Statewide Assessment of Forest Resources (SAFR)
For more information, please contact our Project Leaders
• David Stephenson, email: dstephenson@idl.idaho.gov, tele: (208) 666-8621; tele: (208) 666-8646
Updates
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› Final Documents - Idaho Statewide Assessment of Forest Resources and Forest Resource Strategy
About the Statewide Assessment of Forest Resources
Idaho Department of Lands is working with partner agencies and groups to develop a Statewide Assessment of Forest Resources. This assessment is a key element in the redesign of the USDA Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry that was enacted in the 2008 Farm Bill. Its purpose is to ensure that federal and state resources are focused on landscape areas with the greatest opportunity to address shared priorities and achieve measurable outcomes.
The Statewide Assessment will provide an analysis of conditions and trends for all forested lands in Idaho. It will delineate rural and urban forest areas that are the highest priority for projects and investments administered through the State and Private Forestry program. Threats to and benefits from forest resources will be identified and form the foundation of the analysis. Following completion of the Statewide Assessment, a Statewide Resource Strategy will be developed. The Resource Strategy will identify activities and approaches for protection, restoration and enhancement of forest resources in priority landscapes.
For more information on the Statewide Assessment of Forest Resources and the Resource Strategy, see the national guidance from the Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/redesign/state_assess_strategies.pdf
Who is working on the Idaho Statewide Assessment?
Idaho Department of Lands is the Lead Agency. A diverse group of partners is participating, including:
• Idaho Department of Environmental Quality • Idaho Department of Fish & Game • Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation • Idaho Community Forestry Advisory Council • Idaho Forest Stewardship Advisory Committee • Idaho State Fire Plan Working Group • Idaho Technical Committee • Intermountain Forest Association |
• Coeur d'Alene Tribe • Nez Perce Tribe • The Nature Conservancy • University of Idaho • USDA Forest Service • USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service • USDI Bureau of Land Management |
Timeline
| 1. Identify Issues | January 2009 |
| 2. Determine best available datasets to inform issues | March 2009 |
| 3. Decide on methodology and score/weight/blend | April-June 2009 |
| 4. Feedback/refinement and final draft | July-September 2009 |
| 5. Write SAFR Report | July-October 2009 |
| 6. Final SAFR Map Complete | October 2009 |
| 7. Write Response Plan/Strategy | October 2009-June 2010 |
Issues
The issues identified by the Stakeholders and the Core Guidance Team are broken into to two broad categories: Those issues that threaten forests, and those for which forests provide benefit. These are listed below. As a map for each issue is developed, the issue title will be hyperlinked to an issue page, which will have a PDF of the map, and an explanation of the data and process used to develop the map. We need your input! Please call or e-mail the project leaders (contact information below) with your comments.
Current Status
The Core Guidance Team met several times over the summer of 2009 to refine the issues, suggest, consider and recommend datasets that best informed these issues, and to guide development of models to blend these data for each of the issues. For some of the issues, smaller “expert” groups provided additional input and guidance. This process resulted in the first draft of the State Assessment of Forest Resources for Idaho.
On July 14, 2009, the Stakeholder Group was reconvened to review and discuss this initial draft of the assessment. From this meeting, a number of suggestions were made to improve the assessment for four of the issues—Forest Health, Wildfire, Wildlife/Biodiversity and Water Quality and Quantity. These changes have been made and are incorporated into Draft Two of the assessment.
On August 26, 2009, the Stakeholder Group convened again to review and discuss the second draft of the assessment. Comments received in the interim were discussed. Some additional changes were suggested to the Wildfire, Development/Recreation and the Forest Markets issues. These changes were incorporated and a third and final draft produced.
The effort has now transitioned to development of the Idaho Forest Resource Strategy. Please visit our Idaho Forests Resource Strategy web page for information, including meeting agendas, notes, and documents.
You can download the FINAL ASSESSMENT REPORT (17MB), which includes descriptions of each issue, data used, models used for each issue, issue maps, a description of the final methodology and assessment maps, and the maps developed for each of the sub-issues.
Information, Notes from Meetings and Assessment Drafts
Communication Tools
NOTE: Some links on this page will take you outside the State of Idaho web server. 
