Planning Rule Overview
Welcome to the USDA Forest Service Planning Rule Website. The 2012 Planning Rule as amended directs the land use planning process for national forests and grasslands.
The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) requires the Forest Service to develop land management plans to guide management of the 154 national forests, 20 grasslands, and 1 prairie that comprise the 193 million acre National Forest System. The NFMA required the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a planning rule ‘‘under the principles of the Multiple Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, that set[s] out the process for the development and revision of the land management plans, and the guidelines and standards’’ required by the NFMA.
Quick Links:
Trifold overview to A Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Governments (PDF, 3.8 MB)
Trifold overview to A Citizen's Guide to Forest Planning (PDF, 1.3 MB)
A Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Governments (PDF, 12.9 MB)
A Citizen's Guide to Forest Planning (PDF, 3.1 MB)
A Citizen's Guide to Forest Planning - Espanol (PDF, 8 MB)
National Association of Counties Guidebook (PDF, 71.7MB)