Planning

Each National Forest and National Grassland is governed by a management plan in accordance with the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). These plans set management, protection and use goals and guidelines. Monitoring conditions on a forest or grassland ensures projects are done in accordance with plan direction and determines effects that might require a change in management.

Forest Plan Revision

The Gila National Forest is in the process of revising its existing forest plan from 1986, under the 2012 Forest Planning Rule (36 CFR 219) that will describe the strategic direction for management of forest resources for the next 10 to 15 years. Forest Plan Revision.

Current Gila Forest Plan (1986)

The following documents have been scanned to make them available electronically. They are in PDF format. These documents remain intact and unedited from the original. Printed copies are available for review at U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Gila Forest Supervisor's Office, 3005 E. Camino del Bosque, Silver City, NM.

• Record of Decision, November 21, 1986 (434kb)
• Environmental Impact Statement, September 1986, 350 pages (18.6mb)
• Forest Plan, September 1986, 328 pages (14mb)
• Maps, 5 pages (26mb)
• Public Comments and Forest Service Response to the DEIS, Proposed Gila National Forest Plan, Volume 1, 343 pages (16.2mb)
• Public Comments and Forest Service Response to the DEIS, Proposed Gila National Forest Plan, Volume 2, 337 pages (15.8mb)

Forest Plan Amendments

June 2012 - The forest has conducted a review of all Plan amendments and corrections.  Through this review, we found that some of the amendment pages previously provided did not include all of the amended pages.  This has been fixed and the following plan amendment files have been updated.

• Index of Amendments and Corrections, 2 pages (21kb)

• Amendment 1—ORV Policy, June 1987, 4 pages (96kb)
• Amendments 2 and 3, September 1988, 6 pages (117kb)
• Amendment 4—Ten Year Timber Sale Program, April 1989, 10 pages (19kb)
• Amendment 5—Change Recreation Opportunity Spectrum Acres, June 1990, 2 pages (252kb)
• Amendment 6—Expand Recreation Site Construction List, November 1990, 7 pages (937kb)
• Amendment 6, Correction Notice 1—Recreation Project Proposals, July 1991, 12 pages (1.7mb)
• Amendment 7—AQRVs Sensitive Receptors and Levels of Acceptable Change, January 1992, 6 pages (158kb)
• Amendment 7, Correction Notice 2—Acquisition Lands, Management Area 2F, and Base-in-Exchange Lands, Management Area 2G, January 1992, 10 pages (1.8mb)
• Amendment 7, Correction Notice 3—Ten Year Timber Sale Program, February 1993, 8 pages (152kb)
• Amendment 7, Correction Notice 4—Changing Land Management Planning Fire Management Terminology, June 2000, 5 pages (1.2mb)
• Amendment 8, Replacement pages reflected in the 1996 Record of Decision for Amendment of Forest Plans in Arizona and New Mexico, June 1996, 1 page (15kb)
• Amendment 8a, Amendment to Add Standards and Guidelines for the Mexican Spotted Owl and the Northern Goshawk, June 1996, 20 pages (2.2mb)
• Amendment 8b, Implementation Schedule Tables, June 1996, 18 pagess (214kb)
• Amendment 8c, Proposed Vegetation Modification Tables, June 1996, 49 pages, (560kb)
• Amendment 8d, List of TES species, June 1996, 33 pages (464kb)
• Amendment 9—Protection of Eligible Wild, Scenic or Recreation River Areas, November 2002, 6 pages (1mb)
• Amendment 10—Riparian Standards and Guidelines, September 2005, 9 pages (1.5mb)
• Amendment 11, Management Indicator Species List, September 2006, 11 pages (618kb)

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports

FY2015-2016 Annual Monitoring Report

Appendix A Silver Fire BAER Monitoring Report (Year 2)

Appendix B Signal Fire Monitoring Report (Final)

Appendix C Silver Fire BAER Monitoring Report (Final)

Appendix D - Whitewater Creek Turbidity

2014 Annual Monitoring Report (PDF, 1MB)

Appendix A Gila Wilderness Lichen Air Quality Report (PDF, 365KB)

Appendix B Cold Spring Creek Water Quality Sampling Report (PDF, 3.63MB)

Appendix C Silver Fire BAER Monitoring Report - Year One (PDF, 1.30MB)

Appendix D Signal Fire Emergency Response Seeding Report (PDF, 7.60MB)

2013 Annual Monitoring Report (PDF, 529KB)

2012 Annual Monitoring Report  (PDF, 940KB)

2011 Annual Monitoring Report (PDF, 554KB)

Appendix A National Visitor Use Monitoring Data (PDF, 213KB)

2010 Annual Monitoring Report (PDF, 390KB)

Appendix A. 1995 to 2009 for the Gila Wilderness IMPROVE Site (PDF, 399KB)

Appendix B. 2009 Annual & Seasonal Data Summary for Site NM01 (PDF, 14KB)

Appendix C. Monitoring Air Acid Deposition (PDF, 31KB)

Appendix D. Inventory of the East, Middle and West Forks of the Gila River 2005-2008 (PDF, 3MB)

Appendix E1. Water Testing Data, Lake Roberts, Silver City, NM (PDF, 106KB)

Appendix E2. Water Testing Data, Quemado Lake, Quemado, NM (PDF, 158KB)

Appendix F. Turbidity Monitoring Report for Section 319(H) Project Reconstruction and Stabilization of Whitewater Creek Trails #212 and #207, Glenwood Ranger District (PDF, 18KB)

Appendix G. Bear Fire Monitoring Report, Reserve and Glenwood Ranger Districts (PDF, 806KB)