[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR219.7]

[Page 51-53]
 
              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.  219.7  Developing, amending, or revising a plan.

    (a) General planning requirements--(1) Plan Documents or Set of 
Documents. The Responsible Official must maintain a Plan Document or Set 
of Documents for the plan. A Plan Document or Set of Documents includes, 
but is not limited to, evaluation reports; documentation of public 
involvement; the plan, including applicable maps; applicable plan 
approval documents; applicable NEPA documents, if any; the monitoring 
program for the plan area; and

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documents relating to the EMS established for the unit.
    (2) Plan components. Plan components may apply to all or part of the 
plan area. A plan should include the following components:
    (i) Desired conditions. Desired conditions are the social, economic, 
and ecological attributes toward which management of the land and 
resources of the plan area is to be directed. Desired conditions are 
aspirations and are not commitments or final decisions approving 
projects and activities, and may be achievable only over a long time 
period.
    (ii) Objectives. Objectives are concise projections of measurable, 
time-specific intended outcomes. The objectives for a plan are the means 
of measuring progress toward achieving or maintaining desired 
conditions. Like desired conditions, objectives are aspirations and are 
not commitments or final decisions approving projects and activities.
    (iii) Guidelines. Guidelines provide information and guidance for 
project and activity decisionmaking to help achieve desired conditions 
and objectives. Guidelines are not commitments or final decisions 
approving projects and activities.
    (iv) Suitability of areas. Areas of each National Forest System unit 
are identified as generally suitable for various uses (Sec.  219.12). An 
area may be identified as generally suitable for uses that are 
compatible with desired conditions and objectives for that area. The 
identification of an area as generally suitable for a use is guidance 
for project and activity decisionmaking and is not a commitment or a 
final decision approving projects and activities. Uses of specific areas 
are approved through project and activity decisionmaking.
    (v) Special areas. Special areas are areas within the National 
Forest System designated because of their unique or special 
characteristics. Special areas such as botanical areas or significant 
caves may be designated, by the Responsible Official in approving a 
plan, plan amendment, or plan revision. Such designations are not final 
decisions approving projects and activities. The plan may also recognize 
special areas designated by statute or through a separate administrative 
process in accordance with NEPA requirements (Sec.  219.4) and other 
applicable laws.
    (3) Changing plan components. Plan components may be changed through 
plan amendment or revision, or through an administrative correction in 
accordance with Sec.  219.7(b).
    (4) Planning authorities. The Responsible Official has the 
discretion to determine whether and how to change the plan, subject to 
the requirement that the plan be revised at least every 15 years. A 
decision by a Responsible Official about whether or not to initiate the 
plan amendment or plan revision process and what issues to consider for 
plan development, plan amendment, or plan revision is not subject to 
objection under this subpart (Sec.  219.13).
    (5) Plan process. (i) Required evaluation reports, plan, plan 
amendments, and plan revisions must be prepared by an interdisciplinary 
team; and
    (ii) Unless otherwise provided by law, all National Forest System 
lands possessing wilderness characteristics must be considered for 
recommendation as potential wilderness areas during plan development or 
revision.
    (6) Developing plan options. In the collaborative and participatory 
process of land management planning, the Responsible Official may use an 
iterative approach in development of a plan, plan amendment, and plan 
revision in which plan options are developed and narrowed successively. 
The key steps in this process shall be documented in the Plan Set of 
Documents.
    (b) Administrative corrections. Administrative corrections may be 
made at any time and are not plan amendments or revisions. 
Administrative corrections include the following:
    (1) Corrections and updates of data and maps;
    (2) Corrections of typographical errors or other non-substantive 
changes;
    (3) Changes in the monitoring program and monitoring information 
(Sec.  219.6(b));
    (4) Changes in timber management projections; and
    (5) Other changes in the Plan Document or Set of Documents, except 
for substantive changes in the plan components.

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    (c) Approval document. The Responsible Official must record approval 
of a new plan, plan amendment, or plan revision in a plan approval 
document, which must include:
    (1) The rationale for the approval of the plan, plan amendment, or 
plan revision;
    (2) Concurrence by the appropriate Station Director with any part of 
the plan applicable to any experimental forest within the plan area, in 
accordance with Sec.  219.2(b)(3);
    (3) A statement of how the plan, plan amendment, or plan revision 
applies to approved projects and activities, in accordance with Sec.  
219.8;
    (4) Science documentation, in accordance with Sec.  219.11; and
    (5) The effective date of the approval (Sec.  219.14(a)).