Sustainable Forest Management:

Transcription

1 United States Department of Agricuture Northeastern Area Forest Service State & Private Forestry NA-MR Sustainabe Forest Management: The Roe of the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area and State Forestry Agencies

2 Cover photograph: USDA Forest Service Editing: Heen Thompson Desktop pubishing: Mary Torseo Doris Beinger The U.S. Department of Agricuture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in a its programs and activities on the basis of race, coor, nationa origin, gender, reigion. age, disabiity, poitica beiefs, sexua orientation, or marita or famiy status. (Not a prohibited bases appy to a programs.) Persons with disabiities who require aternative means for communication of program information (Braie, arge print, audiotape, etc.) shoud contact USDA s TARGET Center at (202) (voice and TDD). To fie a compaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civi Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Buiding, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC or ca (202) (voice and TDD). USDA is an equa opportunity provider and empoyer.

3 The Roe of the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area and State Forestry Agencies in Sustainabe Forest Management Apri 1999 (revised August 2000) **format modified for the internet** No one can predict the future how peope wi ive, or what exacty they wi need but it is possibe to foresee the ikey effects of some of today s decisions and to make choices that honor the interests of present and future generations (President s Counci on Sustainabe Deveopment 1996).

4 Introduction Sustainabiity is an overarching goa for a diverse array of pubic and private organizations, agencies, and individuas, and it is an extraordinary chaenge. The coective efforts of a are needed to mobiize the skis, capacity, and resources to achieve this goa. This paper provides a brief discussion of sustainabiity and sustainabe forest management and outines the particuar steps the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, Northeastern Area, and the 20 State forestry agencies in the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters (NAASF) wi take to move toward this desired condition. The impementation measures and associated actions are intended to provide focus to efforts of the Federa-State partnership and to spur outreach, partnerships, and coaboration with those who have overapping responsibiities and concerns, such as the Northeastern and North Centra Research Stations and the Eastern Region of the Forest Service, other State and Federa agencies operating in the Northeast and Midwest, Native American Tribes, communities, municipaities, universities, professiona associations, forest-based industries, environmenta groups, and forest andowners.

5 Sustainabe Forest Management Sustainabiity is a compex idea invoving economic, environmenta, and socia factors. The terms forest sustainabiity, sustainabe forestry, and sustainabe forest management are often used interchangeaby and are cosey inked to definitions of sustainabe deveopment. Commony cited definitions for a these terms generay incude or impy the foowing eements: the continued existence and use of forests to meet human physica, economic, and socia needs; the desire to preserve the heath of forest ecosystems in perpetuity; and the ethica choice of preserving options for future generations whie meeting the needs of the present (see Definitions, page 3). Sustainabiity concerns the interactions between humans and forests in widand, rura, urban, and suburban settings, and the effects of this interaction at oca, andscape, regiona, nationa, and goba scaes. In discussions of sustainabiity, forests are defined as ecosystems dominated by trees but with other components of nature, such as shrubs, herbs, mammas, birds, insects, microorganisms, soi, air, and water, and the interactive processes that bind them together. The concept of sustainabiity incorporates the knowedge that forests pay a major roe in sustaining human heath and wefare. They contribute to the ong-term viabiity of watersheds, communities, and economies. The socia, cutura, and economic reaities of urban, suburban, and rura communities have a far reaching infuence on the continued existence, use, and condition of forests. To operate sustainaby, forest managers may need to devote as much time to convening and faciitating agreement on the desired future conditions of the forests under their stewardship or authority as on panning and impementing the technica methods to produce the desired goods and services in an environmentay sound manner. Sustainabiity depends on citizens and stakehoders adopting stewardship and individua responsibiity as tenets by which to ive and moving from confict to coaboration (President s Counci on Sustainabe Deveopment 1996). The Northeastern Area s Five Year Strategic Pan (USDA Forest Service 1995) identified heathy sustainabe forests, sustainabe economic deveopment, and information resource management as the major strategic issues for the period. The NAASF review of the Northeastern Area in Juy 1997 recognized the continued importance of sustainabiity issues and the need to increase the genera understanding and acceptance of sustainabiity concepts through the next panning cyce. Major NAASF review recommendations incuded the foowing. 1.The seven criteria of sustainabiity deveoped through the Montrea Process (see The Montrea Process, page 4) shoud be adopted as sustainabe forest management goas for the 20-State region. 2.Monitoring and assessment of forest resource conditions shoud be conducted based on these criteria, and work shoud begin in the Northeast and Midwest to integrate the use of the Montrea Process criteria and indicators into Forest Service programs and poicies. The recommendations are consistent with the Forest Service s Natura Resource Agenda for the 21 st Century reeased March 2, 1998 (Dombeck 1998), and with the Nationa Association of State Foresters (NASF) White Paper Forests for a Sustainabe Future: The Use of Criteria and Indicators in Sustainabe Forest Management (NASF 1997). These two documents highight the need to fuy fund forest inventory and monitoring programs and to use measurements such as the Montrea Process criteria and indicators (C&I). The Natura Resource Agenda committed the Forest Service to work with State, oca, and other partners to use C&I to report on the heath of a forested andscapes across the nation by 2003.

