Conservation of natural resources on federal lands: Review of three Pacific Northwest initiatives

The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), the nation's largest and most expansive ecosystem-management effort, was established in 1994 to guide planning for 17 national forests and other federal lands on 9.8 M ha within the range of the northern spotted owl ( Strix occidentialis caurina ) in Washington, Oregon, and northern California, USA. Implementation of the NWFP and its Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS) via Riparian Reserves (RRs; stream buffers), however, failed to account for the cumulative effects of continuing timber harvest and road-building on stream, riparian, and upland components of these public landscapes. For example, the loss of large- and small-woody debris and nutrient-rich leaves altered the physical, chemical, and biological dynamics of steam channels and riparian corridors. As a result, the NWFP goals for watershed protection and restoration remain under-achieved 30 years later. The NWFP is now being amended by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS; the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) withdrew in 2016, based on a lawsuit to increase logging again). That new planning process significantly compromises the standards articulated in the original NWFP, leading us to conclude that natural resource condition will continue down the slippery slope seen over the last century. Moreover, the global climate crisis needs further incorporation into the planning processes to protect watershed ecosystems from new or altered challenges (e.g., changing wildfire regimes, spread of invasive species like barred owl, or the disturbance of coevolved mutualisms among species). We developed a dozen robust and scientifically appropriate management recommendations to protect the biological and ecological integrity of regional, forested watersheds on public lands. That exercise led us to two other 1990s Pacific Northwest efforts to strengthen the management and conservation of public lands: (1) a congressionally requested survey of condition and trends in forested public lands east of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, and (2) an analysis of the challenges faced by citizen initiatives to protect rivers and riparian corridors under then-current legal standards. All three documents advanced regional thinking about resource condition and offered thoughtful proposals to improve forests for future generations. Science is at the core of all reports and their proposed solutions, as are management, law, policy, and regulations. Our final recommendation: forest protection can be successful if, and only if, we integrate actions across the breadth of global, scholarly disciplines discussed in the reports; and engage key constituencies across all segments of society. It won't be easy, but the reward to future generations will be appreciated by all.