Department of Agriculture February 14, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Del Norte Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Crescent City, California. The committee meeting is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination (SRS) Act (Pub. L. 110-343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The Ashley Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Vernal, Utah. The committee is meeting as authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110-343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the meeting is conduct introductions, approve meeting minutes, develop and finalize evaluation criteria for the ranking of recommended projects, set the next meeting date, time and location and receive public comment on the meeting subjects and proceedings.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing a new planning rule to guide land and resource management planning for all units of the National Forest System (NFS) under the National Forest Management Act of 1976. The proposed rule sets forth process and content requirements to guide the development, amendment, and revision of land management plans to maintain, protect, and restore NFS lands while providing for sustainable multiple uses, including ecosystem services, so that NFS lands continuously provide ecosystem functions and contribute to social and economic sustainability. Planning under the proposed rule would be collaborative and science-based with the responsible official required to take the best available scientific information into account and provide opportunities for public participation throughout the planning process. The proposed framework consists of a three-part learning and planning cycle: Assessment, development/revision/amendment, and monitoring. The phases of the framework are complementary and are intended to create a feedback loop that allows the Forest Service to adapt management to changing conditions and to improve plans based on new information and monitoring. This framework is intended to move the Agency toward a more responsive planning process that allows the Agency to understand the landscape-scale context for management, adapt management to changing conditions, improve management based on new information and monitoring, and support an integrated and holistic approach to management that recognizes the interdependence of social, ecological, and economic systems. The Agency is requesting public comment on the proposed rule and on the alternatives that are described and evaluated in the accompanying draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). Readers are invited to comment on each section of the proposed rule and on how provisions in the DEIS alternatives compare with the proposed rule. The Agency will carefully consider all public comments in preparing the final rule.