Planning
Whether we're revising a forest plan or launching a trail restoration project, we follow the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—a federal law that ensures environmental impacts are considered before action is taken.
Three main types of NEPA analysis:
- Categorical Exclusion (CE) – For projects with minimal impacts
- Environmental Assessment (EA) – For moderate-impact actions needing deeper analysis
- Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – Comprehensive review for projects with significant effects
NEPA helps the Forest Service make transparent, science-based decisions. It also ensures that public involvement is built into every step of the process.
A Forest Plan—formally called a Land and Resource Management Plan—sets the strategic direction for how each National Forest is managed. These plans are required by federal law and updated periodically to reflect new science, changing conditions, and evolving public values.
Each forest plan includes:
- Desired Conditions – The long-term outcomes we aim for
- Objectives – Measurable steps toward those conditions
- Standards & Guidelines – Guardrails for activities like recreation, grazing, and logging
- Suitability Determinations – Where and how different uses are allowed
- Management Areas – Places with unique characteristics or priorities
Plans are developed with extensive public engagement and under the guidance of the 2012 Planning Rule.
Forest planning helps us chart a long-term path for healthy, resilient landscapes—and shapes the on-the-ground projects that bring these plans to life. Whether we're restoring wildlife habitat or reducing wildfire risk through a local project, or updating a forest plan to reflect today's conditions, planning and using the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, as our framework, is how we make thoughtful, informed decisions for the future of our National Forests.
Lands Administered by the Colville National Forest
Begun in 2019 and finalized in 2021, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and the Colville National Forest leadership teams, in consultation with the Regional Forester, decided to shift administrative management of the Tonasket Ranger District to the Colville National Forest. The 1989 Okanogan Forest Plan, still provides management direction for the Tonasket Ranger District. The 2019 Colville Forest Plan provides management direction for the Republic, Three Rivers and Newport-Sullivan Ranger Districts on the Colville National Forest.
Read the following documents by clicking on the titles below:
Final Record of Decision
- Cover Letter for the Final Record of Decision (October 21, 2019)
- Final Record of Decision for the Colville National Forest Land Management Plan (October 21, 2019)
Final Environmental Impact Statement
- Volume 1—Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Land Management Plan
- Volume 2—Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Land Management Plan
- Volume 3 – Final Environmental Impact Statement Appendices A through K
- FEIS Map Packet
Final Land Management Plan
Land Managment Plan Administrative Changes
As clerical errors and administrative changes are discovered during plan implementation, each occurrence of a clerical error will be documented, reviewed, and noticed to the public on the forest website. A redline version of the Forest Plan and the FEIS will be updated to be consistent with the ongoing list of corrections. The intent is to make available to interested parties a current corrected version of the Forest Plan and FEIS.
Administrative changes are any change to a plan that is not a plan amendment or a plan revision. Administrative changes include corrections of clerical errors to any part of the plan, conformance of the plan to new statutory or regulatory requirements, or changes to other content in the plan (§ 219.7(f)). Administrative changes may be made following public notice (§ 219.16 (c)(6)).
Updates to the maintenance record log will be made on an as-needed basis. Administrative changes are organized by year.
Forest Plan Monitoring Reports
The Colville National Forest now has a Revised Forest Plan. As part of this plan, the Forest will produce Biennial Monitoring Reports.
Signed 2022-Final-MonitoringImplementationPlan (PDF, 587 KB)