Planning
Forest planning documents guide all forest management actions. Plans are focused at a broad scale: regional, forest-wide, or landscape (watershed) level.
Understanding the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
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.
Land and Resource Managment Plans
A Land and Resource Management Plan sets the strategic direction for how a region or 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.
Regional Plans
Northwest Forest Plan & Amendment
The Northwest Forest Plan covers 24.5 million acres of federally managed lands in California, Oregon, and Washington. It was established in 1994 to address threats to threatened and endangered species while also contributing to social and economic sustainability in the region. Over 30 years later, the Northwest Forest Plan needs to be updated to accommodate changed ecological and social conditions.
Forest Level Plans
The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to review their actions to ensure they do not jeopardize the continued existence of federally listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of listed critical habitat.
If federal actions may affect federally listed species, the agency must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To streamline the process, the Olympic National Forest requested consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on multiple projects that have a similar design and occur repeatedly.
The document Biological Opinion for Programmatic Forest Management Activities on the Olympic National Forest June 15, 2020 to June 15, 2030 is a multi-program consultation for activities expected to occur on the forest over 10 years.
These activities include the Olympic National Forest’s restoration thinning program, as well as other activities routinely conducted (e.g., campground and road maintenance and repair). The forest proposes to thin both younger and older forest stands. Older forest stands may be greater than 80 years of age and/or greater than 20 inches in diameter.
This programmatic consultation evaluates potential effects of the management actions to three federally listed threatened species (spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and bull trout) and their designated critical habitats. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the 10-year program of actions, as proposed, is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species and is not likely to destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitats.
Approximately 2,000 miles of Forest roads provide access for resource management, recreation, and other uses. About 1,400 miles are open to motorized vehicles and 600 miles are closed, that may be opened for resource management.
As part of a national effort, the Forest completed a road system analysis to identify the minimum road system needed for travel and for administration, utilization, and protection of National Forest System lands.
Watershed Restoration Plans
The Forest Service‟s Pacific Northwest Region Aquatic Restoration Strategy is a region-wide effort to protect and restore aquatic habitat across Washington and Oregon. The strategy relies on a collaborative approach to restoration and on focusing available resources in selected high priority watersheds to accomplish needed restoration activities on national forest system lands as well as other ownerships. In 2010 the Olympic National Forest selected the Calawah River watershed (5th field) as its “Focus Watershed” for the Washington Coast basin. Over the next several years the Forest Service will emphasize restoration within the Calawah River watershed and will work with partners to complete the high priority projects needed to protect and restore salmon and steelhead habitat in the basin.
The Dungeness watershed has been the focus for numerous committees, studies, and government projects to recover depleted wild stocks of salmon, restore salmon habitat, improve water quality and the overall condition of the watershed. The Olympic National Forest (ONF) has participated with other government agencies, citizens, and stakeholders to develop long-term management of the river and its resources, outline watershed restoration priorities, and implement the actions.
The Upper South Fork Skokomish supports diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitat and species. It provides around 16 miles of anadromous habitat and about 43 miles of resident habitat. It contains designated critical habitat for Puget Sound Chinook and Puget Sound Coastal Bull Trout. The watershed supports the following anadromous fish species: Bull Trout, Steelhead, Coho Salmon, Coastal Cutthroat Trout, River lamprey and sculpin. Of these species, three are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Puget Sound Coastal Bull Trout, Puget Sound Steelhead, and Puget Sound Chinook. The Puget Sound Chinook have been extricated from the upper South Fork Skokomish watershed, but will be reintroduced as part of the Chinook recovery effort. Fish on the Sensitive Species List include Puget Sound/Strait of Georgia Coho Salmon, Puget Sound Coastal Cutthroat Trout, and River lamprey. Resident fish species present include resident rainbow and cutthroat trout.
Protecting water quality is a concern for supporting beneficial uses within and downstream of this watershed. Waters from the Upper South Fork Skokomish also influence key anadromous spawning and rearing habitat downstream in the Lower South Fork Skokomish and mainstem Skokomish River.