Current Monitoring and Planning at Land Between The Lakes
The new Forest Service 2012 Planning Rule requires all forests to transition to the new monitoring and evaluation program requirements. This monitoring program review serves as one part of the analyses leading up to Land Between The Lakes’ Area Plan revision process. The general steps to the plan revision process include:
- 2012 Monitoring Program transition beginning Fiscal Year 2017,
- 10 year Monitoring and Evaluation Report — FY 2005 to 2015,
- Assessment,
- Plan Revision, and
- Monitoring and Evaluation
The Land Between The Lakes’ 2004 Area Plan includes 8 goals with 39 monitoring questions. Under our current monitoring program, we collect results and evaluate the following goals:
Goal 1 Prioritize projects to provide the greatest recreation, Environmental Education (EE), and resource stewardship benefits.
Goal 2 Emphasize partnerships and cooperation with citizen groups, community businesses, private corporations, tourism organizations, and government agencies.
Goal 3 Utilize a variety of methods and opportunities to provide an Environmental Education message to every visitor.
Goal 4 Manage natural and physical resources, and authorized Forest Service activities, to reduce erosion or deterioration of riparian areas and watershed conditions.
Goal 5 Use a collaborative approach to maintain and restore:
- A diversity of plant and animal communities that support viability of associated plants, fish, and wildlife;
- Sustainable levels of habitat and wildlife populations to support public demand for wildlife-related recreation.
Goal 6 Demonstrate and widely export innovative, efficient, and effective management techniques that can benefit others.
Goal 7 Enhance dispersed recreational and EE opportunities throughout Land Between The Lakes.
Goal 8 The Land Between The Lakes Area Plan will remain effective and usable and lead to accomplishments that support National Strategic Goals.
New Monitoring Requirements
We have begun evaluating our monitoring program and will develop any needed changes to comply with the new planning rule. The new planning rule monitoring requirements cover the following eight areas:
- Watershed Conditions
- Ecosystems
- Focal Species
- Federally Listed Threatened and Endangered Species, Proposed and Candidate Species, Species Of Conservation Concern
- Visitor Use and Satisfaction
- Climate Change
- Multiple Use Opportunities
- Productivity of the Land
At this time, we believe some new questions and indicators may be needed to meet this new Planning Rule. We are working with members of the public, partners, landowners, other government agencies and Tribes to adjust our monitoring program to meet the new forest planning rules until our forest plan revision.
Forest Plan: www.landbetweenthelakes.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/LBLAreaPlan.pdf
Monitor & Evaluation Reports: www.landbetweenthelakes.us/stewardship/land-resource-management/planning/
Land Between The Lakes Area Planning
Forest Plan
Planning Process
The new National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule provides a framework to guide the collaborative and science-based development, amendment and revision of land management plans. This framework promotes healthy, resilient, diverse, and productive forests with a range of social, economic, and ecological benefits now and for future generations.
The planning process framework consists of a 3-part cycle:
- assessment,
- plan revision or amendment, and
- monitoring.
The new rule strengthens the role of public involvement. It requires working with members of the public, partners, landowners, other government agencies, and Tribes in each phase of the planning process. It also requires that best available science be used.
An understanding of the landscape-scale context for unit-level management is also required, because many management issues have a regional impact– such as fire, water, wildlife and recreation.
Assessments identify and evaluate existing information and create an understanding of conditions, trends and stressors such as a changing climate. These assessments guide plan development.
The new rule requires plans to provide for plant and animal diversity. It uses a scientifically-supported approach to providing the ecological conditions to support both species diversity and the persistence of native species on the unit.
A full suite of multiple uses of an area are required. These include outdoor recreation, timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, ecosystem services, and other relevant resources, uses and values like job opportunities for communities. The new planning rule also requires sustainable recreation.
If you have questions, please contact:
Barbara Wysock, Area Planner
[email protected] or 270-924-2000
More Planning Rule information: http://fs.usda.gov/planningrule
