Forest Plan
Each national forest has a land and resource plan—often referred to as a “forest plan”—that helps guide the stewardship of that national forest. The Wayne National Forest is currently managed under a forest plan that was created in 2006 with help from members of the public.
Current Forest Plan and Resources
- Wayne National Forest 2006 Land and Resource Management Plan
- Management Area Map
- Unit Maps 34 x 44 inches
- Unit Maps 11 x 17 inches
What Forest Plans Are and How They Work
A forest plan is the principal document that guides the decisions of Forest Service stewards. It sets forth a vision for land management and describes the desired conditions of the national forest. It provides a framework for developing future activities or projects by designating broad goals and objectives that activities or projects can be planned around. Plan components provide specific direction or limitations on future actions. Although there are always different opinions about how a national forest should be managed, the forest plan balances social, environmental, and economic concerns. In a nutshell, forest plans help inform the planning of discrete projects, and these discrete projects are then implemented to actually carry out stewardship actions on-the-ground.
The Forest Service takes an adaptive approach to management, which means that forests plans are designed to adapt to changing conditions, needs, public sentiment, and available scientific information. To add, modify, or remove one or more plan components, or to change how or where one or more plan components apply, the forest plan must be amended. Forest plan amendments follow a standardized process, can be broad or narrow in scope, and can occur at any time. There can also be administrative changes to forest plans, which include any changes that are not plan amendments. Fixing text errors are an example of an administrative change. You can view a list of administrative changes on the Administrative Changes to 2006 Forest Plan page.
What Forest Plans Do and Don’t Do
- Forest plans do provide the “big picture” vision for the landscape.
- They do describe the distinctive roles and contributions of the national forest within the broader landscape.
- And they do follow all applicable Federal laws, regulations, and policies.
- Forest plans do not guide the allocation of budgetary or personnel resources.
- They do not authorize any projects, activities, or site-specific prohibitions, nor do they commit the Forest Service to take action.
- And finally, they do not repeat Federal laws and regulations.