LISTSERV - IOWA-TOPICS Archives - LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG

MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Approved-By:  [log in to unmask]
Message-ID:  <[log in to unmask]>
Date:         Tue, 17 Aug 1999 12:33:18 EDT
Reply-To: Fed-Forests <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Fed-Forests <[log in to unmask]>
From: David Orr <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      USFS Stewardship Contracting (pt. 1) (thought QLG was bad?)
To: [log in to unmask]

The new smiley-face of logging on the National Forests...



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Stewardship Contracting Pilot Projects: Multiparty Monitoring and
Evaluation Process

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 44686]]

SUMMARY: Section 347 of the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act authorizes
the Forest Service to enter into 28 stewardship end results contracts.
These contracts are intended to provide a means for pilot-testing an
array of potential new authorities for giving national forest managers
greater administrative flexibility to improve forest conditions and
potentially help meet the needs of local communities. One of the key
provisions of the statute, embodied in subsection (g) of the Act, is a
provision requiring the establishment of a process for multiparty
monitoring and evaluation of the stewardship contracts. The Forest
Service hereby gives notice that a draft framework for multiparty
monitoring and evaluation has been developed and is now available for
public review and comment.

DATES: Comments must be received, in writing, on or before September 16,
1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposal may be sent to Cliff
Hickman, USDA Forest Service, Forest Management Staff, Mail Stop 1105,
P.O. Box 96090, Washington, D.C. 20090-6090 or electronically to
[log in to unmask]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cliff Hickman, Forest Management Staff,
(202) 205-1162, or [log in to unmask] Electronic copies of the Act,
and of this proposed framework for multiparty monitoring and evaluation,
may be obtained via the INTERNET at www.fs.fed.us/land/fm/stewardship.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 347 of the FY 1999 Omnibus
Appropriations Act (Act) authorizes the Forest Service to implement up to
28 stewardship end results contracts. The Forest Service provided
background information about the provisions of Section 347 and its
progress in implementing the legislation, in a notice that appeared in
the July 9, 1999, issue of the Federal Register (64 FR 37096). That
notice identified the stewardship pilot projects that the agency had
already selected. This notice sets out the proposed framework and
requests public comment. A notice summarizing the public comment and the
agency's response to that comment will be published along with the
finalized framework.
    The framework that the agency proposes to use to comply with the
requirements of subsection (g) of Section 347 of the Act consists of two
parts: (1) A process for securing multiparty monitoring and evaluation,
and (2) a set of criteria to be considered during monitoring and
evaluation. Besides ensuring proper documentation of any treatments and
their resulting environmental effects, the proposed framework is intended
to provide an objective basis for assessing the implications of the
stewardship pilots regarding the following:
    (1) The potential advantages of greater collaboration during period
planning and implementation;
    (2) The potential for new authorities to facilitate efficient
implementation of desired ecosystem restoration, maintenance, or
protection activities; and
    (3) The potential of stewardship contracting to help meet the needs
of local communities.
    This proposed framework represents only one option for satisfying the
multiparty monitoring and evaluation requirement of the Act. It is
designed to comply with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act (FACA). The proposed framework is being developed to facilitate the
data inventory required by Section 347 of the Act and is not a public
information survey. Comments and suggestions on this proposal and on
other ways to accomplish multiparty monitoring and evaluation, that would
be in compliance with FACA requirements, are requested.

Proposed Process

    At the national level, a single Advisory Committee will be
established under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA). The framework proposes establishing two types of teams at the
local (project) level: (1) Data Inventory teams, and (2) Assessment and
Evaluation Teams. Due to the composition, duties, and purpose of these
teams, FACA chartering is not required. Additional details concerning the
structure and functions of these proposed groups are provided below:
    Local Data Inventory Teams. Each forest with a stewardship pilot
project will be responsible for organizing a team of interested publics
to gather the data needed to assess project and program results. These
teams will operate under the direction of a Forest Service employee who
will encourage participation of all team members, develop monitoring
methods, schedule team assignments, compile and validate the team's data,
and interact, as needed, with the appropriate Assessment and Evaluation
Team. Where a Forest has more than one pilot project, separate Data
Inventory teams will be established to compile the relevant data for each
project.
    As the name suggests, the principal function of the Data Inventory
teams will be to gather project (local) level data for analysis by the
appropriate Assessment and Evaluation Team. The criteria that the Data
Inventory teams will be required to consider are described under the
subheading ``Criteria for Local Data Inventory Teams.'' Once validated,
the facts gathered by the Data Inventory teams will be made available for
public review and use.
    The Data Inventory teams will be free to compile facts and other
evidence deemed relevant by the responsible Assessment and Evaluation
Team, but any additional data must be factual rather than interpretive
data. Limiting the role of these teams to the compilation of factual
evidence eliminates the need to establish a FACA committee. Participation
on the teams will be open to all interested parties.
    Local Monitoring Assessment and Evaluation Team. Each forest with a
stewardship pilot project will be responsible for organizing a team of
government employees, federal, state, local, or tribal. This Monitoring
Assessment and Evaluation Team's tasks are to assess and evaluate the
data compiled by the corresponding Data Inventory Team and, also, to
formulate appropriate recommendations. The Assessment and Evaluation
Teams will operate under the direction of a Forest Service employee,
serving as chairperson. A non-Forest Service person will be selected as
the vice-chairperson of the committee. If other governmental entities are
unavailable or unwilling to participate in the evaluation process, a
Forest Service team will be organized. Where a forest has more than one
stewardship pilot, only one Assessment and Evaluation Team will be
established to deal with all the projects on that forest.
    As already suggested, a key function of the Assessment and Evaluation
Teams will be to analyze and weigh the significance of the factual
evidence compiled by the Data Inventory Teams. The criteria that the
Assessment and Evaluation Teams will be required to consider are
described under the subheading ``Criteria for Local Assessment and
Evaluation Teams.'' These teams, at their discretion, will be free to
develop other site-specific criteria that they deem relevant--e.g.,
additional criteria pertaining to forest conditions before and after
treatment, effects on the local economy, and relations between and among
community members, including the Forest Service. Finally, the Assessment
and Evaluation Teams will be free to interact with the Data Inventory
Teams and the National Advisory Committee, as needed.

