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The Forest Service is committed to strengthening rural America through forest resources and related natural resources opportunities. Which means we are also committed to working in partnership with others in the public sector (at all levels -- Federal, tribal, state, and local governments) and private sector (profit and non-profit organizations).

Goal

The overall goal is to facilitate and foster sustainable community development -- linking community assistance and resource management. Throughout the country our rural community assistance efforts focus around the themes of healthy communities, appropriately diverse economies, and sustainable ecosystems.

Forest Service Niche

The Forest Service is positioned to help rural communities develop their capacity to manage change. Specifically, the Agency:

• Has a presence and vested interest in communities which have a natural resource base;
• Carries out land management responsibilities which affect the opportunities available to local communities;
• Has professional expertise needed by communities; and
• Can provide seed money to catalyze local action and leverage other resources.

Forest Service Approach

The Forest Service places emphasis on helping communities organize, develop broad-based local action plans, and take actions which build towards sustainable solutions for economic, social, and environmental concerns and opportunities. These community-level efforts are accomplished with the majority of the coordination and technical assistance being provided by employees located on National Forests working with thousands of partners nationwide, with direct interaction by State Foresters and other appropriate agencies.

Key principles which drive the Forest Service effort include:

• Focus on community-led and community-based efforts in rural America (not just the business sector).
• Be a part of a comprehensive approach and work cooperatively.
• Take strategic action addressing local needs (be "needs-driven" not "program-driven").
• Act for the long-term, sustainable solutions vs. the "quick fix" approach.
• Accomplish objectives through partnerships.
• Help communities capitalize on their natural resource-based potential and assets.
• Improve the integration of environmental and economic concerns and opportunities

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