6 Definitions Sustainabe deveopment... to meet the needs of the present without compromising the abiity of future generations to meet their own needs (Word Commission on Environment and Deveopment 1987). Forest sustainabiity... the management and utiization of forests to meet the needs of the present without compromising the abiity of future generations to meet their own needs. The needs can be met by integrating the reforestation, growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for usefu products, with conservation of soi, air, and water quaity as we as maintenance of pant and anima diversity and aesthetics (Nationa Hardwood Lumber Association 1994). Since sustainabe forest management is ony possibe within the utimate constraints and imits imposed by the ecosystem, sustainabiity shoud be viewed as the degree of overap between ecoogica possibiities and sociay desired benefits of forests (Noss 1993). A heathy forest has the foowing four characteristics that reate to forest sustainabiity: (1) the physica environment, biotic resources, and trophic network to support productive forests; (2) resistance to catastrophic change and the abiity to recover on the andscape eve; (3) a functiona equiibrium between suppy and demand of essentia resources (water, nutrients, ight, and growing space) for major portions of the vegetation; and (4) a diversity of sera stages and stand structures that provide habitat for any native species and a essentia ecosystem processes (Kob and others 1994). Sustainabe forestry... means managing our forests to meet the needs of the present without compromising the abiity of future generations to meet their own needs by practicing a and stewardship ethic which integrates the growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for usefu products with the conservation of soi, air, and water quaity, widife and fish habitat, and aesthetics (American Forest and Paper Association 1995). Forestry in this sense is scientific knowedge guided by a and ethic or ethos in its appication to the art and business of manipuating the forested portion of the ecosystem in a manner that assures the maintenance and sustainabiity of bioogica diversity and ecoogica productivity throughout the centuries. Inherent in sustainabe forestry are intuitive reaity checks and a great dea of humiity. The outcome of such forestry wi be the perpetua production of amenities, services, and goods for human use (Maser 1994). Sustainabe forest management... enhances and maintains the bioogica productivity and diversity of Maine s forests, thereby assuring economic and socia opportunities for this and future generations. It takes pace in a arge ecoogica and socia context and achieves a baance between andowners objectives and society s needs (Maine Counci on Sustainabe Forest Management 1996).

7 The Montrea Process In 1992 the United Nations sponsored a Conference on Environment and Deveopment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi, now commony know as the Earth Summit. At the summit over 144 nations recognized the importance of sustainaby managing a types of forests in order to meet the needs of present and future generations by adopting a nonbinding Statement of Forest Principes. The reference to the Montrea Process comes from efforts foowing the Earth Summit. The United Nations Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe sponsored an internationa seminar in Montrea, Canada on Sustainabe Deveopment of Borea and Temperate Forests. This conference provided a forum for discussions on how to measure and track progress toward the goa of sustainabiity. These discussions provided the conceptua basis for subsequent regiona and internationa initiatives to deveop criteria, which provide a arge-scae refection of pubic vaues, and indicators, which provide a means of measuring forest conditions and tracking changes in environmenta, economic, and socia conditions. In 1995, the United States endorsed a statement of poitica commitment to use criteria and indicators to track progress in sustainabiity. The signatory document, known as the Santiago Decaration, incudes a comprehensive set of 7 criteria and 67 indicators for the conservation and sustainabe management of temperate and borea forests. Signatories to this nonbinding decaration incude Argentina, Canada, Chie, China, Japan, the Repubic of Korea, Mexico, New Zeaand, the Russian Federation, the United States, and Uruguay. The countries contain 90 percent of the word s temperate and borea forests 60 percent of a forests on the gobe. They account for 45 percent of reated word trade and 35 percent of the word s popuation. The United States issued The First Approximation Report for Sustainabe Forest Management: Report of the United States on the Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainabe Management of Temperate and Borea Forests on June 6, 1997 (USDA Forest Service 1997). This report aid a foundation for an ongoing process to assess forest management and monitoring capabiity across the country. A consoidated report from a Montrea Process Working Group countries was presented to the Eeventh Word Forestry Congress in Antaya, Turkey, in October 1997.

