The USDA Forest Service (FS) released the draft 2010 National Report on Sustainable Forests in December 2008. As a partner in the review process, the Roundtable on Sustainable Forests (RSF) wants to take this opportunity to remind you that the FS is accepting comments until April 10th. While the FS is the agency responsible for producing the draft Report, the draft Report is the product of a broad collaboration between Forest Service scientists, private stakeholder groups, and interested individuals. Based largely on the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for Forest Sustainability, the draft Report includes summaries of 64 indicators that span environmental, social and economic dimensions of forest sustainability and include information on such diverse topics as forest cover, species diversity, carbon sequestration, and conditions in forest communities. The draft Report is a work in progress, and your comments are needed to help the FS produce the best final draft possible.
The FS is interested in comments on any and all aspects of the draft, however, the areas listed below are of particular interest. If you have a specific interest or area of technical expertise, you can focus your comments on one or more of the 64 indicator summaries included in the document.
* Interpretation of the data. The delivery of data in a clear and easily understandable fashion is a central goal of the document, but the FS is also seeking input about how far they should go in providing interpretation of the data in terms of progress towards forest sustainability. What strategies would you suggest for presenting syntheses and interpretations in the document or in a companion document? Should they, for example, attempt to score individual indicators as they relate to Forest Sustainability?
* Overall organization of the report. Does the overall organization of the document make sense and can you quickly find the information you need? Do you have suggestions as to how to make the document more “user friendly”?
* Concept of sustainability and examples of using the C&I. Does the background information and discussion of the concept of sustainability in Chapter 1 adequately lay the foundation for understanding the rest of the document? And do the examples of using the C&I in the US demonstrate the utility of the C&I to advance sustainable forest management in the US?
* Key findings. How can the summary of key findings in Chapter 3 be improved?
* Policy-related actions. Are the policy suggestions included in Chapter 5 the right ones? Are there other actions that you would suggest?
The second page of the draft Report provides instructions on how to submit review comments. An electronic version of the report can be downloaded at: http://www.fs.fed.us/research/sustain/. This site includes additional information on the project and a link through which you can email comments directly to the project team.
Participate in a Webinar. The Roundtable’s Communications and Outreach Work Group (COWG) is coordinating a series of web-based conferences (Webinars) on the draft Report. Three types of webinars are available: informational, preparatory for review workshops, and discussion-based for feedback. All are designed to build awareness and understanding about the draft National Report. Please contact Sarah Walen at skwalen@merid.org if you or your group is interested in one of these Webinars.
Visit the RSF Website. For more information about work on forest sustainability, please visit our website at
www.sustainableforests.net. The site has been updated with recent results from review workshops held in Colorado and Georgia as well as exciting examples of the use of sustainability criteria and indicators in local and regional settings.
Labels: 2010 National Report on Sustainable Forests, Forest Service, Montreal Process, sustainable
