Citizens' Call for Ecological Forest Restoration:
Restoration Principles area a valuable tool to guide restoration policy

By Anne Martin

Decision-makers, scientists, and the interested public have recognized that there is an urgent need to restore forest ecosystems after decades of intensive logging, fire suppression, road building, grazing, mining, and invasions by exotic species. At the same time, there are serious questions as to whether many proposed "restoration" activities are really ecologically beneficial to the landscape.

Due to recent pressure from decision-makers to address forest fires in the West, federal agencies are developing plans to implement environmentally questionable "restoration" projects on a national scale. The National Fire Plan has funded fuel reduction projects - many of them commercial timber sales - in endangered species habitat, roadless areas, old-growth forests and even in regions where there is no scientific evidence that forests are at risk from catastrophic fires.

With more and more commercial timber sales being advanced in the name of ecological restoration, the conservation community realized we needed to get out in front of federal land management agencies and the timber industry and come together to agree what clearly defines the kind of restoration projects that we could support.

In late 2000, American Lands assembled a steering committee of grassroots and national groups to organize a meeting to bring the conservation community together to develop a national policy statement to guide sound ecological restoration policy and projects. Thanks to the dedication of the Forest Restoration Steering Committee members - which included NFPA - and all of the activists that participated in the two Restoration Summits, a national statement of ecological restoration is just about completed.

The Citizens' Call for Ecological Restoration: Forest Restoration Principles and Criteria were developed by a diverse group of forest activists and forest ecologists from around the U.S. with input from representatives of forest practitioners and community forest groups who participated in the Forest Activist Summit on Forest Restoration in Boulder Colorado, February 16-18, 2001.

This diverse group was brought together because of the recognition that, to develop and implement a sound restoration agenda, the conservation community must learn from and work with both scientists and those who do the restoration work on the ground. The Forest Restoration Steering Committee of grassroots and national organizations worked for over a year to write the Restoration Principles and ensure that they were scientifically credible.

A Second Annual Forest Restoration Summit was held February 15-17, 2002 in Spokane, WA to bring together forest activists, forest practitioners and community forestry advocates to further the conversation about implementing ecological restoration. Participants shared their different experiences with restoration - from those promoting restoration projects on the ground to those fighting damaging restoration projects and working to reform policy - and spent time tackling some of the difficult issues that often divide us as well as the issues that build common ground. The Second Summit provided an opportunity to begin building alliances amongst organizations that share an interest in promoting ecological restoration.

The Restoration Principles articulate a collective vision of forest restoration. These scientifically credible principles and criteria will provide a yardstick with which to evaluate proposed agency restoration policies and projects. While this document was developed to respond to restoration policy and projects on federal lands, the principles and criteria are relevant to other land ownerships as well. By including social criteria, the Restoration Principles also help to bridge the gap between ecological restoration - what's good for the land, what's within the capacity of ecosystems - and what's good for communities and workers.

The science of forest restoration is in its infancy. The results of restoring forests may not produce demonstrable changes in ecological integrity for decades and, in some cases, for centuries (e.g., restoring an old-growth forest recently clearcut). Because ecosystems are complex and not completely understood, caution is warranted.

The Restoration Principles stress that the primary goal of forest restoration is to enhance ecological integrity by restoring natural processes and resiliency. Restoration projects must be based on comprehensive restoration assessments that address a broad range of restoration questions and remove the factors that cause ecological degradation. These factors could include, but are not limited to: logging, roadbuilding, livestock grazing, mining, building of dams and water diversions, off-road vehicle use and alteration of fire regimes.

Restoration projects must: take a thoughtful, careful, and conservative approach; utilize best available science and incorporate experiential and indigenous knowledge; meet restoration objectives set during assessment; use the least intrusive techniques available that will be effective; incorporate and/or improve recovery plans for threatened and endangered species; and include a realistic and dedicated funding commitment to assessment, monitoring and evaluation.

The Restoration Principles define three approaches for restoring forests: Protection - protect areas of high ecological integrity; Passive Restoration - cease activities that have been determined by a restoration assessment to impede natural recovery processes; and Active Restoration - reintroduce natural processes or species through direct intervention. Active restoration methods include: Prescribed burning, road obliteration, removal of barriers to fish passage and water diversions, invasive species control, fuel treatment, and riparian restoration. It is very important that all three approaches for ecological forest restoration be considered and that one should not be done without the other.

The Restoration Principles are also clear that economic incentives must be eliminated which are inconsistent with improving the ecological integrity of the landscape, or otherwise cause ecological damage. Restoration may not - and may never - pay for itself. A long-term investment must be made in order to restore forest ecosystems after decades of forest mismanagement. The Restoration Principles state that specific appropriations must commit consistent, adequate multi-year funding for all aspects of restoration and that the current commercial timber sale program is not appropriate for restoring forests. Also, contracting mechanisms must be developed that are driven by ecological objectives.

The Restoration Principles also emphasize the role communities and workers play in implementing ecologically sound restoration. Ecological forest restoration is an integral part in creating sustainable communities - restoring not only ecological integrity but also the human connection to the landscape. In order for ecologically sound restoration to take place, there must be strong, healthy and diverse communities and a skilled, committed workforce.

The Restoration Principles will be used to guide restoration policy and educate members of Congress and their staff on what is - and what is not - ecologically sound restoration and how it should be implemented. The American Lands' Interior Appropriations Initiative for FY 2003 advocates for zeroing out the timber sale program budget and shifting the money to a new line item specifically created for ecologically sound restoration activities. The Restoration Principles provide the policy framework for spending appropriated restoration dollars.

The Restoration Principles are also a valuable tool for forest watch activists, forest practitioners, community forests groups, restorationists, scientists and others to advocate for ecological restoration on the ground. The Principles Principles are being formatted into a check list that can be used in the field to determine if restoration projects are restoring ecological integrity and meeting restoration objectives. This field check-list will become an appendix to the Restoration Principles. The Forest Restoration Steering Committee will be taking the document in this format to conservation journals for publication this year to allow broad dissemination and dialogue on ecological restoration. In the future, we hope to see workshops on how to use the Principles in your region.

Your organization is invited to become part this collective voice promoting a sound ecological restoration vision. To receive a copy of the Restoration Principles or learn how to get more involved, please contact Anne Martin, American Lands Alliance at annem@americanlands.org, (775) 786-1658 or Jake Kreilick, National Forest Protection Alliance at jkreilick@forestadvocate.org, (406) 829-6353.

Anne Martin is national field director for the American Lands Alliance.

NOTE: The Native Forest Network has been involved in the development of the Restoration Principles as well and recently signed onto them.