The Strategy And Design Of The Effectiveness Monitoring Program For The Forest Plan

Provides an early warning of environmental change before irreversible loss has occurred. Monitoring is focused at 2 resource levels: individual species & specific ecosystem types. Selection of prospective indicators for the status of species or ecosystems is based on the development of conceptual models relating resource change to reliable, early warning signals of change. Ecosystems are monitored on the basis of critical structural & compositional elements that reflect the state of underlying ecological processes. Includes recommendations for staffing, funding, & establishing a long-term commitment for a large, interagency monitoring program. Includes, A Guide to Soil Sampling & Analysis on the Nat. Forests of the Inland NW U.S.Ó

nly affected timber industry jobs in local communities, but also resulted in declining agency budgets and staff reductions. Mitigation efforts varied. Ecosystem management contracts declined and shifted from labor-intensive to equipment-intensive activities, with about half of all contractors from the Olympic Peninsula. Economic assistance grants benefited communities that had the staff and resources to develop projects and apply for monies, but provided little benefit to communities without those resources. Payments to counties served as an important source of revenue for rural schools and roads. We also examine socioeconomic changes that occurred in the case study communities, and the influence of forest management policy on these changes. Between 1990 and 2000 all three communities showed a decrease in population, an increase in median age, a decline in timber industry-related employment, and an increase in service-industry and government jobs. Quilcene's proximity to the larger ur

Forest monitoring by terrestrial investigation has achieved a number of results in terms of infrastructure, enhanced international cooperation, development of methods, data, data quality, and capability to provide information. In addition, long-term monitoring data are increasingly requested by researchers and modelers. Despite these achievements, forest monitoring programs are facing increasing challenges related to a superimposed reduction in resources and a generalized loss of appeal and enthusiasm by policy and funding agencies. Although forest monitoring is a relatively young discipline, which has already evolved considerably, a further, rapid evolution is necessary. The next generation of monitoring programs should consider (i) identifying a wider range of users for monitoring information; (ii) expanding monitoring potential by means of connections with terrestrial and remotely based inventory, modeling, and research systems; (iii) adapting and further improving quality and coverage of data, information and reporting to fit specialized stakeholders; and (iv) enhanced global cooperation. Long-term commitment and financial support are necessary to secure continuity of operation, data collection, and maintenance of data series.

The socioeconomic monitoring report addresses two evaluation questions posed in the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) Record of Decision and assesses progress in meeting five Plan socioeconomic goals. Volume I of the report contains key findings. Volume II addresses the question, Are predictable levels of timber and nontimber resources available and being produced? It also evaluates progress in meeting the goal of producing a predictable level of timber sales, special forest products, livestock grazing, minerals, and recreation opportunities. The focus of volume III is the evaluation question, Are local communities and economies experiencing positive or negative changes that may be associated with federal forest management? Two Plan goals are also assessed in volume III: (1) to maintain the stability of local and regional economies on a predictable, long-term basis and, (2) to assist with long-term economic development and diversification to minimize adverse impacts associated with the loss of timber jobs. Progress in meeting another Plan goal--to promote agency-citizen collaboration in forest management--is evaluated in volume IV. Volume V reports on trends in public values regarding forest management in the Pacific Northwest over the past decade, community views of how well the forest values and environmental qualities associated with late-successional, old-growth, and aquatic ecosystems have been protected under the Plan (a fifth Plan goal), and issues and concerns relating to forest management under the Plan expressed by community members. Volume VI provides a history of the Northwest Forest Plan socioeconomic monitoring program and a discussion of potential directions for the program.