Forest Plan Monitoring Programs

The U.S. Forest Service uses monitoring as the basis for continuous improvement of a land management plan (forest plan). Monitoring provides information for adaptive management of the area and resources within the planning area. The objectives for a forest plan monitoring program in an adaptive management framework include:

Creating a learning environment to support decisions.
Evaluating progress toward achieving desired conditions.
Enabling us to determine where changes may be needed in forest plan components, other plan content, and plan implementation strategies, including changes to the monitoring program.

Each forest plan has its own monitoring program. We use information gathered through the monitoring program to understand the effects of implementing the forest plan. A monitoring program helps us determine if a change may be needed to improve forest management.

In May 2016 we released the draft EIS and draft forest plans for the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra National Forest. The monitoring programs for the forests were part of the information we released then. In September 2015 we also shared with the public an update on our monitoring programs. To see this information, please view the documents in the September 2015 section below.