[[Page 44687]]

    The Assessment and Evaluation Teams will be responsible for making
judgments, reaching conclusions, and formulating recommendations on the
basis of the data assimilated. Because the teams, as envisioned in this
proposal, will be comprised of government employees only, they qualify
for the FACA requirement exemption, authorized by Section 204 of the
Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995. Section 204 provides for the formation of
intergovernmental committees to exchange official views concerning the
implementation or administration of intergovernmental responsibilities.
    A second key function of the local Assessment and Evaluation teams
will be to prepare annual reports to the National Advisory Committee.
Annual reports will be submitted to the National Advisory Committee
within 60 days of the close of each fiscal year. In situations where a
forest has more than one stewardship pilot, each project will be
analyzed, evaluated, and discussed in a separate report.
    The local Assessment and Evaluation Team reports will include the
descriptive data that has been compiled by the local Data Inventory
Teams, the responses to the criteria described under the subheading
``Critria for Local Assessmet and Evaluation Teams,'' and any other
issues that the teams determine to be relevant.
    The Assessment and Evaluation Teams will actively seek input from
the public. Therefore, they will open their meetings to the public and
give adequate notice of the times and locations of their meetings. Draft
annual evaluation results will be shared with the public for comment by
posting a notice of availability of the results in the local newspapers,
posting the results on each forest's INTERNET website (if available), and
by holding one or more public meetings. Public comments will be
considered in preparing the annual reports to the National Advisory
Committee. All public comments will be retained in the monitoring and
evaluation file for each project.
    National Advisory Committee. A FACA advisory committee will be
chartered to monitor and evaluate the stewardship pilot program at the
national level. The Forest Service will recommend potential National
Advisory Committee members to the Office of the Secretary of USDA.
Committee representation will reflect the need to represent all
communities of interest and to ensure that there is balance in the views
represented. To ensure a connection to the projects at the local level,
at least two Committee members will be people serving on local monitoring
and evaluation teams. This arrangement will help ensure that the broad
array of criteria considered and the resulting recommendations present an
accurate, coherent picture of what the section 347 stewardship pilots
have actually accomplished and demonstrated. Notices concerning the
National Advisory Committee's establishment, its membership, and meeting
information will be
published in the Federal Register. The Forest Service will provide
organizational support to the National Committee.
    The National Advisory Committee will be responsible for obtaining
the information it needs from the local monitoring and evaluation teams
and will interact with these teams as needed to discharge its duties. The
Committee, at a minimum, will consider the criteria described under the
subheading ``Criteria for the National Advisory Committee.'' These
criteria focus on national issues, such as, whether national forest
policies and priorities were advanced by the new authorities (processes
and procedures) being tested, whether the interests of non-local publics
were adequately considered, and whether agency accountability for actions
and outcomes was appropriately maintained. The National Committee will
also identify and evaluate the important ``lessons learned'' from the
stewardship pilots; they will assess what worked well and what did not
work well. As part of this process, they will describe any barriers that
had to be overcome or that prevented smooth implementation of the pilot
projects.
    The National Advisory Committee will be responsible for preparing
annual reports to the Forest Service's Washington Office Forest
Management Staff. The Committee's reports will form the basis for the
Forest Service's required annual reports to Congress.
    The Committee's annual reports are to be completed within 60 days of
its receiving the reports from the local Assessment and Evaluation Teams.
These reports will contain a compilation of descriptive data pertaining
to such things as: the acreages treated for different purposes; the costs
incurred; the sources of project funding; the types of products produced;
the revenues generated; the types of collaborators involved in project
planning, implementation, and monitoring; the roles played by different
collaborators; and the processes and procedures that were tested. The
reports also will address the information requested by Congress, the
criteria listed under the subheading ``Criteria for National Advisory
Committee,'' and any other issues that the National Committee determines
to be important.
    Other Process Principles. Other principles guiding the monitoring and
evaluation process include the following:
    * All monitoring and evaluation teams will be structured so as to
encompass a diverse mix of resource management skills.
    * As needed and as is reasonable, the Forest Service will compensate
monitoring and evaluation team members for any travel costs that they
incur as a result of their service to the agency.
    * All monitoring and evaluation team members will be encouraged to
network with their constituents and bring new information and issues
forward.
    * Whenever possible, pilots will be designed to include two types of
controls: (1) areas where no vegetative treatment is occurring, and (2)
areas where standard timber sale and/or service contracting
procedures are being observed.

(Continued...)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
To get off the CONS-WPST-FORESTS-FED-FORUM list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]