[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR219.1]

[Page 36-37]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
          CHAPTER II--FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 219--PLANNING--Table of Contents
 
 Subpart A--National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning
 
Sec. 219.1  Purpose.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; and Secs. 6 and 15, 90 Stat. 2949, 2952, 
2958 (16 U.S.C. 1604, 1613).

    Source: 65 FR 67568, Nov. 9, 2000, unless otherwise noted.

                         Purpose and Principles


    (a) Land and resource management planning guides how the Forest 
Service will fulfill its stewardship of the natural resources of the 
National Forest System to fulfill the designated purposes of the 
national forests and grasslands and honor their unique place in American 
life. The regulations in this subpart set forth a process for amending 
and revising land and resource management plans, hereafter referred to 
as plans, for the National Forest System and for monitoring the results 
of plan implementation under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 
Resources Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act 
of 1976, 16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq. The regulations in this subpart also 
guide the selection and implementation of site-specific actions. The 
principal authorities governing the development and the management of 
the National Forest System include: the Organic Administration Act of 
1897, as amended (16

[[Page 37]]

U.S.C. 473 et seq.); the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 
U.S.C. 528 et seq.); the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1121 et. seq.); the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resource Act of 1974, as amended by the 
National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); and the 
Clean Water Act of 1948, as amended by the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act Amendments of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987 and 
other laws (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., 1323 et seq.).
    (b) The National Forest System constitutes an extraordinary national 
legacy created by people of vision and preserved for future generations 
by diligent and far-sighted public servants and citizens. These are the 
peoples' lands, emblems of the nation's democratic traditions.
    (1) The national forests and grasslands provide a wide variety of 
uses, values, products, and services that are important to many people, 
including outdoor recreation, forage, timber, wildlife and fish, 
biological diversity, productive soils, clean air and water, and 
minerals. They also afford intangible benefits such as beauty, 
inspiration, and wonder.
    (2) To assure the continuation of this array of benefits this 
regulation affirms sustainability as the overall goal for stewardship of 
the natural resources of each national forest and grassland consistent 
with the laws that guide management of these lands.
    (3) Sustainability, composed of interdependent ecological, social, 
and economic elements, embodies the principles of multiple-use and 
sustained-yield without impairment to the productivity of the land. 
Sustainability means meeting needs of the present generation without 
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. 
Planning contributes to social and economic sustainability without 
compromising the basic composition, structure, and functioning of 
ecological systems. The progress toward achievement of sustainability is 
assessed through monitoring and evaluation.