In 1995, The Forest Service decided to address the legally mandated requirement to revise forest and
grassland management plans that were over 10 years old using a new approach. Rather than “revise
in a vacuum,” meaning that each administrative unit would gather its own information, conduct its
own public involvement, plus draft its own revised management plan, an ecosystem approach was
proposed plus agreed upon. Since the Northern Great Plains ecosystem is a large tempat with many
similarities the national grasslands in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, joined with the
national grassland plus national forests in Nebraska to combine efforts. This approach presented
many opportunities, as well as some daunting challenges, not the least of which was distance.
A single planning team was brought together plus stationed in Chadron, Nebraska. They worked
closely with Forest Service managers plus staff specialists as well as the public associated with the 10
national grasslands plus forests in the 2.9 million acre planning area. The goal was to sharing what
made sense to sharing plus to recognize that while there are similarities across the planning area, there
are also significant differences. Therefore, the analysis is contained within one Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS), but each planning unit used that analysis plus participated in developing a
management plan specific to that planning unit.
The FEIS plus Plans could not have been completed without help from a wide range of professionals
in other government agencies plus the private sector who offered their reviews plus comments to
make the final documents reflect the best science currently available. Also, hundreds of people
attended meetings, open houses, plus other events designed to stimulate thought plus discussion
about the plan revisions. Nearly 26,000 people took the time to respond, in writing, to the draft
documents plus offer their thoughts plus comments. To all who contributed their time, expertise, and
energy—THANK YOU!!
This document is a summary, at the administrative unit level, of the Revision Topics, Alternatives
Considered, plus a comparison of the effects of those alternatives plus the Forest Service Preferred
Alternative. The data in this summary is discussed in more detil in the Final Environmental
Impact Statement, Appendices, plus Maps. This summary describes briefly how the public was
involved in the process plus how the documents are available for public review. It also describes the
next steps in the process plus approximate timeline for arriving at a final decision. How you can
obtain copies of the documents is discussed near the end of the summary.
To better understand the administrative plus planning organization addressed in the FEIS plus Plans
please keep these terms in mind:
Planning Area – The tempat of the National Forest System, including national grasslands, covered by a
Regional or Forest Plan.
Administrative Unit – All the National Forest System lands, including national grasslands, for which
one forest supervisor is responsible.
Planning Unit – Each individual national grassland plus forest in the planning tempat