8 Impementation Measures The roe of the Northeastern Area and the States in sustainabe forest management is presented by four basic impementation approaches and associated actions, described in detai beow. 1.Adopt criteria and indicators as a framework for sustainabiity. 2.Support inventory, monitoring, and assessment programs and partnerships. 3.Evauate existing and potentia State and Private Forestry conservation, management, and protection services and partnerships. 4.Provide opportunities for professiona and pubic education and communication. Adopt Criteria and Indicators as a Framework for Sustainabiity Many peope in the Northeast and Midwest are asking whether or not forests are being managed sustainaby. They wonder if taxpayer doars are committed wisey. They ask whether forestry efforts today are achieving economic, environmenta, and sociay desired outcomes. Sustainabiity C&I are a means of gauging success by measuring rea word outcomes in ieu of program outputs. Criteria are goas or categories which refect broad pubic vaues and recognized scientific principes. Indicators within each category provide a means of measuring forest conditions and tracking changes in environmenta, economic, and socia conditions. Together they provide a framework which resource managers and citizens can use to systematicay estabish and carify desired economic, socia, and environmenta conditions and to track progress in meeting those conditions. Progress in sustainabiity is determined by evauating the sum of the indicators for each criterion and a criteria together, rather than any one in isoation. A sustainabiity framework with 7 criteria and 67 indicators was deveoped by the Montrea Process Working Group to measure conditions associated with temperate and borea forests in the member countries (see The Montrea Process, page 3 and appendix A). The seven Montrea Process criteria are these: 1. Conservation of bioogica diversity, 2. Maintenance of the productive capacity of forest ecosystems, 3. Maintenance of forest ecosystem heath and vitaity, 4. Conservation and maintenance of soi and water resources, 5. Maintenance of the forest contribution to goba carbon cyces, 6. Maintenance and enhancement of ong-term mutipe socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies, and 7. Maintenance of the ega, institutiona, and economic frameworks for forest conservation and sustainabe management.

9 Indicators associated with criteria 1-5 reate specificay to forest conditions, attributes, or functions which generay can be quantified. Those associated with criterion 6 reate to the vaues and benefits associated with the environmenta and socioeconomic goods and services that forests provide. Criterion 7 addresses the overa poicy framework supporting the conservation and sustainabe management of forests in an area. Criteria 6 and 7, which characterize the deiberate interactions between peope, their communities, and the environment, incude many descriptive or quaitative measures as we as some quantitative ones. The Northeastern Area and the NAASF have determined that the 7 Montrea Process criteria are usefu goas to adopt in the 20-State region. The Northeastern Area and the States wi work cooperativey with nationa efforts to identify common measurement and reporting protocos and to tie their work into the assessment required in 2003 by the Renewabe Resources Panning Act of In this way, the nationa assessment process can become an important pathway for the fow of information at the State, regiona, and nationa eve, and it wi aow the aggregate of individua monitoring efforts to be greater than the sum of the parts. Ceary efficiencies can be achieved by cooperating with nationa and internationa efforts. For exampe, for even fairy simpe indicators such as extent of area by forest type reative to tota forest area, there are variabe ways to proceed. Questions to be answered incude which forest type definitions shoud be used; are shrubands, savannah, and regenerating cearcuts incuded; and what point in time is used to determine the tota forest area. The Northeastern Area and the States wi cooperativey evauate each of the Montrea Process indicators for its vaue in guiding regiona and State eve programs and poicy initiatives. Evauation wi consider things ike technica soundness, feasibiity of impementation at a variety of scaes, and the degree to which standardization is necessary and possibe among States as we. Adoption of a C&I framework at the regiona, State, or oca eve does not automaticay transate into more intensive measurement and assessment of a of the Montrea Process indicators. Decision makers at these eves coud decide that the nationa evauation provides enough detai for their purposes; therefore, no additiona data coection or assessment is necessary. They coud decide that more intensive measurement and assessment of the nationa indicators woud meet their needs, or that different or additiona indicators and measurements are needed to answer recurrent questions which cannot be assessed on a nationa basis. Tabe 1 sets out exampes of indicators usefu at different scaes. Each of the 20 States currenty measure various indicators of sustainabiity. The Northeastern Area and the States wi coectivey ook to other projects such as the Maine Counci on Sustainabe Forest Management, the Minnesota Environmenta Indicators Initiative, the Mid-Atantic Integrated Assessment, and the Great Lakes Assessment for proven methods of measuring environmenta, socia, and economic outcomes in a bottom-up fashion to meet State and regiona needs. They wi see what essons can be earned from private initiatives such the American Forest and Paper Association s Sustainabe Forestry Initiative, the Forest Stewardship Counci principes and criteria effort, and the Nationa Forestry Association Green Tag Forestry efforts.

10 Tabe 1. Exampe of indicators usefu for assessments at various scaes. Exampe indicators were drawn from the Montrea Process, and State and oca efforts. Montrea Process indicators are identified by an asterisk (*). Indicator Nationa Regiona State or within State Bioogica Diversity Extent of area by forest type X X X reative to tota forest area* Extent of area in permanent natura openings to tota forest area X Number of forest-dependent species that occupy a sma X X portion of their former range* Lega, Institutiona and Economic Framework Encourage best practice codes X X for forest management* Percent compiance with best management practices X Deveoping and measuring criteria and indicators is ony haf the job of impementing the C&I framework. The other haf is obtaining technica review of the synthesized information and invoving pubic and private agencies, organizations, and stakehoders in the use of this information. One must accept that there are uncertainties associated with inventory and monitoring, and some subjectivity is invoved in determining the significance of research and monitoring resuts. In addition, the process of making decisions based on this information requires citizen and stakehoder invovement with the pubic agencies responsibe for impementing pubic aws and reguations and with poicy-making bodies. Federa, State, and oca agency personne have a significant charge to be convenors and faciitators in the interpretation and use of this information aways keeping in mind the highy charged dynamics invoved in baancing the needs of individuas with those of the pubic good. Adoption of the C&I Framework for Sustainabiity wi be accompished by the foowing. The Northeastern Area wi estabish funding sources for the ong-term coordination and staffing of a forest sustainabiity information cearinghouse for States, the Forest Service, other pubic agencies, nongovernment groups, and stakehoder groups. The Northeastern Area wi deveop a report on the status of forest heath and sustainabiity in the 20-State region covering a ands and ownerships, using C&I as an outine.

