San Bernardino National Forest Land Management Plan - Part 2

Land Management Plan Strategy
This document is Part 2 of the three-part (vision, strategy and design criteria) land and resource
management plan (forest plan) for the San Bernardino National Forest. The strategic direction
and program emphasis objectives that are expected to result in the sustainability (social,
economic and ecological) of the national forest and, over the long-term, the maintenance of a
healthy forest are described in this document. The legislative mandate for the management of
national forests requires that public lands be conservatively used and managed in order to ensure
their sustainability and to guarantee that future generations will continue to benefit from their
many values 1 . Forest plans are founded on the concept of sustainable use of the national forests.
In its simplest terms, sustainability means to maintain or prolong. In order to foster the concept
of sustainability, this section describes the program emphasis and strategies that may be
employed to enable multiple uses to occur in ways that promote long-term sustainability. The
program emphasis and management strategies are continuously projected over a three to five
year period (over the life of the plan) in order to describe the projects or activities that may be
employed as we move along the pathways toward the realization of the desired conditions
described in Part 1 of the revised forest plan.
Part 1 describes the national forest in the future, the niche it occupies in the community
framework, the desired conditions the Forest Service is striving to realize, as well as the
challenges the national forest will resolve in getting there. Part 2 supplements Part 1 of the forest
plan. Part 2 also constitutes the 'tools' resource staff will use to accomplish the objectives that
contribute to the realization of the desired conditions. Part 2 defines and describes each of the
land use zones. The land use zones are an on-the-ground manifestation of the desired conditions
and are the primary tools used to describe the strategic direction, including the management
intent and suitable uses for areas of the national forest where the zone is used. Part 2 also
includes a prospectus describing the past performance history of the national forest and the
anticipated performance in three to five year increments over the life of the forest plan. Place-
Based Program Emphasis is also described so that people will have a better understanding of
what types of management is expected in specific areas of the national forest. Finally, Part 2
addresses the monitoring to be done
to assess the effective implementation
of the strategies used.
Part 3 of the forest plan is the design
criteria and constitutes the 'rules' that
the Forest Service will follow as the
national forest implements projects
and activities over time. The rules
include the laws, agency policy,
standards, and the associated
guidance that is referenced for use at
the project level.
Vista from San Gorgonio
1 Committee of Scientists issued a final report on March 15, 1999, entitled Sustaining the People’s Lands.
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