Restoring Forests and Communities: Lessons from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program

Abstract

The United States Forest Service (USFS) estimates that between 65 and 82 million acres of the National Forest System need restoration. In the agency’s view, a science-based restoration program with direction from collaborative multiparty groups is most likely to be effective at achieving ecological, economic, and social benefits. The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), established in 2009, is one policy initiative to encourage and support innovative restoration projects that can reduce the risk of large-scale wildfire and benefit rural communities. This report analyzes thirteen CFLRP sites selected in 2012 to explore how collaboration is affecting public lands management. According to our research, CFLRP is having positive effects but is not living up to its full potential. Difficulties of collaboration at a landscape-scale, changes in economic conditions that are undermining the policy’s economic assumptions, and the timing and restrictions on funding limit the program’s effectiveness. Furthermore, sites are experiencing difficulties establishing and evaluating measures of success for ecological and economic benefits. Thirty-four recommendations include strategies for individual project sites to enhance collaborative leadership, communication and outreach, and restoration and monitoring. The study’s recommendations also point to ways to improve, training, and ideas for future policy development and implementation. With enhancements and refinements, the CFLR program can be a productive way for the USFS to pursue an “all-lands” landscape-scale management approach with benefits to forest health and local economies.