Field Issuances from the Southern Region

Regional Foresters and Forest Supervisors may supplement service-wide direction with field issuances that provide direction for activities under their respective authority.The following table summarizes the regional supplements to the Manual and Handbook described here. (Table: Regional Direction from the Forest Service Manual (FSM) and Handbook (FSH) concerning NTFPs) The regional policy on the sale of NTFPs was updated with supplement 2400-94-3, which embraces sustainable harvests based on annual work plans, and maximum cost efficiency with positive public benefits (USDA Forest Service 1994). The objective of this supplement is to ensure that sale of these products is conducted in a cost-efficient manner and at fair market value, while meeting forest and resource management plan objectives. The supplement directs Forest Service staffers to use management practices that perpetuate or increase production consistent with forest plan objectives and the principles of ecosystem management. The policy also directs them to use economic principles and analysis to ensure and document the sustainable benefits of NTFP sales.

The supplement directs the Regional Forester to develop procedures to determine the value of products and facilitate the sale of products. It also directs Forest Supervisors to develop and update the value and rate schedules, as well as National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) documentation, including biological evaluations. Further, the supplement directs Forest Supervisors to provide for the administration and monitoring to ensure that management objectives are met, and that the terms of the permits are fulfilled. In addition, Forest Supervisors are to establish criteria and standards for the issuance of permits for research purposes. In 1996, the manual was further amended to redelegate authority to sell and dispose of NTFPs (USDA Forest Service 1996).

The Region 8 (R8) Manual supplement sets conditions for the sales of NTFPs that include establishing permit fees based on fair market value, and issuing free-use permits only when there is no competition and when collection is for personal consumption (USDA Forest Service 1994). The section further directs Forest Service managers to use a minimum of 20 percent of wholesale market value of the products as a starting point to establish the appraised product value.

Two regional Handbook supplements about NTFPs have been issued since 1994. The R8 supplement 2409.18-94-3 provides direction on firewood harvesting operations and the appropriate forms to record firewood activities (USDA Forest Service 1994). The supplement also specifies the appropriate form for the sale of Christmas trees and other special forest products. The R8 Handbook supplement No. 2409.18-95-1 authorizes procedures for the sale of naval stores and provides a list of saleable products (USDA Forest Service 1995). The procedures for naval stores include direction on marking and tallying specific trees, appraising their value, and administering naval stores sales. Subsection 87.71 deals with medicinal plants and roots, particularly ginseng, and directs Forest Service units to cooperate with state programs and to work within the regulations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Units are directed to develop ginseng management strategies that reflect the forest plan objectives, biological evaluations, and local values. Forest Service units are directed to specify harvesting requirements on permits, and to include a way to verify harvest levels.