Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture signaled it’s intent to issue a new planning rule for America’s 193-million acre National Forest System by releasing online a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule.

The new plan seeks to deliver stronger protections for forests, water, and wildlife while supporting the economic vitality of rural communities. This was done by including ‘preferred alternatives’ to the existing land management plan which focus more on protecting communities and maintaining forests for the benefit of the people. 

In a YouTube address announcing the plan, Chief Tom Tidwell said it would “allow [the Forest Service] to do a better job to address what we need to do to restore our forests and grasslands to continue to provide all the benefits and services that our publics want and our publics need from these lands.”  

Photo © Marla

Nearly 300,000 comments were received on the proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement to develop the preferred alternative. Additional information about the Planning Rule and the preferred alternative is available at http://fs.usda.gov/planningrule.