Integrated Restoration and Protection Strategy

“The mission of the US Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.”

The Northern Region Integrated Restoration and Protection Strategy provides information to help local Forest Service units identify and prioritize potential areas for accomplishing Forest and Grassland Plan goals and objectives.

It is intended to assist local units to develop and prioritize integrated projects addressing land and water restoration, community protection plans, and sustainable and desirable conditions as described in Forest and Grassland Management Plans.

It provides resource information to help units develop integrated projects. It is not a decision constraining the discretion of line officers in the implementation of individual management plans. Appropriate National Forest Management Act (NFMA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures must be completed prior to implementation of projects.

Specifically, the focus of the Northern Region Restoration and Protection Strategy is to provide information to enable the Forests and Grasslands to manage in a more integrated approach for the:

• Restoration and maintenance of high value watersheds in a properly functioning condition.
• Restoration and maintenance of wildlife habitats, including restoration of more resilient vegetation conditions where appropriate, to meet ecological and social goals.
• Protection of people, structures and community infra-structure (roads, bridges, and power corridors,) in and associated with the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

The Overview of the Integrated Restoration and Protection Strategy in the Northern Region provides more information.

Additional Restoration Strategy information can be found in the "Information Template for the Integrated Restoration and Protection Strategy in the Northern Region". The Template provides information for Forests and Grasslands to use to consider an integrated approach to restoration and protection of values at risk.

The information in the Template will be managed, maintained and updated considering changed conditions and new information by the Forest Service Regional Office Engineering Geospatial Group. The resource information includes: wildlife habitat, aquatic, fire and fuels, noxious weeds, bark beetle conditions, community threat areas etc. Also, included is process information for the Forests and Grasslands to reference in project planning and links to partnership and other agency information. In addition, as a part of the information included in the template, multiple Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data layers from the Forests and Grasslands were used by the Northern Region staff to create an integrated picture of values at risk common to all Northern Region Forest and Grassland units.

Relationship to National Strategic Goals:

The Forest Service at the national level has developed broad aims for Forest Service resource management known as National Strategic Goals. These are as follows:

1. Reduce the risk from catastrophic wildland fire. Restore the health of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to increase resilience to the effects of wildland fire.

2. Reduce the impacts from invasive species. Restore the health of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to be resilient to the effects of invasive insects, pathogens, plants, and pests.

3. Provide outdoor recreational opportunities. Provide high-quality outdoor recreational opportunities on forests and grasslands, while sustaining natural resources, to meet the Nation’s recreational demands.

4. Help meet energy resource needs. Contribute to meeting the Nation’s need for energy.

5. Improve watershed condition. Increase the number of forest and grassland watersheds that are in fully functional hydrologic condition.

6. Conduct mission-related work in addition to that which supports the agency goals. Conduct research and other mission-related work to fulfill statutory stewardship and assistance requirements. The Northern Region strategy specifically addresses goals 1, 2, and 5 as summarized above. These goals are also addressed in the January 6, 2006 national policy document “Ecosystem Restoration: A Framework for Restoring and Maintaining the National Forests and Grasslands.” Goals 3, 4 and 6, although not as apparent, are integral parts of the Regional strategy as well.