A Forest Resource Plan For The Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands

The Forest Inventory and Analysis program collected, analyzed, and summarized field data on 37 field plots on the islands of Rota, Tinian, and Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Estimates of forest area, tree stem volume and biomass, the numbers of trees, tree damages, and the distribution of tree sizes were summarized for this statistical sample. Detailed tables and graphical highlights provide a summary of the CNMI's forest resources and a comparison to prior vegetation mapping work.

The Proposed Action is to implement the INRMP for FDM and Tinian MLAs. The MLAs are located on United States Department of Defense (DoD) controlled lands within the CNMI that have been and arc used for military training. The Proposed Action fulfills the requirements of the Sikes Act Improvement Act (SAIA) (16 USC $670a et seq.) and represents an ecosystem-based approach to natural resources management on the MLAs. The INRMP projects were developed in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife. The proposed projects focus on actions that either (1) protect threatened or endangered (T/E) species; or (2) provide additional knowledge of T/E species and their habitat to enable future sound management decisions. The Proposed Action consists of projects that meet INRMP goals and objectives within four natural resource management categories: Forest Management; Fish and Wildlife Management; Land Management; and Outdoor Recreation Management and are required to meet Federal and local regulatory requirements. The approach of the NEPA analysis is "programmatic," in that it evaluates alternative strategies for managing the natural resources of the FDM and Tinian MLAs. Specific projects are proposed for the Proposed Action and alternatives; however, the intent is to capture overall impacts in a broad sense.