11 Use information from the Sustainabiity report to provide a context for the NA s Strategic Pan: The Northeastern Area wi bring together recommendations for regiona and State eve indicators for each of the seven criteria. These wi incude crossstate protocos, a regiona reporting process, a reporting cyce, and the staff expertise, time, GIS, anaytica, and decision-support capabiities needed to impement them. Appropriate inkages among State, regiona, and nationa indicators and timetabes wi be identified. Support Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment Programs and Partnerships The purpose of inventory, monitoring, and assessment is to provide information which aows citizens and resource managers to accuratey evauate the status of forest heath and the effects of forest management, and to debate poicy options using common data. Pubic agencies have a particuar roe to pay in ensuring that information coected is appropriate, compete, accurate, and unbiased, and that it is assessed using the best avaiabe science. The United States First Approximation Report for Sustainabe Forest Management (USDA Forest Service 1997) highighted the need for current pubic forest inventory and monitoring systems to coordinate on the definition, methodoogy, and protocos used in inventory and monitoring in order to capture the entire picture of forestry as it is practiced in this country. There are severa inventory, monitoring, and assessment programs within the Forest Service. The agency s Forest Inventory and Anaysis (FIA) and Forest Heath Monitoring (FHM) programs are the primary sources of information on forests in the Northeast and Midwest. The FIA program provides information on the extent, age, and distribution of forest cover types, timber production, and forest andowners intentions. This program is in the process of converting from a decada to an annua monitoring cyce. The FHM program is a cooperative Federa-State program that measures environmenta indicators and stressors on an annua basis, and it wi be fuy impemented within the next severa years over a ownerships in the 20-State region. In addition, nationa forests and many State forestry agencies conduct mutipe resource inventories and monitoring to support project eve and oca panning. Athough FHM, FIA, and nationa forest inventories and monitoring have specific and unique objectives, there is considerabe overap. Efforts are underway to make operationa and statistica connections among them and to reduce dupicative efforts. Simiar efforts coud be extended to State forestry inventory and monitoring programs and other Federa and State agency efforts. Assessments invove the compiation and synthesis of socia, economic, physica, and bioogica information, incuding information on past and present conditions, cause and effect reationships, trends, and forces of change, a of which may affect our choice of actions. They provide a context for decision making but do not prescribe particuar treatments or and aocations.

12 The Forest and Rangeands Renewabe Resources Panning Act of 1974 (RPA) requires the Secretary of Agricuture to prepare an assessment of the nation s renewabe resources on a forest and rangeands every 10 years and to prepare and transmit an updated nationa renewabe resources program every 5 years. The desired situation is that nationa, regiona, and State inventory, monitoring, and assessment activities are inked sufficienty through standard definitions and information protocos. This wi make information readiy avaiabe for addressing poicy questions as they arise and wi improve efficiency (time, peope, cost) and imit redundancy among a eves of government. The next RPA assessment wi provide a framework for reporting on C&I. Impementation of the C&I effort in cooperation with the RPA reporting process across the 20-State region wi improve the information base for decision making and give greater visibiity to regiona concerns at the nationa eve. The Forest Service Nationa Hierarchica Framework of Ecoogica Units (Ceand and others 1997) is a too that wi be used in inventory, monitoring, and assessment throughout the 20-State region (appendix B). The eight-eve spatia hierarchy of ecoogica units forms the basis for the framework by using a standardized regionaization, cassification, and mapping system to stratify the earth into progressivey smaer areas of increasingy uniform ecoogica potentia. These units provide a means of integrating research, inventory, and monitoring information from mutipe discipines and organizations for assessments across poitica, administrative, and jurisdictiona boundaries. Much of the data needed to measure and assess sustainabiity resides within other agencies and organizations. Measurement and assessment of C&I across the 20- State region can be used as a vehice to buid on existing partnerships and engage new partners in cooperatives to inventory, monitor, and assess forest conditions and opportunities for sustainabe forestry. State forest resource panning programs provide a simiar opportunity to capitaize on current interest in C&I to get a more compete picture of resource management at the State eve. Of continuing importance is the need to work in partnership with other agencies and organizations to compie and anayze existing data, and to identify and prioritize the acquisition of new information. The Forest Service and the States cooperate with a variety of partners on various nationa, regiona, subregiona, statewide, and oca monitoring projects. The Northeastern Area can work on the regiona scae and coordinate with the nationa office to ensure compatibiity. Reationships can be strengthened with the USDA Natura Resources Conservation Service, Natura Resource Inventory and Cooperative Soi Survey Programs, and with The Nature Conservancy. In addition, coordination can be promoted on important issues such as biodiversity, water quaity, demographic information, widife, and remote sensing with the foowing groups, respectivey: Natura Heritage Program Cooperators, the U.S. Geoogica Survey and Environmenta Protection Agency, the Nationa Census Bureau, the U.S. Fish and Widife Service and State widife agencies, and the U.S. Geoogica Survey GAP Anaysis Survey. Other efforts incude 10 States and 4 Canadian provinces cooperating in the North American Mape Project through a memorandum of understanding with the USDA Forest Service and the Vermont Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Project.

