Northwest Forest Plan
Federal forest lands west of the Cascade Range in Washington and Oregon are governed by the Northwest Forest Plan, which was developed following the Presidential Forest Summit of 1993. Lands east of the Cascades were studied extensively in the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project.
The Northwest Forest Plan has three parts: a program for managing the forests to achieve both sustainable timber production and protection of biological diversity; a system for coordinating federal agency implementation of the forest management effort and receiving advice from non-federal interests; and an initiative for providing economic assistance and job retraining to displaced timber workers, communities, and others who were adversely affected by reductions in the size of the timber program.
Genesis of the Northwest Forest Plan
The Northwest Forest Plan evolved from the Pacific Northwest timber crisis
of the late 1980s and early 1990s. During this time, declining employment
in the commercial timber industry due to increased automation and reduced
timber supply coincided with the listing of the northern spotted owl (Strix
occidentalis subsp. caurina) as an endangered species and the
resultant closure of federal lands to logging. Political and social conflicts
arose because of disagreements about the use of natural resources on public
lands, with the owl and conservationists being blamed by many people for
the loss of timber industry jobs. The first major federal publication
that came out of this controversy was A Conservation Strategy for the
Northern Spotted Owl: Report of the Interagency Scientific Committee to
Address the Conservation of the Northern Spotted Owl, the so-called
"Thomas report", named for lead author Jack Ward Thomas. Another
important report was Alternatives
for management of late-successional forests of the Pacific Northwest:
A report to the U.S. House of Representatives 
, put together by
the so-called "Gang of four", the Scientific Panel on Late-Successional
Forest Ecosystems (1991). Another important report by Thomas was Viability
assessments and management considerations for species associated with
late-successional and old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.
On April 2, 1993, President Clinton convened a forest conference in Portland, Oregon, to address the human and environmental needs served by the federal forests in the spotted owl region of the Pacific Northwest and northern California. The President charged the Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team to produce a report, which came out later in 1993 as Forest Ecosystem Management: An Ecological, Economic, and Social Assessment Report of the Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team (FEMAT). The "FEMAT Report" assessed 10 detailed options for managing federal forests within the range of the spotted owl. The effort drew from many different lines of research already underway.
On July 1, 1993, President Clinton announced the selected option, Alternative
9, consisting of strategies for forest management, economic development,
and agency coordination as the "Forest Plan for a Sustainable Economy
and a Sustainable Environment." The forest management and implementation
portion of the strategy was analyzed in a draft supplemental environmental
impact statement, of which the final EIS and the record
of decision were published in February 1994. The ROD amended
the planning documents of 19 National Forests and 7 Bureau of Land Management
Districts.
See the full citations to the publications listed above.
Management documents resulting from the Northwest Forest Plan can be found at the PNWIN Northwest Forest Plan Management Documents page. These include management plans for Northwest Forests and BLM districts.
Reports and studies resulting from these two programs are linked below:
- FEMAT report, Record of Decision, and Standards and Guidelines
The
FEMAT report was commissioned by President Clinton following the Forest
Summit held in Portland in early 1993.
It served as a blueprint for how to manage federal forests in the
Pacific Northwest. PDF format from the Oregon
BLM Office.
- Alternatives
for management of late-successional forests of the Pacific Northwest:
A report to the U.S. House of Representatives
This 1991 document assembles pertinent information on the extent and character of late-successional and old growth( LS/OG) forests, the management options available for LS/OG forests, and the effects of those options.
- The Northwest
Forest Plan: A Report to the President and Congress
This publication from 1996 summarizes progress made in implementing the Northwest Forest Plan since it was signed into law in 1993. It reviews accomplishments, develops observations on implementation, and identifies opportunities for further progress.
- Regional Ecosystem Office Documents
The Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) provides staff work and support to facilitate Regional Interagency Executive Committee and Intergovernmental Advisory Committee decision making and prompt interagency issue resolution in support of implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan. REO has many documents relating to the Plan on its website.
