U.S. Forest Service outlines proposed Northwest Forest Plan amendment, opens 120-day comment window

The U.S. Forest Service on Friday published a draft environmental impact statement to amend the Northwest Forest Plan and opened a 120‑day public comment period, agency planners told local officials and county staff at a multi‑county webinar.

The DEIS, which the agency released Nov. 15, proposes changes that Forest Service leaders said are intended to speed up fuels‑reduction work in areas near communities, clarify different approaches for ‘dry’ versus ‘moist’ forest types, support tribal stewardship and cultural burning where tribes request it, and create measurable 10‑year objectives for timber and restoration work to support local jobs and industry.

Agency officials said the proposal responds to new science and to the rising risk of large, severe wildfire since the plan was written in 1994. “Many of the values the Northwest Forest Plan was created to protect are now at considerable risk,” said Priya Shehani, the DEIS lead for the Forest Service planning team. The DEIS examines a no‑action alternative and three action alternatives that vary how strongly the…