San Bernardino National Forest Land Management Plan - Part 2

Land Management Plan Part 2
San Bernardino National Forest Strategy
September 2005
The Heritage Resource Program emphasis includes identifying all activities that have the
potential to adversely affect, or do not complement known significant cultural properties. Staff
expect to develop and implement management plans to address adverse effects for approximately
25 percent of the affected sites within five years (Her 1 - Heritage Resource Protection). Program
emphasis will also focus on interpretation opportunities and public participation programs,
(designed to facilitate evaluation of sites for the National Register of Historic Places), (Her 2 -
Public Involvement Program). Program priorities include survey and site record maintenance
within the recent burned areas, and areas around communities with fuels problems (Her 3 -
Forest-wide Heritage Inventory).
Table 2.4.5 Resource Management Performance Indicators, SBNF
Performance Indicators for Resource Management
Current
Level
Estimated Forest Capability
and Need
Acres of Terrestrial Habitat Enhanced 206 2,800
Miles of Aquatic Habitat Enhanced 4 25
Acres of Noxious Weeds Treated 38 130
Acres of Vegetation Improved (also see Hazardous
Fuels Reduction)
188 2,000
Acres of Watershed Improved 125 1,450
Acres of Land Ownership Adjusted 1,381 2,500
Number of Heritage Resources Managed to
Standard
65 77
Public Use and Enjoyment
Public use and enjoyment includes the management of visitor centers, public information,
interpretive services and education, concessions and recreation special-uses, recreation fee
collection, law enforcement, visitor safety and protection.
The recreation budget has gradually dwindled to less than half of what it was in the late 1970s,
while at the same time demand for recreation opportunities has increased. The budget decrease
has created an extremely resourceful and lean organization; one that is too lean in some areas to
fully leverage the tremendous energy and skills of the nearby communities to more effectively
manage the Recreation Program.
The public use and enjoyment function demonstrates what can be accomplished by creative,
collaborative efforts to create a healthy recreation forest. National Forest staff is responsible for
visitor education, volunteer programs, and forest protection. Forest Protection Officers work with
volunteers to leverage their time. Professional volunteer organizations use fee money to hire
managers for several large volunteer programs. It is important to note that without the fee
program, all the programs listed here would suffer dramatically.
The law enforcement budget is also less than it was ten years ago, while the amount and types of
unlawful activities have increased. Effects of this lean organization have resulted in a lack of
ability to respond to incidents, to assist other programs, and to provide safe access across the
national forest.
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