Management Overview

Resource Management

The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.

The overriding objective of the Forest Service's forest management program is to ensure that the National Forests are managed in an ecologically sustainable manner. The National Forests were originally envisioned as working forests with multiple objectives: to improve and protect the forest, to secure favorable watershed conditions, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use of citizens of the United States. Forest management objectives have since expanded and evolved to include ecological restoration and protection, research and product development, fire hazard reduction, and the maintenance of healthy forests.

Guided by law, regulation, and agency policy, Forest Service forest managers use timber sales, as well as other vegetation management techniques such as prescribed fire, to achieve these objectives. 

Topics

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Geospatial Data

Information regarding GIS data, sources, services, and products

  • Learn more about GIS.

Nature's Benefits

The natural infrastructure from each of California's 18 National Forests provides multiple Nature's Benefits to people and populations, plants, animals, and habitat. 

Ecosystem services are the benefits people receive and value from nature—or "Nature's Benefits." This comprehensive suite of benefits provided by healthy ecosystems includes, but is not limited to:

  • clean air
  • water filtration
  • carbon sequestration
  • cultural heritage
  • pollination
  • flood control
  • jobs, commerce, and value to local economies
  • recreational opportunities and open space for communities
  • renewable and non-renewable energy
  • increased physical and psychological wellness
  • wood products

Find out how the Eldorado National Forest positively impacts your daily life!

Vegetation Management Practices

Successful vegetation management ensures that our National Forests are conserved, restored, and made more resilient to climate change while enhancing our water resources. Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) is a component of the forest management program that utilizes silvicultural practice overseeing the genetics, growing of seedlings in nurseries, reforestation, and restoration of our National Forests.

Timber Contracting

The Forest Service has multiple tools in it's kit for creating Timber Contracts.

Glossary and Acronyms

A glossary of  Fire, Timber, and Forest Health related terms.

Special Forest Products

Special Forest Products are products or natural resources that are not the traditional timber and fiber products. Another name for special forest products is non-convertible products, because they are products that are not converted into board foot or cubic foot measure. Examples include such products as floral greenery, Christmas trees and boughs, mushrooms, transplants (trees, shrubs or herbaceous plants), cones, medicinal plants, cuttings, herbs, nuts, berries, decorative wood, and pitch. For information on obtaining a Forest Product permits on the Eldorado National Forest.

Ecological Restoration Implementation Plan

In March 2011 the Pacific Southwest Region of the US Forest Service released a statement of its Leadership Intent for Ecological Restoration, which laid out the Region's guiding vision and goals for its stewardship of wildland and forests for the next 15-20 years. This plan reflects the Regional leadership's current thinking on how the Leadership Intent will be implemented.

 

Project Implementation Pages

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Caldor Fire Recovery

Recovery after a major wildfire is a long term process. The first steps involve repairing areas damaged by fire suppression, and mitigating safety hazards such as fire weakened trees, burning stump holes, damaged utilities, and hazmat concerns. Recovery also includes the Burned Area Emergency Response, information on access to recreation residences and the forest, debris cleanup, the rebuilding process for recreation residences, and future Caldor Fire restoration and management activities.

Great American Outdoors Act

The Great American Outdoors Act gave the USDA Forest Service new opportunities to deliver benefits to the American public through major investments in recreation infrastructure, public lands access, and land and water conservation. These investments will also contribute to the economic growth and job creation in rural America. GAOA provides permanent full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and establishes a new National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) to address the deferred maintenance backlog for 5 federal agencies over the next 5 years.

  • Learn about the GAOA projects on the Eldorado National Forest.

Forest Timber Projects

A list and map of current and upcoming Timber, Stewardship, or Forest Health projects.

Caples Ecological Restoration Project

The Forest Service is conducting prescribed understory burning, aspen enhancement, and meadow restoration activities within the Caples Creek Watershed on the Placerville and Amador Ranger Districts of the Eldorado National Forest

Recreation Facility Upgrade Project

Over the next few years, many of the facilities will be upgraded, and several new features added for your future enjoyment. The work will require some sites to be temporarily or completely closed during construction within designated timeframes.

King Fire Restoration Project

The King Fire started September 13, 2014 and before it was done it had burned over 97,000 acres. The restoration project was developed in response to the need to restore the federal land portions of the King Fire and included hazard tree removal, fuel reduction, salvage logging, reforestation, road improvements, watershed improvements, and research.

King Fire Newsletters

Reforestation: Tree Planting & Monitoring

Nov. 19, 2020 - King Fire Reforestation presentation by Luis Vidal (PDF – 19 MB)

  • Live Zoom Recording: presentation and audience dialogue -  audio / podcast  (MP3 - 7 MB) 

Travel Management (Subpart A, B, C)

The rapid expansion of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use on national forests is impacting the natural and cultural resources of federal lands and, in some cases, causing use conflicts. The Forest Service identified unmanaged recreation, especially impacts from OHVs, as one of the key threats facing the nation's forest. OHV impacts have created unplanned roads and trails, erosion, watershed and habitat degradation, and impacted cultural resource sites.

Improved management of motor vehicle use on national forests are allowing the Agency to enhance opportunities for public enjoyment of the national forests, including motorized and non-motorized recreation experiences.

California national forests are following the 2005 Travel Management Rule which has three parts.

  • Subpart A - Administration of the Forest Transportation System

As stated throughout the Travel Management effort (response to Subpart B), Forests would subsequently start the process that will lead to identification of the minimum road system. Travel Analysis was completed in September 2015. 

  • Learn more about Subpart A

  • Subpart B - Designation of roads, trails and areas for motor vehicle use

Routes designated in Travel Management Subpart B are included as part of the current road system. The designation of these roads was the result of considerable analysis along with public involvement in the site-specific environmental analysis using NEPA with a decision by the responsible official. These roads are part of the designated National Forest Road System.

The Eldorado National Forest is currently working on the few routes of the 42 routes that were detailed in a supplemental EIS due to concerns over meadows.

  • Learn more about Subpart B

  • Subpart C - Use by over-snow vehicles

Subpart C provides for regulation of use of over-snow vehicles on National Forest System roads, National Forest System trails and in areas on National Forest System lands. The purpose of Subpart C is to define requirements governing designation of National Forest System roads, National Forest System trails, and areas on National Forest System to allow, restrict, or prohibit snowmobile use on a discretionary basis.  

Learn more about Subpart C