Planning
The Coconino National Forest's land and resource management plan (also known as the forest plan) was revised in 2018. A forest land and resource management plan, or Forest Plan, provides integrated, forest-wide guidance for all forest uses and activities on National Forest Lands. Amendments to, administrative changes, and monitoring reports for the revised Coconino Forest Plan are linked to from here.
2018 Coconino Forest Plan
The Coconino National Forest's management plan, revised in 2018, provides integrated, forest-wide guidance for all forest uses and activities on national forest lands for approximately the next 15 years.
The revised Forest Plan is updated with administrative changes and amendments as needed. Those updates are listed and can be accessed below; the latest version of the plan is linked here.
Through the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA), Congress designated Fossil Creek as a wild and scenic river in Spring 2009 to protect its amazing attributes for years to come. The decision for the Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan (Fossil Creek CRMP) in October 2021 authorized an amendment to the Coconino Forest Plan to apply to all future projects and activities within the Fossil Creek Special Area. This plan amendment:
- Decreases the area of the Fossil Creek Designated Wild and Scenic River Special Area by four acres at T21N, R7E, E 1/2 Section 21 in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3(b) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which states, “boundaries shall include an average of not more than 320 acres of land per mile.…”
- Incorporates the management direction provided in Chapter 3 of the Fossil Creek CRMP. This management direction applies to the 2,892 acres within the Fossil Creek Designated Wild and Scenic River Special Area on the Coconino National Forest.
- Recommends an 11.6-acre addition to the Designated Fossil Springs Botanical Area.
To incorporate this amendment, changes have been made to the Coconino Forest Plan. Appendix G has been added, containing the management direction for the Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River Special Area, and pages and maps have been updated.
Fossil Creek Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP)
Fossil Creek CRMP Record of Decision
Fossil Creek CRMP Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Fossil Creek CRMP Annual Monitoring Reports
In the Fossil Creek CRMP, monitoring and adaptive management is related to multiple river values (water, biological, geology, recreation, and cultural values). Monitoring is intended to protect river values, inform CRMP implementation, and highlight the need for adaptive management actions. If assessment of monitoring data indicates adverse impacts attributable to management actions or visitor use may be occurring, adaptive management actions that are anticipated to lessen these impacts will be implemented. Reaching a soft threshold indicates adverse impacts may be occurring.
The Coconino and Tonto National Forests, Red Rock and Payson Ranger Districts, complete the Fossil Creek CRMP Monitoring Reports as monitoring data and results are assessed, and the need for adaptive management actions are determined.
2024 FC CRMP Monitoring Report
2023 FC CRMP Monitoring Report
Forest Plan Monitoring and Evaluation
The Coconino National Forest began implementing its newly revised Forest Plan on June 26, 2018. Monitoring and evaluation are required by National Forest Management Act regulations and the 2012 Planning Rule to determine how the Forest Plan is being applied, how well the plan is working to maintain or make progress toward desired conditions, and if its management direction remains appropriate. Based upon this evaluation, recommendations may be made to change management direction or revise or amend the Forest Plan. This is intended to inform adaptive management of the Coconino National Forest.
Biennial Monitoring and Evaluation Reports (BMERs)
The purpose of the Biennial Monitoring Evaluation Report is to inform the public, partners, stakeholders, other government agencies, and tribes of the completed and ongoing monitoring of forest plan implementation activities in the Coconino National Forest. The monitoring results presented in this report help the forest supervisor determine whether a change is needed in forest plan direction, plan components, or other plan content that guide management of resources in the Coconino National Forest. The Biennial Monitoring Evaluation Report represents one part of the Forest Service’s overall monitoring program for this national forest. It is not a decision document. It evaluates monitoring questions and indicators presented in Chapter 5, Monitoring Strategy, of the revised Coconino Forest Plan (2018), and reports on the results of monitoring of management actions carried out in the forest.
2023 Biennial Monitoring Evaluation Report for FYs 2021-2022
2021 Biennial Monitoring Evaluation Report for FYs 2018-2020
Administrative Changes and Amendments to the 2018 Coconino Forest Plan
This administrative change proposes changes to the monitoring strategy by adding to the focal species monitored. The Coconino NF made an Administrative Change to the Monitoring Strategy (Chapter 5 of the Coconino Revised Forest Plan) in June 2019. After several years of monitoring those initial focal species by the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (BCOR), forest biologists have recommended additional species that would serve as better indicators of ecological integrity. This administrative change is to add those focal species to forest monitoring to better meet the need to monitor the condition of the forest ecosystems they inhabit. These additions were published for public review and comment in October and November 2024.
Comments were received from two reviewers, agreeing with the additions to forest focal species. This administrative change has been approved (decision letter), and the resultant changes to the Coconino Forest Plan Monitoring Strategy (Chapter 5 of the Forest Plan) are described and listed in the document "Coconino National Forest Change in Focal Species."
The decision for the Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan (Fossil Creek CRMP) in October 2021 authorized an amendment to the Coconino Forest Plan to apply to all future projects and activities within the Fossil Creek Special Area. This plan amendment:
- Decreases the area of the Fossil Creek Designated Wild and Scenic River Special Area by 4 acres at T21N, R7E, E 1/2 Section 21 in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3(b) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which states, “boundaries shall include an average of not more than 320 acres of land per mile.…”
- Incorporates the management direction provided in Chapter 3 of the Fossil Creek CRMP. This management direction applies to the 2,892 acres within the Fossil Creek Designated Wild and Scenic River Special Area on the Coconino National Forest.
- Recommends an 11.6-acre addition to the Designated Fossil Springs Botanical Area.
To incorporate this amendment, changes have been made to the Coconino Forest Plan. Appendix G has been added, containing the management direction for the Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River Special Area, and pages and maps updated.
This administrative change carries forward modifications and clarifications to the Coconino Forest Plan, and an errata to the Record of Decision (ROD), to address the decision made on appeals of the plan, follow the instructions given in that decision, and provide the resolutions agreed to and offered in appeal resolution meetings with the appellants. The alterations made as part of this administrative change, as well as the errata to the ROD, are listed in the attached document, “Coconino Forest Plan, Administrative Change per Appeal Resolutions, Administrative Change #2.” In this document, additions are indicated by bold, italicized text; deletions are indicated by strike-through text.
This Administrative Change to the 2018 Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) for the Coconino National Forest (NF) brings the Forest Plan's Monitoring Strategy into conformance with the monitoring requirements of the 2012 Planning Rule (36 CFR 219). In the 2012 Planning Rule, Management Indicator Species (MIS) monitoring has been replaced with monitoring of focal species.
Focal species are selected to monitor when doing so is feasible and they are the best way to track whether ecological integrity and ecosystem diversity is being maintained or improved. Monitoring focal species is intended to address situations where they provide more useful information or are more efficiently monitored than monitoring other potential indicators. There may be situations where key ecological indicators could be monitored directly, but monitoring focal species as an overall measure of composition, structure, function, and connectivity may be a more appropriate indicator of integrity.
Administrative Change per Monitoring Transition to Focal Species