Recommendation 2: Rewrite National Forest Management Act regulations
Problem
Forest management plans across our public lands system are currently expiring. The next administration will be tasked with rewriting the regulations that will guide forest management for the next 20 years. Current National Forest Management Act (NFMA) regulations do not promote the appropriate integration of social, economic, and ecological objectives that will ensure future benefits to society.
Goal
To seize a unique opportunity to rewrite the NFMA regulations in a way that promotes sustainability as the driving priority for the management of public forestlands.
Recommendations
- Create a scientific advisory committee, consisting of National Academy of Sciences researchers and other respected scientists. This committee would guide forest management and research priorities in the context of global climate change.
- Require that forest management plans consider the cumulative effects of multiple management actions, not simply the forest project-level impacts, when implementing environmental assessments in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
- Reintroduce the “viability clause” into NFMA regulations with accompanying language that explicitly addresses acceptable levels of risk for wildlife population viability. Ensure that populations will be “well-distributed” as required by the 1982 regulations.
- Develop an administrative code of ethics that preserves the integrity of the design, funding, and interpretation of scientific research and monitoring efforts that inform forest management.
