Cibola National Forest Releases New Land Management Plan for a Healthier and More Productive Forest

Release Date: Jul 15, 2022

Albuquerque, NM – July 15, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has released the revised Cibola National Forest Land Management Plan, final environmental impact statement, and record of decision.

“I am excited to publish the revised Cibola National Forest Land Management Plan. I want to thank all our cooperating agencies, members of our collaboratives, and interested members of the public for their efforts in developing this plan. This has been a group effort to make this the best Forest Plan to steward the resources and provide for multiple uses by the public. We are looking forward to implementing this plan with our cooperating agencies, collaboratives and the public.”

Steve Hattenbach, Forest Supervisor at the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands.

The land management plan provides direction for how the Cibola National Forest’s four mountain districts1 – Mt. Taylor, Magdalena, Mountainair, and Sandia – are to be managed in the long term. Every National Forest is required by law to have a land management plan and update it to reflect current science and changes in forest conditions and public use of the Forest.

The Cibola worked collaboratively with tribes, partners, cooperating agencies, the public, and the Carson and Santa Fe National Forests to develop a Plan that recognizes current issues and values the culture and traditions of the people of New Mexico.

With this plan, the Cibola addresses the long-term need for shared stewardship projects that support traditional communities and uses and sustainable recreation practices, promoting prosperity for the benefit of generations to come. The final plan focuses on fostering healthier forests that are more resilient to wildfires and on increasing public safety by emphasizing forest and watershed restoration treatments in fire-prone areas.

“Our current land management plans were implemented in 1986. Since that time, significant changes on the Forest and in surrounding communities made it clear that revisions needed to be made,” said Hattenbach. “These changes include new developments in the economic landscape, growth of the surrounding communities and wildland urban interface, shifts in recreation trends, and challenges with forest conditions such as widespread tree mortality due to bark beetle infestation. These changes present as many opportunities as they do challenges, and the revised land management plan will guide our work into the future.”

The revised land management plan provides for active landscape management to simultaneously support plant and wildlife conservation and the sustainable forest products, grazing, and recreation industries. It details the desired conditions, goals, objectives, standards, and guidelines that will provide the foundation for future management activities across the Forest for the next 15 years. The final plan identifies lands suitable for timber production and areas recommended for wilderness designation. It also creates management direction for specific areas like eligible wild and scenic rivers, national scenic trails, and congressionally designated wilderness.

The revised Land Management Plan will take effect 30 days after Forest Supervisor Hattenbach signs the Record of Decision and a Notice of Plan Approval is published in the Federal Register.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement, Record of Decision, and other project documents are located on the Cibola Forest website for Land & Resource Management Planning.

For more information, please contact cibolamtnsplanrevision@usda.gov.
 

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