Managing forests sustainably involves recognizing interconnections among environmental, social, and economic systems to preserve options for future generations while meeting the needs of the present. Many organizations are turning to a criteria and indicators (C&I) approach to help describe forest sustainability. Under this approach, criteria define broad categories of sustainability and indicators are specific measurements of each category. In 1995, the United States joined 11 other countries in signing a document establishing a set of 7 criteria and 67 indicators to track the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests, commonly called the Montreal Process.
The USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry (NA) and the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters (NAASF) have adopted the Montreal Process sustainability criteria as sustainability goals, and the C&I framework as a tool for measuring progress in sustainability. As part of the effort, we have established a clearinghouse for sustainability information, used the Montreal Process C&I to develop a sustainability report for the 20 states in the Northeastern Area, used the C&I to screen issues for the NA/NAAASF five year strategic planning process, have developed a list of base indicators for more frequent monitoring and evaluation by NA and state forestry agencies, and have produced a sourcebook on C&I.
In the sustainability report, the Montreal Process indicators were addressed to the extent possible using readily available information from a variety of sources. The explosion of information on the Internet has made this type of synthesis work much easier than in the past though there are still significant data holes. This report provides a regional context for National and State forest planning efforts. The references and appendices are useful resources for those wishing to conduct more detailed analyses that link to broader scale information.
A work group comprised of Northeastern Forest Resource Planners Association members and NA staff has developed a set of base indicators within the Montreal Process framework to assess the sustainability of forests across the 20 States in the Northeastern Area. Adopted by NAASF, these base indicators are recommended as a common set to be used by the Northeastern Area and as a starting point for the 20 State forestry agencies represented by NAASF.
The NA and Northeastern Forest Resource Planners work group has produced a sourcebook on criteria and indicators of forest sustainability. This document outlines the basic use of C&I to assess forest sustainability, summarizes information on the development and use of C&I by various organizations and agencies, provides a list of recommended resources, and presents the base indicators to assess the sustainability of forests across the 20 States in the Northeastern Area. Valuable lessons learned from other organizations and agencies and from the Northeastern Area involvement in this process are also presented in the sourcebook.
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