13 The Northeastern Area and the States wi work to deveop a comprehensive picture of forestry in the Northeast and Midwest by impementing the foowing actions. Promote the USDA Forest Service and State forestry agencies as the primary agencies to compie information and report on the status and trends of a forest resources across NA and within respective states. NA wi faciitate the compiation and assessment of information on C&I from within a branches of the USDA Forest Service and other agencies for periodic Area-wide reports on forest heath and sustainabiity. Cooperate with nationa efforts and initiate appropriate regiona efforts to deveop common inventory and monitoring protocos for indicator measurements across state borders and other agency and administrative units. First priority wi be to deveop consistency or compatibiity among the Nationa Forest System (NFS), State and Private Forestry, and State forestry agencies, and then among mutipe agencies within ecoogica units. Work cooperativey to identify information gaps in our abiity to monitor progress in achieving sustainabiity and deveop means to address those gaps. Fuy support ongoing efforts to ink and integrate information from FIA, FHM, and other forest resource inventories on State and Federa ands. Ensure that Northeastern Area and State inventory and monitoring and C&I assessments wi feed into the RPA assessment. Continue support of ecoogica cassification, mapping, and characterization efforts and use ecoogica units in the assessment process. Specificay support ecoogica mapping and characterization efforts across a and at ecoregiona and subregiona eves, provide technica and financia assistance to initiatives at other scaes, initiate cooperative effort to scientificay vaidate information, and support efforts of scientists and managers to deveop interpretations of ecoogica units for management. Support the Unified Watershed Approach by making information avaiabe to projects. Evauate Existing and Potentia State and Private Forestry Conservation, Management, and Protection Programs, Services, and Partnerships There is consensus that existing State and Private Forestry programs do not meet the tota need for pubic service. Socia, economic, and poitica dynamics are increasingy changing the way the forestry community must do business. Exampes are presented in studies such as Forested Landscapes in Perspective: Prospects and Opportunities for Sustainabe Management of America s Nonfedera Forests (Nationa Research Counci 1998), Sustainabe America: A New Consensus for Prosperity, Opportunity, and a Heathy Environment for the Future (President s Counci on Sustainabe Deveopment 1996), and Pubic Programs for Private Forestry: A Reader on Programs and Options (Sampson and DeCoster 1997).

14 These socia, economic, and poitica conditions, combined with changes in the extent and integrity of forests due to deveopment, argue that innovative programs and poicies are needed to compement traditiona Federa and State efforts. Today, the Northeastern Area and the States provide three basic types of service in addition to fied inventory and monitoring: resource conservation, management and protection programs; technoogy transfer activities; and specia project deveopment and impementation. Appendix C ists the Forest Service State and Private Forestry Cooperative Forest Management and Protection Programs. Technoogy transfer is the conveyance of technica information. It invoves drawing on staff expertise to assist in program impementation and to conduct training for resource professionas or andowners, deveoping and impementing projects which demonstrate key natura resource impementation strategies, synthesizing existing research and data, deveoping handbooks or modeing toos such as the Northeast Decision Mode, or simpy providing referras based on a professiona network. Specia projects are those which are not associated with reguar program activities and are generay focused on resoution of a specific issue or a probem in a specific area. They incude exampes such as the jointy sponsored Forest Fragmentation Symposium hed in Maryand, water quaity initiatives in the Chesapeake Bay and New York City Watersheds, deaing with emergencies such as the Asian onghorned beete infestation on New York City and the ice storm damage in northern New Engand, deveoping ecoogica units across the 20-State region, participating in nationa initiatives such as the USDA Urban Resources Partnership, and faciitating coaborative efforts such as the Northern Forest Lands Project in northern New Engand and New York, and the Highands Regiona Assessment Project in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsyvania. Coaboration with State and Federa forest partners and others is essentia for program success. Active invovement of county foresters, forest industry, forest andowners, and private forest interest groups (e.g., the Nationa Woodand Owners Association and the Association of Consuting Foresters) is aso essentia. The need for a andscape and even arger scae sustainabiity focus in mixed ownerships, which is sensitive to individua and oca needs and trends, makes the deveopment of vountary partnerships and cooperation very important. Resuting partnerships wi provide opportunities to earn together, reach creative soutions, compound effectiveness, and reach mutua goas. This can save time, money, and dupication of efforts, and can avoid confrontation and backsiding pitfas. This coaboration must begin eary to articuate a cear poicy of sustainabe forest management and a guiding framework to provide coherent direction to a cooperative forestry programs. The Northeastern Area and the States must increase efforts to faciitate cooperation and foster innovative projects that dea with emerging issues and resource conficts in a cost-effective manner. The contributions and the vaue of various partners programs and initiatives must be recognized. That incudes both traditiona programs such as the Tree Farm program, and newer initiatives such as the American Forest and Paper Association s Sustainabe Forestry Initiative, the Nationa Woodand Owners Green Tag Forestry, the Forest Stewardship Counci s Green Certification, and the Internationa Standards Organization (ISO) standards.

