U.S. Forest Service to Hold Northwest Forest Plan Amendment Listening Sessions

Release Date: 

February 18, 2015

Contact: 

Denise Adamic, 707-562-8822                                       Glen Sachet, 503-808-2790

U.S. Forest Service to Hold Listening Sessions:

Public conversation to begin regarding revision of land management plans for the Northwest Forest Plan Amendment Area

VALLEJO, CA. and PORTLAND, OR –  The Pacific Northwest (OR, WA) and Pacific Southwest (CA) Regions of the U.S. Forest Service are beginning a public conversation on the process for revising forest land management plans in the Northwest Forest Plan amendment area.

“The Forest Service is committed to the original tenets and principles of the Northwest Forest Plan,” said Jim Peña, Pacific Northwest Regional Forester. “We want to share what we’ve learned and are thinking, and listen to other’s ideas and concerns.”

The land management plans within the Northwest Forest Plan area guide how resources will be managed for 15 to 20 years. These plans are due for revision.

“Since the Northwest Forest Plan was adopted 20 years ago, there have been many advances in natural resource research and monitoring,” said Randy Moore, Pacific Southwest Regional Forester. “We are committed to using the best available science in revising these land management plans.”

The plan revisions will be completed under the 2012 planning rule, which places a strong emphasis on public engagement and collaboration throughout the process.

To gather ideas on the revision process, the Forest Service is holding a series of public listening sessions March 17, 2015 in Portland, OR; March 18, 2015 in Seattle, WA; and March 25, 2015 in Redding, CA. The Forest Service will announce session times and location details as they become available.

In order to set these listening sessions and the revision process up to be successful, a neutral, third-party consultant, Triangle Associates, Inc., is currently conducting preliminary outreach to a few dozen individuals representing a wide array of perspectives. This will help the Forest Service consider the types of issues that should be addressed through the revision process.

The Northwest Forest Plan was created in 1994 with the intent of protecting the critical habitat of the northern spotted owl while maintaining a viable forest products industry in the Pacific Northwest. The Plan amended 26 land use plans, spanning 24 million acres of Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service-managed lands in Northern California and Western Washington. In California, the Plan amended land and resource management plans for the Klamath, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers National Forests.

More information about this process, times and location details of the listening sessions will be posted soon on the Forest Service Regional web pages:

Region 6 (Oregon and Washington) http://www.fs.usda.gov/r6/

Region 5 (California) http://www.fs.usda.gov/r5/

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