Northwest Forest Plan Monitoring
Module Overviews
Overview
The Northwest Forest Plan encompasses 24 million acres of federal land managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service in western Washington, Oregon, and northwest California within the range of the northern spotted owl. The Plan’s objectives are threefold:
- Protecting and enhancing habitat for mature and old-growth forests and related species.
- Restoring and maintaining the ecological integrity of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems.
- Producing a predictable level of timber sales, special forest products, livestock grazing, minerals and recreational opportunities, as well as maintaining the stability of rural communities and economies.
The goal of the regional monitoring program is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Northwest Forest plan in achieving its management objectives on Federal Lands in the planning area. Monitoring focuses on important regional scale questions about older forests, populations and habitat of northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets, watershed health, federal agency relationships with Indian tribes, and socioeconomic conditions in communities closely tied to federal lands.
