Preliminary Draft Plans For Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests Published

By Eliza Laubach

After four years of gathering public comment on how to manage the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, which cover more than one million acres in western North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service is releasing foundations of the draft forest plan as they are being developed.

This is a new approach for the agency, to promote transparency and increase opportunity for public input. A national forest’s long-term plan undergoes an update process every 20 years. The full draft plan, which dictates management, is expected to be released in the fall.

The newly released drafted management practices, which cover the entire forests and are not site-specific, are categorized into different aspects of forest management, such as vegetation management and climate. Visit tinyurl.com/fsplanuc to view the Plan Under Construction website.

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Hurricane Helene devastated parts of Erwin, Tennessee. Photo by Abby Hassler

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