15 The Northeastern Area and the States, in coaboration with various partners, wi impement the foowing actions to increase State and private forest management effectiveness. Faciitate and participate in the peer review of the Northeastern Area report on forest heath and sustainabiity and in the evauation of its capacity to measure C&I at mutipe scaes. Work with partners and stakehoders to identify existing program contributions to each sustainabiity goa at oca, State, and regiona eves. Prepare recommendations for the Northeastern Area Strategic Pan on how to aign and integrate existing Area programs and activities to achieve sustainabe urban and rura forests. Increase the viabiity of the State forest resource panning program in the Northeastern Area and utiize State and Federa program staff to ensure C&I assessments are appropriatey inked to Area and State resource panning and poicy setting initiatives. Use C&I as a framework for reporting program accompishments and outcomes under the Government Performance and Resuts Act of 1993 and the RPA. Provide technoogy transfer services in the area of green certification and ISO standards impementation. Evauate other sustainabe forest management efforts in various sectors and programs and integrate them where appropriate. Deveop and maintain coaborative reationships and processes with stakehoders and partners invoved in sustainabe forest management efforts. Identify, address, and invove a forest ownerships (Nationa Forest System, Department of Defense, Department of Interior, Triba governments, State, county, forest industry, nonindustria private) in initiatives and programs to achieve sustainabe forest management. Identify existing and new partners and key payers with desires to achieve sustainabe forest management. Fund specia projects and demonstrations of sustainabe forest management. Provide Education and Communication Opportunities for Professionas and the Pubic Forest management has environmenta, socia, economic, and poitica impications. Professionas operating in today s environment need to have a broader range of skis and expertise at their disposa than any time in the past. To be reevant, credibe, and judged trustworthy, they must have the best scientific and technica knowedge avaiabe and the communication skis to ead and impement efforts to conserve and sustainaby manage the forests. The Northeastern Area and the State forestry agencies must be we informed on both technica and sociopoitica fronts forming around sustainabe forest issues.

16 The Northeastern Area and the State forestry agencies wi provide training and educationa opportunities so that resource professionas are knowedgeabe and abe to provide cear guidance and consistent messages to their coeagues, cients, and the pubic. Stakehoders are incuded at a stages of program and project panning and impementation so that decisions are made with fu knowedge of pubic expectations. Forest resource managers are abe to convey ceary to decisions makers the environmenta, socia, economic, and sometimes poitica ramifications of their management recommendations. In this information-rich era it is aso important that communicators be supported by the technoogy and communication toos needed to work with an ever increasing popuation. Actions to impement the education and communication measure incude the foowing. Upon competion of the first report on the conservation and sustainabe management of forests in the Northeast and Midwest, deveop a communication pan to share and expain the resuting information to a wide range of peope, incuding andowners, managers, and pubic officias. Identify key messages to communicate. Deveop a web page or computer networking system to disseminate information on the origins of sustainabe forest management, C&I, and the forestry community s response to this chaenge to professionas and the genera pubic. Strengthen communication networks among partners to share ideas, resuts, and technica expertise, and provide specific mechanisms for State forest and managers to network. Deveop a pubication to carify the definitions of sustainabe forest management. Deveop partnerships to create educationa programs and materias on sustainabe forest management for interna and externa use. Identify and share exampes of sustainabe forest management and practices among Federa agencies, States, and private andowners. Deveop assessment toos for fied personne to communicate and and forest practice contributions to sustainabiity. Assess the sustainabe forest management training and deveopment needs across the Area and the States and work coaborativey with cooperative extension, universities, and other partners to meet them.

17 Concusion The Forest Service and the State forestry agencies have critica roes to pay in the conservation and sustainabe management of forests. The strategy outined above recognizes that business as usua is not enough to sove the compex probems encountered as more pressure is paced on the natura environment by an increasing popuation. Cear, accurate information on the state of the forest resource and the ife cyces it supports is needed for decision making. The Northeastern Area and State resource professionas wi work to faciitate the coection, evauation, and dissemination of information and to foster coaborative approaches to the conservation and sustainabe management of the forest resource and the quaity of ife which a heathy environment can support. The Northeastern Area/NAASF initiative has four major aspects. 1. Adoption of a framework of C&I of sustainabiity which provides information on the condition of the forest resource and the baance between human and environmenta needs. This information is not reserved for natura resource professionas but is shared widey. 2. Enhancing inventory, monitoring, and assessment of the forest resource and reated socia and economic systems, and faciitating cooperation among the many agencies and organizations with overapping responsibiities. 3. Evauation and reaignment of resources within the agency to support sustainabe forest management. 4. Deveopment of effective communication and education approaches and processes for a broader array of stakehoders and professionas.

