State Forest Action Plans
National Association of State Foresters
The following is attributed to www.forestactionplans.org, hosted by the National Association of State Foresters:
The Forest Action Plans collectively represent the first-ever strategic plan for the nation's forests. The impetus for this historic effort grew out of landmark changes in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill), when Congress tasked the states and territories to craft assessments of the forests within their boundaries and develop strategies to address threats and improve forest health. The resulting Statewide Forest Resource Assessments and Strategies, or Forest Action Plans, provide an analysis of forest conditions and trends and delineate priority forest landscape areas. They offer practical, long-term plans for investing state, federal, and other resources where they can be most effective in achieving national conservation goals.
Assessing forest resources and engaging in strategic planning for those resources are not new for many states and territories. For others, the 2008 Farm Bill presented an opportunity to revise their usual agency planning process. The approach for developing these plans varied widely among the states and territories, reflecting differences in the management styles, the number of existing resources, the priorities of states, and the differences in the challenges that face them.
Some engaged in a wide-ranging stakeholder involvement process that, in some cases, included meetings, polls, surveys, and other outreach efforts to ascertain the priorities facing both the forests and the stakeholders of the forest—including state agencies, private landowners, tribes and indigenous peoples, and other user groups. Some largely consulted existing resources and included many existing plans and assessments in their plans as appendices. “
Below are links to recent notable statewide forest assessment reports, which can also be found on www.forestactionplans.org :
Preferred citation
"Forest Action Plans." Forest Action Plans. National Association of State Foresters. Web. <http://forestactionplans.org/>
