[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: 36CFR219.5]

[Page 39-40]
 
              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. 219.5  Information development and interpretation.

    If the responsible official determines an issue should receive 
consideration, the responsible official should review relevant 
information such as inventories, broad-scale assessments, local

[[Page 40]]

analyses, or monitoring results to determine if additional information 
is desirable and if it can be obtained at a reasonable cost and in a 
timely manner. The responsible official, at his or her discretion, may 
choose the methods and determine the scope of information development 
and interpretation for an issue under consideration. A broad-scale 
assessment or a local analysis may be developed or supplemented if 
appropriate to the scope and scale of an issue. Broad-scale assessments, 
local analyses, monitoring results, and other studies are not site-
specific or plan decisions or proposals for agency action 
(Sec. 219.6(a)) subject to Forest Service NEPA procedures.
    (a) Broad-scale assessments. Broad-scale assessments provide 
information regarding ecological, economic, or social issues that are 
broad in geographic scale, sometimes crossing Forest Service regional 
administrative boundaries. Ecological information and analyses that may 
be provided in an assessment are addressed in Sec. 219.20(a). Social and 
economic information and analyses that may be provided in an assessment 
are addressed in Sec. 219.21(a).
    (1) Broad-scale assessment should provide the following as 
appropriate:
    (i) Findings and conclusions that describe historic conditions, 
current status, and future trends of ecological, social, and/or economic 
conditions, their relationship to sustainability, and the principal 
factors contributing to those conditions and trends. The responsible 
official may use these findings and conclusions to identify other issues 
(Sec. 219.4), develop proposals for action (Sec. 219.6), or for other 
purposes.
    (ii) Identification of needs for additional research to develop new 
information or address conflicting interpretations of existing 
information.
    (2) Station Directors and Regional Foresters must have joint 
responsibility for Forest Service participation in broad-scale 
assessments. Each broad-scale assessment should be designed and 
conducted with the assistance of scientists, resource professionals, 
governmental entities, and other individuals and organizations 
knowledgeable of the assessment area.
    (b) Local analyses. Local analyses provide ecological, social, or 
economic information as deemed appropriate by the responsible official. 
Local analyses may cover watersheds, ecological units, and social and 
economic units, and may tier to or provide information to update a 
broad-scale assessment. Local analyses should provide the following, as 
appropriate:
    (1) Characterization of the area of analysis;
    (2) Description of issues within the analysis area;
    (3) Description of current conditions;
    (4) Description of likely future conditions;
    (5) Synthesis and interpretation of information; and
    (6) Recommendations for proposals (Sec. 219.6(a)) or identification 
of other issues (Sec. 219.4).