# Land Management Planning, Assessment and Monitoring

**Agency:** Agriculture (USDA)  
**Account:** National Forest System  
**Source document:** Forest Service · p. 59  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/budget/agriculture/land-management-planning-assessment-and-monitoring  

> **Trust:** parsed from the agency Congressional Justification. Approximate, **not summable**, verify at the cited page.

## Funding ($M)

| Fiscal year | Basis | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FY2026 | enacted | 14.5 |
| FY2027 | request | 10.0 |

## Agriculture (USDA) discretionary budget authority (OMB PBDB — authoritative)

FY2027 $20.40B, FY2026 $33.40B. This is the agency total, not a sum of the parsed lines.


## What this funds

Table FS-46. Land Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring Details Table Assessment, and Monitoring Actual Actual Enacted Request Dec. Land Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring - Justification of A decrease of $4,500,000 in Land Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring progress on some priority projects while continuing efforts to support Executive Order (E.O.) 14225, Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, and P.L. 119-21, Working Families Tax Cut Act. Focused efforts will continue to streamline the National Environmental Planning Act (NEPA) planning to ensure efficient and timely clearance for critical land Land Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring - Status of Programs The Land Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring program guides the stewardship of 193 million acres of national forests and grassland. It follows a continuous cycle of assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, and adjustments based on the latest scientific information. This approach facilitates active land management including timber production, minerals and energy availability, protecting and restoring ecosystem integrity, and enhancing wildfire risk reduction. The program emphasizes engagement with Tribes, the public, and government entities by encouraging participation in land management planning, assessment, and monitoring. Land management planning is integral to achieving the objectives in E.O. 14225, Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, E.O. 14313, Establishing the President's Make America Beautiful Again and E.O. 14241, Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. Completion of Land Management Plan Revisions In FY 2025, the program completed the land management plan revision for the Gila National Forest (which is pending final decision), continued plan revision for 13 land management plans across the National Forest System (NFS) and amended 19 land management plans in the Northwest Forest Plan area. Plan revision efforts continue to demonstrate efficiencies such as consistency in process and reduced objection review timelines in accordance with Improving Plan Implementation through Efficient Project Planning and Compliance The program has made significant strides towards rescinding burdensome regulations that go beyond statutory requirements such as the 2001 Roadless Rule and the Project-Level The Forest Service is modernizing the approach to NEPA through streamlined NEPA environmental reviews enabled by updated U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) NEPA review delivery, and providing for a more standardized and predictable approach to NEPA and land management planning. Consistent with E.O. 14225, Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, this program has made significant strides in expanding the tools available to the Forest Service to assist in implementing land management plans. In close collaboration with other federal agencies, the program adopted 44 new Categorical Exclusions (CEs) under NEPA Section 109, including three categories related to plans and timber production. As a result, all 79 USDA and sub-agency CEs, including an additional ten adopted from other agencies, are now available to the Forest Service and all other USDA agencies. The number of CEs available to the Forest Service increased from 55 to 134, increasing efficiency and speed of plan implementation and delivery. The program developed the Enterprise Land Management System (ELMS), leveraging modern technology to transform the Forest Service's environmental review, planning, and decision-making processes under NEPA and the National Forest Management Act. The program successfully delivered a categorical exclusion module that streamlined and standardized environmental reviews across the Forest Service. This innovation reduced decision timelines at both the plan and project levels, generating an approximate 15 percent-time savings in reviews and significantly enhancing the Forest Service's ability to meet regulatory requirements efficiently and consistently. The program expanded tools available to the Forest Service to assist in implementing land management plans such as the use of artificial intelligence to interpret land management plans and improve efficiencies in public comment analysis. Additionally, the program area implemented the Forest Management Analysis Platform (ForestMAP), an advanced data, information, and analysis tool that informs decision making for expanding timber production on National Forests and provides information on sustainable yield levels which is an integral The monitoring program improved consistency in land management planning through the establishment of a Monitoring and Assessment Protocol Repository that provides efficient data availability for streamlined NEPA and Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance consistent with ensuring efficient and timely environmental reviews. With the production of Monitoring Indicator Evaluations (MIEs), common monitoring questions can now be answered with nationally available data sets which reduces the need for individual units to manage their own data. MIEs include data sources, unit-specific data analysis, results, methodology, and caveats to consider thereby addressing the challenges time and improving utility by forest leadership and the public. In FY 2027, the land management planning, assessment, and monitoring program will support each National Forest and Grassland in delivering services to the public and Tribes. revisions to support and accelerate implementation of Administration priorities including E.O. 14225, Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, and to take capitalize on new opportunities created by deregulation such as the rescission of ' Provide nationwide training for Forest Service staf


**Where it sits:** Civilian / Non-Defense › Agriculture (USDA) › Forest Service › National Forest System › Land Management Planning, Assessment and Monitoring


*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. government. Civilian line dollars are parsed from agency Congressional Justifications and are approximate.*