K.I.S.S. in Rule Form Conclusion

In contrast to the Forest Service’s official planning rule blog, the software that supports this blog is actually useful. The WordPress search feature lets readers aggregate onto one screen blog entries that share a common word and turn that search into a URL. For example, here are the K.I.S.S. blog entries (read from bottom to top).

The K.I.S.S. rule is based on these principles:

1) Revising a forest plan is a different task than writing a new plan from scratch. Existing plan provisions are presumed valid and reviewable only when new information or changed circumstances overcome that presumption.

2) The revision includes the planned timber sale and vegetation management projects. Eliminating the two-step NEPA planning process for tree-cutting projects keeps plan revisions relevant and reduces analysis paralysis.

3) The planning rule should be flexible in those matters Congress has left to the Forest Service’s discretion. The rule should be outcome-oriented and leave the technical details for achieving the required outcomes to the agency’s expertise.

4) NFMA planning is not the end-all, be-all of Forest Service planning exercises. In NFMA Congress sought to solve logging issues. The Forest Service should resolve other issues elsewhere than in the NFMA plan.

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