Forest Plan Revision

Welcome! The Forest Plan is an important document that guides our management actions.

The Gila National Forest is in the middle stage of plan revision under the 2012 Forest Planning Rule (36 CFR 219) that will describe the strategic direction for management of forest resources for at least the next 15 years. Under the 2012 Planning Rule, plan revision involves three distinct phases:

Assessment of the current conditions and trends of forest resources and multiple uses.
Development of a revised plan.
Monitoring and implementation of the final approved plan.

Draft Revised Forest Plan

The Gila National Forest (NF) has been revising its 1986 forest plan to better address current issues and incorporate new science. Since the plan revision process began, the Gila NF staff engaged thousands of people, including members of three cooperating agencies, 10 federally recognized tribes, federal, state and local government entities and non-governmental organizations. This engagement, along with input from Gila NF staff and the best available science lead to the development of the Draft Revised Forest Plan (TOC Errata).

In addition to the draft proposed plan, a range of alternatives have been developed. These alternatives represent a range of possible management options for comparison and evaluation. Each alternative was built from issues identified by the assessment or raised by the public. The draft environmental impact statement (three volumes) was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other relevant federal and state laws and regulations. This environmental impact statement discloses the environmental and socioeconomic impacts that would result from each of the alternatives.

- Draft Revised Forest Plan
- Draft Environmental Impact Statement
  - Volume 1: Chapters 1 through 3
  - Volume 2: Chapter 3 continued, Glossary and References
  - Volume 3: Appendices A through K
- GIS Data
- A summary of the changes to the preliminary draft revised forest plan is available here. Please see the Document Library for additional supporting documents
- Objection Process Brochure
The official 90-day comment period for the draft documents ended April 16th, 2020. The planning team continues to analyze the comments received in the more than 26,000 comment letters submitted. These comments will be used to improve the draft documents and inform the Forest Supervisor’s decisions on what the final revised forest plan will contain.
Update: We are working toward publication of the draft record of decision, final environmental impact statement, land mangement plan and notice of opportunity to object in early 2024. More detailed information about the objections process will be available at that time.