Forest Service shares additional information regarding species of conservation concern for forest plan revisions

VALLEJO, California, December 17, 2015 - The U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region is sharing additional information regarding our draft proposed species of conservation concern (SCC) lists as part of the land and resource management plan revision process for the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra National Forests.

In July, we provided our draft proposed SCC lists and asked for public feedback on those documents. In response to the public feedback we received then, we are now sharing the screening criteria we used to develop the draft proposed lists.

Through the SCC process, we determine if there is a concern about a particular species' capability to persist within the forest. If there is a concern, we design elements of the forest plan to provide the habitat conditions that will enable the species to persist on the forest as appropriate. For more information on the SCC lists, visit our webpage: http://go.usa.gov/37tD3

If you have questions, concerns or feedback about our SCC draft proposed lists or process please contact Joan Friedlander at 858 674-2962 or submit your input via Web-form at: http://tinyurl.com/earlyadoptersfpr . Feedback is most useful if received by February 1, 2016.

In the past year, we have convened public discussion on numerous forest plan revision topics, including:

• June 2014: Preliminary wilderness inventory, step one of the wilderness evaluation process
• August 2014: Began National Environmental Policy Act process for forest plan revisions; shared our final wilderness inventory
• November 2014: Shared issues and concerns heard during public scoping
• January 2015: Sierra Cascade Dialog session about monitoring programs
• May 2015: Update on our wilderness evaluation progress
• June 2015: Inyo National Forest hosted a wilderness evaluation public workshop
• July 2015: Released draft proposed species of conservation concern lists
• September 2015: Shared our process for wilderness evaluation and identifying areas for potential wilderness recommendation; Invited public feedback on our proposed draft monitoring programs
• October 2015: Sierra Cascade Dialog session about wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, species of conservation concern, and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
• December 2015: Shared our Wild and Scenic Rivers inventory and eligibility findings; invited public feedback

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service, part U.S. Department of Agriculture, 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 agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.