Planning
Forest Plan Documents
Forest Plan Maps
Forest Plan and Appendix Documents
Response to Comments
On Friday, February 8, 2013 the Notice of Availability for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the National Forests in Mississippi was published in the Federal Register (78 FR 9388) initiating a 90 day public comment period. The public comment period ended on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The draft environmental impact statement and proposed plan were distributed for public comment and review. Six public meetings were held across the State of Mississippi, one near each Ranger District.
Delta National Forest, April 2, 2013
Holly Springs National Forest, April 4, 2013
Tombigbee National Forest, April 9, 2013
De Soto National Forest, De Soto Ranger District, April 11, 2013
Homochitto National Forest, April 16, 2013
Bienville National Forest Service, April 18, 2013
De Soto National Forest, Chickasawhay Ranger District, April 25, 2013
A content analysis team was commissioned to collect comments for input into a database utilized by the National Forests in Mississippi. The final environmental impact statement and revised plan were then prepared based upon the public comments received and further agency review.
The Planning and Analysis Process
36 CFR Part 209.12 describes the required process for preparation, revision, or significant amendment of a forest plan. The following describes the required steps and how the National Forests in Mississippi forest plan revision process will fulfill those steps. Documents identified are in the process record.
Analysis of Potential Wilderness Wild and Scenic Rivers Inventory
As part of the forest plan revision process, the National Forests in Mississippi (Forests) conducted a forest wide inventory of potential wilderness areas that may be suitable for recommendation for congressional designation as wilderness study areas. Areas qualify for placement on the potential wilderness inventory if they meet the statutory definition of wilderness. Forest Service Handbook (FSH) 1909.12 chapter 71 prescribes inventory criteria used to determine if an area meets the statutory definition of wilderness.
Special Areas: Status, Trends, and Strategies
Special areas are areas within the National Forest System designated because of their unique or special characteristics. This forest plan recognizes 19 special areas on the National Forests in Mississippi that are currently designated by statute or through prior administrative processes. Another 20 potential special areas distributed across 7 districts have been proposed for evaluation and possible future designation as botanical areas, research natural areas.
Watershed Analysis: Determining Watershed Condition for Aquatic Sustainability and Cumulative Effects at the Planning Level for National Forests in Mississippi
This process paper is twofold; 1) it describes a process to address the cumulative effects of management activities on watershed condition. This fulfills a portion of the ecological condition requirement (specifically the watershed condition) and 2) addresses potential aquatic sustainability over time. This fulfills the determination of sustainable populations within the planning area.
Management Indicator Species
This report documents the review of the original 1985 management indicator species list. Identifies species determined to be indicators of management effects concerning plan implementation on plant and animal diversity for the revised plan.
Introduction
During development of the 1985 Land and Resource Management Plan (forest plan) for National Forests in Mississippi, 44 management indicator species were selected. This report documents the evaluation of these species to determine if these species and others are valid indicators of management effects concerning plan implementation on plant and animal diversity.
Both the concept of management indicator species and the application of the management indicator species concept have been critically reviewed in the scientific literature since the 1982 regulations were adopted. Limits to the usefulness of the concept and/or its application are reflected in the literature (e.g., Caro and O’Doherty 1999; Grossman et al. 1990; Landres, Verner, and Thomas 1988; Noss 1990; Simberloff 1998; Weaver 1995). Nonetheless, the 1982 regulations will remain in effect until further direction.
Ecosystems and Species Diversity Report
Introduction
National Forest Management Act (NFMA) regulations (1982) require that habitat be managed to support viable populations of native and desirable non-native vertebrates within the planning area (36 CFR 219.19). Additionally, USDA regulation 9500-004 (1983) reinforces the NFMA viability regulation by requiring that habitats on national forests be managed to support viable populations of native and desired non-native plants, fisheries, and wildlife. These regulations focus on the role of habitat management in providing for species viability. Supporting viable populations involves the proper distribution of habitat capable of maintaining interacting populations at levels that result in continued existence of the species.
The National Forests in Mississippi (Forests) support high levels of biological diversity relative to other regions. Viewed at both national and global scales, a large number of species are present for which population viability may be of concern. A detailed demographic or habitat capability analysis is not practical for all of these species. Therefore, our goal for this evaluation is to use a clearly defined, transparent process to identify species for which there are substantive risks to maintenance of viable populations, and to ensure consideration of appropriate habitat management strategies to reduce those risks to acceptable levels where feasible.
The ecological sustainability framework used to support forest plan revision for the National Forests in Mississippi is built on a foundation of ecological system diversity. By restoring and maintaining the key characteristics, conditions, and functionality of native ecological systems, the National Forests in Mississippi should be able to not only improve ecological system diversity but also provide for the needs of diverse plant and animal species on the forest. This report describes the analysis process used to identify, evaluate, and develop guidance for sustaining ecological diversity. This report and the ecological sustainability evaluation database from which it was derived not only provide the overall framework for many of the forest plan components and the systems-based direction in the revised forest plan, but are also expected to be an important source of data and guidance for sustaining native ecological systems and species when implementing the forest plan.
By-unit Analysis for various Ecological Systems and Species Associations
This appendix was created to include additional by unit analysis for ecosystems and species associations where data was available and necessary to better understand the effects of each alternative within the EIS.
Monitoring Questions Documents
Monitoring is an ongoing management activity. During the forest plan revision process, monitoring documents are presented in an abbreviated question and answer format.