18 References American Forest and Paper Association Sustainabe forestry: principes and impementation guideines. Washington, DC; 8 p. Ceand, David T.; Avers, Peter E.; McNab, W. Henry; Jensen, Mark E.; Baiey, Robert G.; King, Thomas; Russe, Water E Nationa hierarchica framework of ecoogica units. In: Boyce, Mark S.; Haney, Aan, eds. Ecosystem management: appications for sustainabe forest and widife resources. New Haven, CT and London: Yae University Press; Dombeck, Michae March 2. A gradua unfoding of a nationa purpose: a natura resource agenda for the 21 st century. Speech. Located at: U.S. Department of Agricuture, Forest Service, Washington, DC. [ Kob, T.E.; Wagner, M.R.; Covington, W.W Concepts of forest heath. Journa of Forestry 92(7): Maine Counci on Sustainabe Forest Management Sustaining Maine s forests: criteria, goas, and benchmarks for sustainabe forest management. Augusta, ME: Dept. of Conservation; 33 p. + app. Maser, C Sustainabe forestry: phiosophy, science, and economics. Deray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press; 373 p. Nationa Association of State Foresters Forests for a sustainabe future: the use of criteria and indicators in sustainabe forest management. White Paper. Washington, DC; 9 p. Nationa Hardwood Lumber Association Sustainabe forest poicy. Memphis, TN; 20 p. Nationa Research Counci Forested ands in perspective: prospects and opportunities for sustainabe management of America s nonfedera forests. Washington, DC: Nationa Academy Press; 249 p. Noss, R.F Sustainabe forestry or sustainabe forests? In: Appet, G.; Johnson, N.; Oson, J.T.; Sampe, V.A., eds. Defining sustainabe forestry. Washington, DC: Isand Press; President s Counci on Sustainabe Deveopment Sustainabe America: a new consensus for prosperity, opportunity, and a heathy environment for the future. Washington, DC; 186 p. [202/ or Sampson, Nei; DeCoster, Lester Pubic programs for private forestry: a reader on programs and options. Washington, DC: American Forests Poicy Center; 6 p. [ U. S. Department of Agricuture, Forest Service Five year strategic pan Radnor, PA: State and Private Forestry, Northeastern Area; 26 p. U. S. Department of Agricuture, Forest Service First approximation report for sustainabe forest management: report of the United States on the criteria and indicators for the sustainabe management of temperate and borea forests. Washington, DC; [pagination not continuous]. Word Commission on Environment and Deveopment Our Common Future. Oxford, Engand: Oxford University Press; 383 p.

19 Appendix A The Montrea Process Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainabe Management of Temperate and Borea Forests Criterion 1: Conservation of bioogica diversity Ecosystem diversity 1. Extent of area by forest type reative to tota forest area 2. Extent of area by forest type and by age cass or successiona stage 3. Extent of area by forest type in protected area categories as defined by Internationa Union for the Conservation of Nature or other cassification systems 4. Extent of areas by forest type in protected areas defined by age cass or successiona stage 5. Fragmentation of forest types Species diversity 6. The number of forest dependent species 7. The status (rare, threatened, endangered, or extinct) of forest dependent species at risk of not maintaining viabe breeding popuations, as determined by egisation or scientific assessment Genetic diversity 8. Number of forest dependent species that occupy a sma portion of their former range 9. Popuation eves of representative species from diverse habitats monitored across their range Criterion 2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems 10.Area of forest and and net area of forest and avaiabe for timber production 11.Tota growing stock of both merchantabe and nonmerchantabe tree species on forest and avaiabe for timber production 12.The area and growing stock of pantations of native and exotic species 13.Annua remova of wood products compared to the voume determined to be sustainabe 14.Annua remova of nontimber forest products (e.g., fur bearers, berries, mushrooms, game) compared to the eve determined to be sustainabe Criterion 3: Maintenance of forest ecosystem heath and vitaity 15.Area and percent of forest affected by processes or agents beyond the range of historic variation (e.g., by insects, disease, competition from exotic species, fire, storm, and cearance, permanent fooding, sainization, and domestic animas) 16.Area and percent of forest and subjected to eves of specific air poutants (e.g., sufates, nitrate, ozone) or utravioet B that may cause negative impacts on the forest ecosystem

