Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision

Each of us interacts with the Blue Mountains differently. The Blue Mountains mean a lot to a lot of people. Multiple uses provided by the National Forests (including livestock grazing, timber harvest, forest recreation, tourism, and subsistence activities) are all important to economic and social life in the Blue Mountains area.

To balance those multiple uses and sustained yield of forest resources, the National Forests operate under a Forest Plan, which sets the overall management direction and guidance for each of our National Forests. A Forest Plan is a comprehensive document that guides forest resource management, activities, use and protection. A Forest Plan is strategic in nature and does not authorize projects or activities. It does not commit the Forest Service to take action or regulate uses by the public.

Currently, the Blue Mountains National Forests are operating under Forest Plans that were signed in the 1990s. Forest conditions and surrounding communities have changed significantly since the 1990s. Some of the guidance is still relevant, but much needs updated to remain relevant and applicable today. The revised Forest Plan seeks to balance social, economic, and environmental concerns by providing a vision for future management decisions about the forest.

Revising the Forest Plans will provide an updated framework to guide forest management that considers current science and local economic, social and environmental conditions.

We need your help! Together we can develop Forest Plans to guide the Blue Mountains National Forests for the next 20 years.

We encourage you to review the maps and information detailing the many resources of the Blue Mountains, including cultural resources and tribal engagement, fire and fuels, wildlife, timber, grazing and rangeland management, scenery, recreation, wilderness evaluation areas, and management and geographic areas. This information is intended to serve as a companion to the Blue Mountains proposed revised Forest Plan and associated documents.

This is your chance to learn, question, comment and collaborate with us in the development of the future for your National Forests. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Forest Service previously revised the Blue Mountains Forest Plans under the 1982 Planning Rule, with a planning effort that spanned 15 years. However, when the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and draft Records of Decision were released in 2018, the Forest Service received widespread feedback that the Revised Plans were difficult to understand and potentially confusing to implement, which ultimately resulted in the documents being withdrawn on March 14, 2019.

The Forest Service is reinitiating plan revision under the updated 2012 planning rule, instead of the older 1982 planning rule. With this change, some aspects of the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision process will be different, including terminology used in the Forest Plan and the decision-making authority. Where feasible, the Forest Service will seek to use existing data from the previously withdrawn Forest Plans to inform the process.

Forest Plans include the following components:

National Forest landscapes are complex and isolating small special areas is inadequate to address the complex larger landscapes to effectively manage the landscape.

Management areas consist of land areas within the planning area that have the same set of applicable plan components. Management areas do not have to be spatially contiguous and typically have a management emphasis. For this plan, management area direction applies to specific geographic boundaries for all management areas except for the strategic fire management zones, which are determined by specific descriptive characteristics.

Designated areas consist of areas or features identified and managed to maintain a special character or purpose. Some are designated by statute (such as wild and scenic rivers or wilderness) and others are administratively designated (like research natural areas).

The map below shows the existing management areas from the 1990 Forest Plans for the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests.

Your input matters! A successful planning process depends on public participation. The best decisions will be made with input from all people who care about the Blue Mountains, people like you. Please consider commenting with your support or concerns for the revised Forest Plans.

At this time, the Forest Service is gathering information regarding the existing conditions, which will be crucial for informing the need for change in our revised Forest Plans. We have several ways you can provide input, which are identified below. Feedback gathered during this phase of the process is for informational purposes only and does not provide standing to object in the formal planning process.

The buttons located on the left-hand side below allow you to provide input on specific locations that are important to you and feedback on landscape and management needs. Once completed, this information will display on the interactive map. This information will help guide the Forest Plan Revision process by providing context around places of importance, landscape benefits, and inform the need for change within the planning process. The information we gather is anonymous and will not be linked back to you as an individual. 

•  Join our mailing list!  
• Attend a public engagement workshop
• Fill out a  comment form 

Below we have included links to various resources that have useful information regarding the 2012 Planning Rule, Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision process and more!

• Current Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision  Website 
•  Citizens Guide to Forest Plan Revision 
•  1990 Blue Mountains Forest Plans