Includes:
- Record
of Decision for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
Planning Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (February,
1994)
- Standards
and Guidelines for Management of Habitat for Late-Successional and
Old-Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern
Spotted Owl
- Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (link to Summary) and Standards and Guidelines for Management of Habitat for Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (link to Summary) (May 1994).
- Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for Amendment to the Survey and Manage, Protection Buffer, and Other Mitigating Measures Standards and Guidelines (1999)
- Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement For Amendment to the Survey & Manage,
Protection Buffer, and other Mitigation Measures Standards and Guidelines
(November 2000) (link
to Summary)
This 1998 publication by the Department of Interior Office of Policy Analysis discusses the achievements of the Northwest Forest Plan, the lessons learned that might be applicable to other natural resource challenges, the areas where progress has fallen short of what was originally envisioned, the organizational changes that have taken place and that are desirable for the future, and pending issues that could alter the thrust of future implementation activities.
This report presents options for long-term effectiveness monitoring of late-successional and old-growth forests under the Northwest Forest Plan. It describes methods to answer questions about how much late-successional forest exists on Federal land, its pattern, how it is changing, anf if the Forest Plan is providing for its conservation and management.
- Handbook
to strategy 1 fungal taxa from the Northwest Forest Plan
This 1999 handbook by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station was designed to facilitate understanding of the life history of fungal species within the range of the northern spotted owl and to aid in their discovery and identification. Each species is represented by a condensed description, a set of distinguishing features, and information on substrate, habitat, and seasonality.
- Northern
spotted owl effectiveness monitoring plan for the Northwest Forest Plan
This 1999 report describes options for effectiveness monitoring of long-term trends of the northern spotted owl to evaluate the success of the Northwest Forest Plan in arresting downward population trends, and in maintaining and restoring the habitat conditions necessary to support viable owl populations on Federal lands. It describes options to address monitoring questions.
- Marbeled
murrelet effectiveness monitoring plan for the Northwest Forest Plan
This 1999 report describes options for effectiveness monitoring of long-term status and trends to evaluate the success of the Northwest Forest Plan in maintaining and restoring marbled murrelet nesting habitat and populations on Federal lands. A two-phase approach is described that begins with developing reliable and repeatable processes for identifying nesting habitat and overcoming logistical and statistical problems before habitat and population trends can be accurately assessed. The second phase involves application of these processes to mapping and quantifying nesting habitat, and establishing populations in the Forest Plan area.
- The
strategy and design of the effectiveness monitoring program for the
Northwest Forest Plan
This report describes the strategy and design of an effectiveness monitoring program for the Northwest Forest Plan. The described premise is to implement a prospective and integrated habitat-based approach to monitoring that provides a gradual transition from an intensive, individual species-resource focus to a more extensive, ecosystems approach by using surrogates to measure the pattern and dynamics of habitat structure in place of monitoring biota. The report describes the scientific framework for monitoring, starting with conceptual models, that is the basis for designing plans for monitoring specific resources.
- Northwest
Forest Plan: outcomes and lessons learned from the Northwest economic
adjustment initiative
This collection of papers from 1999 examines implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan economic adjustment initiative (NWEAI). Experiences in the three states (California, Oregon, and Washington) are reviewed. Related research, key economic development issues, and potential of using the NWEAI model elsewhere also are discussed.
- Northwest
forest plan research synthesis
This document from 2001 synthesizes research accomplishments initiated and funded under the Northwest Forest Plan (hereafter referred to as the Forest Plan) since its inception in 1994. Three major parts in this document cover, the context for this effort, eight Forest Plan research accomplishments, and a synthesis.
Geographic Perspectives
U.S. Programs & Activities |
International |
California |
Central Southwest/Gulf Coast |
Great Basin
Mountain Prairie |
Pacific Basin |
Pacific Northwest |
Southern Appalachian |
Southwest
This site is developed and maintained by the Fire and Mountain Ecology Lab,the
USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station, the University of Washington,
and the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering
Text-only
NBII Disclaimer and Privacy Statement
| Accessibility
