The Northwest Forest Plan An Overview What

The Northwest Forest Plan An Overview

What is the Northwest Forest Plan? What have been the Plan’s major accomplishments to date? What steps are the agencies taking to improve upon the present course of Plan implementation? What critical issues and challenges are still in need of resolution to more effectively

History Commercial logging in Pacific Northwest begins in late 1800 s, increases significantly after WWII Northern Spotted Owl listed as threatened species under ESA in 1990 By 1992, court injunctions had shut down virtually all Federal old-growth timber sales

Adoption of the Strategy • Forest Plan Conference held in Portland in 1993 • Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture directed to jointly develop array of options for managing Federal old-growth forests in Pacific Northwest • In 1994, Northwest Forest Plan adopted • Was first time Federal agencies developed a

Geographic Scope The Northwest Forest Plan area encompasses 24. 4 million acres of Federal lands in the western portions of Oregon, Washington, and Northern California

Components of the Northwest Forest Plan

Five Key Principles • Never forget human and economic dimensions of issues • Protect long-term health of forests, wildlife, and waterways • Focus on scientifically sound, ecologically credible, and legally responsible strategies and implementation • Produce a predictable and sustainable level of timber sales and non-timber resources • Ensure that Federal agencies work together

Land Allocations • Previously Reserved Areas >Congressionally Reserved Areas (30%) >Administratively Withdrawn Areas (6%) • NFP Reserve System >Late-Successional Reserves (31%) >Riparian Reserves (11%) • Areas available for programmed timber harvest >Matrix (16%) >Adaptive Management Areas (6%)

Standards & Guidelines • A series of Standards & Guidelines provide various forms of management direction that applies either: >within a particular land allocation >across the entire NFP area • All Standards & Guidelines have underlying objectives that describe their purpose and application – e. g. , >Objectives of LSRs include protection and enhancement of latesuccessional and old-growth forest conditions

Aquatic Conservation Strategy • Primary objectives are to restore and maintain watersheds and aquatic functions and systems • Strategy consists of four primary components: >Riparian Reserves >Key Watersheds >Watershed Analysis

Three Kinds of Monitoring Implementati on Effectiveness Validati

Adaptive Management: “Learning to manage and managing to learn” • Adjusting management over time to better achieve NFP objectives in light of new information • Integral principle woven into the fabric of the plan that applies throughout NFP area • Adaptive Management Areas: Network of 10 areas specifically designed for testing alternative approaches to more effectively achieve desired ecological, socio-economic,

Survey & Manage • Suite of mitigation measures for rare and little-known species within NFP area • Surveys -- Site-specific Pre-Disturbance Surveys -- Strategic Surveys • Management recommendations designed to maintain high-priority species sites

Interagency & Intergovernmental Framework • Regional Interagency Executive Committee (RIEC) and staff office provide forum for representatives of 12 Federal environmental and natural-resource agencies • Advisory committees at both regional and provincial levels provide input from State, County, and Tribal governments, as well as from local stakeholders • Intergovernmental Information Management

Summary of Major Accomplishments

• NFP upheld by courts against nearly 100 legal claims, ending years of court injunctions against all Federal old-growth harvest • Greatly improved interagency coordination and collaboration in management of NW Federal forests • NFP has strong scientific foundation and research agencies continue to provide valuable input in support of implementation

• Marked increase in protection of oldgrowth forests while providing timber outputs at or near projected amounts for first 5 years • Watershed Restoration Activities > Watershed analyses completed on 85% of Federal lands > Over $186 million invested in Watershed Restoration > Net reduction of over 900 miles of roads in Key Watersheds Monitoring results > Implementation Monitoring shows 95+% compliance rate > Northern Spotted Owl monitoring has shown apparent improvement in owl demographic trends

Benefits to Other Initiatives & Resources FY $ Millions 1994 31. 9 425 245 • Habitat Conservation Plans on non-Federal lands 1995 33. 5 600 290 1996 31. 5 500 235 1997 30. 4 425 245 1998 25. 9 430 425 • Salmon habitat restoration 1999 18. 7 375 310 • Enhanced source water protection Totals • Related economic initiatives (see table) 2000 280 $189 Projects 17. 0 3, 095 Jobs (FTE) 340 2, 030

Ongoing or Near-Term Initiatives

Adaptive Management in Action • Survey & Manage measures recently revised to enhance flexibility and efficiency of implementation • Increased emphasis on thinning dense, young stands in LSRs to enhance and protect latesuccessional habitat in response to growing body of research • Adaptive Management guidelines under development to provide for more systematic consideration of management adaptations in light of research and other new information

Increased Focus on Local Discretion & Decision-making • Issuing guidance on site-specific modifications consistent with NFP objectives to harness field-unit expertise and improve plan’s effectiveness • Crafting criteria to exempt narrowly framed NFP modifications from regional review where projects have buy-in from provincelevel groups

Enhanced Collaboration with State, Tribal, and County Governments • Proactive solicitation of non-Federal advice on significant policy-related implementation issues • More effective public communication, information, and outreach tools in use • Coordinating on related non-Federal initiatives to achieve greater integration and efficiencies

Remaining Critical Issues

Timber Sales • Adoption of NFP resulted in significant reduction in timber harvest from preinjunction level in 1980 s • After NFP adopted, gradual ramp-up of timber sale volume offered to levels near annual projected amount • In recent years, expected sales have fallen well below projected annual amount primarily as a result of: >Adverse court rulings >Certain elements of NFP have affected timber harvest more than

Implementation Processes • In aggregate, requisite implementation processes hamper achievement of full suite of Plan’s principal objectives • NFP pioneered efforts to streamline ESA consultation, but some efficiencies have been undermined by recent court rulings • NFP itself contains variety of analytical and procedural requirements (e. g. , Survey & Manage involves difficult and time-consuming

Implementation Costs • Overall costs of implementing the NFP are high • Certain NFP elements (e. g. , Survey & Manage) have proven particularly costly to implement • Reliance on agencies’ multiple funding sources and processes also presents challenges

Coordinated Response to Critical Issues & Concerns • Agencies working to modify ESA salmon consultation process to address adverse court rulings and injunction • RIEC has endorsed in principle a suite of proposed changes to improve the ability of NFP to meet all of its objectives