Project Description

The 1986 Forest Plan for the Lincoln National Forest has been amended 18 times. It is the primary document guiding the National Forest in meeting the Forest Service mission to manage lands for healthy, resilient ecosystems that meet the diverse needs of the American people. Much has changed over the past 30 years. New scientific information has become available and there have been changes in the economic, social, and ecological conditions. This resulted in a shift in management emphasis from outputs (e.g., cut a certain number of board feet of timber per year) to outcomes (e.g., the land should contain only the amount of trees it can healthily sustain).

Conditions or demands in the area covered by the 1986 Forest Plan have changed significantly. Therefore, the Lincoln National Forest is undertaking a complete Draft LMP Revision of the 1986 Forest Plan for the following purposes:

• To address changes that have occurred over the past 34 years

• To meet the legal requirements of the National Forest Management Act and the provisions of the 2012 Planning Rule, as amended in 2017 and outlined in 36 CFR 219 and the accompanying Planning Rule Final Directives (more detail on National Forest planning is provided below)

• To guide natural resource management on the Lincoln NF for the next 10 to 15 years

As described in more detail here, the Lincoln NF is also preparing a Draft EIS to document and disclose the analyses of alternatives developed for the Draft LMP Revision that would result in programmatic management of approximately 1.1 million acres of the Lincoln National Forest. The proposed action evaluated in the a Draft EIS will replace the 1986 Forest Plan. The revised Draft LMP Revision would accomplish the following:

• Address new information and concerns raised since the 1986 Forest Plan was published

• Meet the objectives of Federal laws, regulations, and policies

• Address the changes in management anticipated to be needed over the next 10 to 15 years identified in the analysis of the management situation

• Provide for clear direction in the form of desired conditions, objectives, standards, guidelines, suitability, management areas, and monitoring

• Incorporate the best available science

• Provide a framework for adaptive management

Planning Area

The Lincoln National Forest encompasses 1.1 million acres and is located within Lincoln, Otero, Chaves, and Eddy counties in southeast New Mexico. The Lincoln National Forest adjoins state, private, federal and tribal lands, and has three ranger districts: Smokey Bear, Sacramento and Guadalupe.

Planning Area Facts

• The Mescalero Apache Reservation is centrally located between the Smokey Bear and Sacramento Ranger Districts

• Mountain ranges on the forest include the Jicarilla, Capitan, White Mountains, Sacramento and Guadalupe, which rise from 4,000 to 12,000 feet and create islands of forested habitat and climatic relief

• Logged in the early 1900s

• Supports 104 grazing allotments

• Has 900,000 recreation visits annually

• 2 designated wilderness areas: the White Mountains and Capitan Mountains

• 1 designated wilderness study area: the Guadalupe Escarpment

• 3 National Recreation Trails

• 3 Scenic Byways