Forest Planning Rule Goes Astray

In early June, the Public Lands Council along with several other multiple use industry groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Planning Rule due to it being in violation of current federal statutes and negatively impact multiple users like ranchers.

Public Lands Council Executive Director Dustin Van Liew shares the points of the Forest Planning Rule that multiple use industries have issue with
Van Liew: “The Forest Service has chosen to elevate Ecosystem Services above the five areas that the forest is supposed to be managing for such as: range, timber, minerals, watershed, wildlife and fish. So they’ve taken this term Ecosystem Services and elevated to mean that will be what they will manage the forest for over the statutorily required issues like range and grazing.”
Van Liew says that another issue is the Forest Service’s idea of managing for the viability of wildlife species -- over all other uses. In the final draft of the Forest Planning Rule some new terms were added that the public was unable to comment on -- riparian management zone for example -- with no definition given.
Van Liew sums it up
Van Liew: “It’s a terrible rule and we find many violations of statute and feel its in industry’s best interest to carry this challenge through the court system and hopefully see the rule thrown out and send it back to the Forest Service for them to start over and follow their mandate of multiple use and sustained yield.”