The U.S. Forest Service is revising management plans for a large number of its 177 National Forests and Grasslands, a process it must undertake every 10-15 years. It's an opportunity for the agency to revise outdated plans, assess the state of a national forest, evaluate past practices and forest uses, and study and recommend areas for wilderness designation.

Sadly, many proposed management plans are tipped in favor of industry demands -- ignoring conservation goals in the process. For many local and state wilderness campaigns these management plans and wilderness recommendations will play an important role in setting the stage for legislative efforts and influencing decision makers. Many wilderness coalitions and organizations are taking advantage of forest planning efforts and using them as a way of jumpstarting their grassroots wilderness efforts and engaging their congressional delegation and encouraging them to champion citizens’ proposed wilderness areas.

A number of National Forest planning efforts now are underway with groups organizing supporters to comment on forest plans and encourage the Forest Service to recognize and protect all wilderness quality lands as part of their plans. These efforts are in various stages of the process from initial scooping to development of the final alternatives.

Some of the efforts that are well underway include:

Idaho
Name of Forest: Clearwater and Nez Perce
Wilderness Community Contacts: Rick Johnson, Idaho Conservation League, 208-345-6933
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/cnpz/ 

New Hampshire
Name of Forest: White Mountain
Wilderness Community Contacts: Fred Lavigne, Friends of the Sandwich Range, 603-284-6919
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/white/3_WM_fpr_Web/forest_plan/revision/  

Pennsylvania
Name of Forest: Allegheny
Wilderness Community Contacts: Kirk Johnson, Friends of Allegheny Wilderness, 814-723-0620
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny/projects/forest_plan_revision/  

Vermont
Name of Forest: Green Mountain
Wilderness Community Contacts: Fran Hunt, The Wilderness Society, 202-429-2657
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/gmfl/nepa_planning/plan_revision/index.htm  

Washington
Name of Forest: Colville, Okanogan & Wenatchee
Wilderness Community Contacts: Joanna Bould, The Wilderness Society,  206-624-6430
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/colville/cow/  

West Virginia
Name of Forest: Monongahela
Wilderness Community Contacts: Matt Keller, West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, 304-864-5530
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/plan_revision/plan_revision.htm  

Wyoming
Name of Forest: Big Horn
Wilderness Community Contacts: Liz Howell, Wyoming Wilderness Association, 307 672-2751
Link to USFS Planning web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/bighorn/projects/planrevision/