20 17.Area and percent of forest and with diminished bioogica components indicative of changes in fundamenta ecoogica processes (e.g., soi, nutrient cycing, seed dispersion, poination) and/or ecoogica continuity Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soi and water resources 18.Area and percent of forest and with significant soi erosion 19.Area and percent of forest and managed primariy for protective functions (e.g., watersheds, food protection, avaanche protection, riparian zones) 20.Percent of stream kiometers in forested catchments in which stream fow and timing has significanty deviated from the historic range of variation 21.Area and percent of forest and with significanty diminished soi organic matter and/or changes in other soi chemica properties 22.Area and percent of forest and with significant compaction or change in soi physica properties resuting from human activities 23.Percent of water bodies in forest areas (e.g., stream kiometers, ake hectares) with significant variance of bioogica diversity from the historic range of variabiity 24.Percent of water bodies in forest areas (e.g., stream kiometers, ake hectares) with significant variation from the historic range of variabiity in ph, dissoved oxygen, eves of chemicas (eectrica conductivity), sedimentation, or temperature change 25.Area and percent of forest and experiencing an accumuation of persistent toxic substances Criterion 5: Maintenance of forest contribution to goba carbon cyces 26.Tota forest ecosystem biomass and carbon poo, and if appropriate, by forest type, age cass, and successiona stages 27.Contribution of forest ecosystems to the tota goba carbon budget, incuding absorption and reease of carbon 28.Contribution of forest products to the goba carbon budget Criterion 6: Maintenance and enhancement of ong-term mutipe socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies Production and consumption 29.Vaue and voume of wood and wood products production, incuding vaue added through downstream processing 30.Vaue and quantities of production of nonwood forest products 31.Suppy and consumption of wood and wood products, incuding consumption per capita 32.Vaue of wood and nonwood products production as a percentage of gross domestic product 33.Degree of recycing of forest products

21 34.Suppy and consumption/use of nonwood products Recreation and tourism 35.Area and percent of forest and managed for genera recreation and tourism, in reation to the tota area of forest and 36.Number and type of faciities avaiabe for genera recreation and tourism, in reation to popuation and forest area 37.Number of visitor days attributed to recreation and tourism, in reation to popuation and forest area Investment in the forest sector 38.Vaue of investment, incuding in forest growing, forest heath and management, panted forests, wood processing, recreation, and tourism 39.Leve of expenditure on research and deveopment, and education 40.Extension and use of new and improved technoogy 41.Rates of return on investment Cutura, socia, and spiritua needs and vaues 42.Area and percent of forest and managed in reation to the tota area of forest and to protect the range of cutura, socia, and spiritua needs and vaues 43.Nonconsumptive-use forest vaues Empoyment and community needs 44.Direct and indirect empoyment in the forest sector and the forest sector empoyment as a proportion of tota empoyment 45.Average wage rates and injury rates in major empoyment categories within the forest sector 46.Viabiity and adaptabiity to changing economic conditions of forest dependent communities, incuding indigenous communities 47.Area and percent of forest and used for subsistence purposes Criterion 7: Lega, institutiona, and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainabe management Extent to which the ega framework (aws, reguations, guideines) supports the conservation and sustainabe management of forests, incuding the extent to which it: 48.Carifies property rights, provides for appropriate and tenure arrangements, recognizes customary and traditiona rights of indigenous peope, and provides means of resoving property disputes by due process 49.Provides for periodic forest-reated panning, assessment, and poicy review that recognizes the range of forest vaues, incuding coordination with reevant sectors 50.Provides opportunities for pubic participation in pubic poicy and decision making reated to forests and pubic access to information 51.Encourages best practice codes for forest management

22 52.Provides for the management of forests to conserve specia environmenta, cutura, socia, and/or scientific vaues Extent to which the institutiona framework supports the conservation and sustainabe management of forests, incuding the capacity to: 53.Provide for pubic invovement activities and pubic education, awareness and extension programs, and make avaiabe forest-reated information 54.Undertake and impement periodic forest-reated panning, assessment, and poicy review, incuding cross-sectora panning and coordination 55.Deveop and maintain human resource skis across reevant discipines 56.Deveop and maintain efficient physica infrastructure to faciitate the suppy of forest products and services and support forest management 57.Enforce aws, reguations, and guideines Extent to which the economic framework (economic poicies and measures) supports the conservation and sustainabe management of forests through: 58.Investment and taxation poicies and a reguatory environment which recognize the ong-term nature of investments and permit the fow of capita in and out of the forest sector in response to market signas, nonmarket economic vauations, and pubic poicy decisions in order to meet ong-term demands for forest products and services 59. Nondiscriminatory trade poicies for forest products Capacity to measure and monitor changes in the conservation and sustainabe management of forests, incuding: 60.Avaiabiity and extent of up-to-date data, statistics, and other information important to measuring or describing indicators associated with the seven criteria 61.Scope, frequency, and statistica reiabiity of forest inventories, assessment, monitoring, and other reevant information 62.Compatibiity with other countries in measuring, monitoring, and reporting on indicators Capacity to conduct and appy research and deveopment aimed at improving forest management and deivery of forest goods and services, incuding: 63.Deveopment of scientific understanding of forest ecosystem characteristics and functions 64.Deveopment of methodoogies to measure and integrate environmenta and socia costs and benefits into markets and pubic poicies, and to refect forest-reated resource depetion or repenishment in nationa accounting systems 65.New technoogies and the capacity to assess the socioeconomic consequences associated with the introduction of new technoogies 66.Enhancement of abiity to predict impacts of human intervention on forests 67.Abiity to predict impacts on forests of possibe cimate change (USDA Forest Service 1997)