Tongass National Forest

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Monitoring Reports

Monitoring and evaluation is a process required by the Tongass Forest Plan and is essential in implementing the adaptive management strategy. There are three kinds of monitoring included in the Tongass Forest Plan; implementation, effectiveness and validation monitoring. Implementation monitoring focuses on whether or not the standards and guidelines of the plan are being implemented. Effectiveness monitoring is used to determine if the standards and guidelines are effective in bringing the Forest closer to achieving the objectives stated in the Forest Plan. Finally, validation monitoring is used to examine if the accuracy of the assumptions and predicted effects used to formulate the plan are valid. The design and sampling methods employed for the three kinds of monitoring are described in the monitoring protocols referenced by monitoring question in the Tongass Forest Monitoring Guidebook.

Monitoring and evaluation are instrumental to operating within an adaptive management framework, and may result in corrective actions, adjustment of budgets or plans, and to point the way in determining how to respond to changing conditions. Monitoring reports are completed on annual & five year time frame. The annual report supplies an overview and reports on specific time-critical monitoring whereas the five year report is a comprehensive review of the data and the evaluation provides the Forest Service, other agencies, and the public with essential feedback on the progress of implementing the Forest Plan.

The reports themselves are in Adobe PDF format. You'll need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader to view them. To obtain a free copy of the plug-in, go to the Adobe website.

• 2007 Monitoring Report
• 2006 Monitoring Report
• 2005 Monitoring Report
• 2004 Monitoring Report
• 2003 Monitoring Report
• 2002 Monitoring Report
• 2001 Monitoring Report
• 2000 Monitoring Report
• 1999 Monitoring Report
• 1998 Monitoring Report
• 1997 Monitoring Report

Monitoring Protocol guidebooks

• January 2005 (20 Mb PDF)
• July 2000 Monitoring Guide (1.9 Mb PDF / 1 Mb Word .doc)