and the Desired Future Condition .................... 165
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CHAPTER SEVEN

External Influences on Forest Service Planning ........................................................... 169

The Budget Process and Planning ........................................................................... 169

Improving the Relationship Between Land- and Resource-Management

Planning and Budgets .................................................................................. 170

Requirements of Other Laws and Regulations ......................................................... 173

CHAPTER EIGHT

Proposed Purpose, Goals, and Principles for Inclusion in the Federal Regulations ....... 175

APPENDIX A

Views of Committee Members ..................................................................................... 183

APPENDIX B

Date Sources ............................................................................................................... 185

APPENDIX C

Visualizing Alternative Futures: One Cornerstone of Collaborative Planning ............... 187
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Dr. James Agee

College of Forest Resources

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington

Forest Ecology

Dr. Robert Beschta

College of Forestry

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Oregon

Forest Hydrology

Dr. Virginia Dale

Environmental Sciences Division

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Landscape Ecology

Dr. Linda Hardesty

Department of Natural

Resources Science

Washington State University

Pullman, Washington

Range Ecology

and Management

Dr. James Long

Department of Forest Resources

Utah State University

Logan, Utah

Silviculture

Dr. Larry Nielsen

School of Forest Resources

Pennsylvania State University

University Park, Pennsylvania

Fisheries and Public

Administration

Dr. K. Norman Johnson

(Chair)

College of Forestry

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Oregon

Forest Management

and Policy

THE COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS
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Dr. Barry Noon

Department of Fishery

and Wildlife

Colorado State University

Ft. Collins, Colorado

Animal Ecology

Charles Wilkinson

School of Law

University of Colorado

Boulder, Colorado

Natural Resource Law

Dr. Ronald Trosper

College of Ecosystem Science

and Management

School of Forestry

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, Arizona

Forest Economics and

Native American Studies

Dr. Roger Sedjo

Forest Economic and Policy

Program

Resources for the Future

Washington, D.C.

Natural Resource Economics

and Policy

Dr. Margaret Shannon

Buffalo School of Law

Buffalo, New York

Sociology and

Organizational Theory

Dr. Julia Wondolleck

School of Natural Resources

and the Environment

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Public Participation and

Dispute Resolution
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STAFF TO THE COMMITTEE

Ann Carlson

Special Assistant to the

Committee

Suislaw National Forest

USDA Forest Service

Corvallis, Oregon

Jonathan Stephens

Planning Specialist

Ecosystem Management

Coordination Staff

USDA Forest Service

Washington, D.C.

Harriett Plumley

Forest Planner

Suislaw National Forest

USDA Forest Service

Corvallis, Oregon

Robert Cunningham

Designated Federal Official

Special Assistant, Deputy Chief

National Forest Systems

USDA Forest Service

Washington, D.C.

Dr. Frederick M. O’Hara, Jr.

Consultant

in Technical Communication

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Technical Publishing