[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: 36CFR219.4]

[Page 39]
 
              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. 219.4  Identification and consideration of issues.

    (a) Origination of issues. Issues may originate from a variety of 
sources including, but are not limited to: inventories, assessments, 
analyses, monitoring and evaluation of projects; discussions among 
people and proposals by organizations or governments interested in or 
affected by National Forest System management; Presidential, 
Departmental, and Forest Service conservation leadership initiatives; 
cooperatively developed landscape goals (Sec. 219.12(b)); evaluation of 
sustainability (Sec. 219.9(b)(4)); enactment of new laws; policies such 
as the Forest Service national strategic plan; and applications for 
authorization for occupancy and use of National Forest System lands.
    (b) Consideration of issues. The responsible official has the 
discretion to determine, at any time, whether and to what extent an 
issue is appropriate for consideration.
    (1) In making this determination, the responsible official should 
consider:
    (i) The scope, complexity, and geographic scale of potential actions 
that may address an issue;
    (ii) Statutory requirements;
    (iii) Organizational and community capabilities and available 
resources, including current and likely Forest Service budgets;
    (iv) The scientific basis and merit of available data and analyses;
    (v) The relationship of possible actions to the Forest Service 
national strategic plan, other existing plans, adopted conservation 
strategies, biological opinions, or other strategies applicable within 
all or a portion of the plan area; and
    (vi) The opinions of interested or affected individuals, 
organizations, or other entities and the social and cultural values 
related to an issue.
    (2) The responsible official should consider the extent to which 
addressing the issue relates to or provides:
    (i) Opportunities to contribute to the achievement of cooperatively 
developed landscape goals;
    (ii) Opportunities for the national forests and grasslands to 
contribute to the restoration or maintenance of ecological 
sustainability, including maintenance or restoration of watershed 
function, such as water flow regimes to benefit aquatic resources, 
groundwater recharge, municipal water supply, or other uses, and 
maintaining or restoring ecological conditions needed for ecosystem and 
species diversity;
    (iii) Opportunities for the national forests or grasslands to 
contribute to social and economic sustainability;
    (iv) Opportunities to recover threatened or endangered species and 
maintain or restore their habitat;
    (v) The potential for negative environmental effects, including 
human health, economic and social effects, upon minority and low income 
communities;
    (vi) Opportunities to maintain or restore ecological conditions that 
are similar to the biological and physical range of expected variability 
(Sec. 219.20(b)(1)); and
    (vii) Opportunities to contribute to knowledge about and 
preservation of historic and cultural resources.