People, Places and Priorities: bringing community voices to forest planning

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service Photo by Michelle Day

Meadows Community public meeting where people and places intertwine and where technical and community knowledge are shared to understand which critical values are important for forest health work.

This People, Places, and Priorities (3P) project provides a framework to help communities develop a shared plan for future forest health work across multiple ownerships. The framework brings locally relevant information into the planning process while building upon existing statewide and federal prioritization efforts. 

The 3P framework provides a roadmap for preparing, communicating, and collecting community level input. These data are then used to spatially identify priority areas for future forest and fuels treatments, enabling discussions around trade-offs and treatment opportunities. The framework was developed and tested with a community in Northeast Washington, and examples from that pilot illustrate what different community meetings can look like. Because each community is unique, additional pilots are encouraged to refine and diversify the framework.

Through the pilot effort in northeast Washington, participating agencies now have a clearer understanding of the priorities expressed by community members. The Forest Service incorporated this public engagement and its resulting products into the scoping process for the Meadows Environmental Assessment.

Community members responded very positively to the 3P process. We believe 3P offers a replicable way for communities to build consensus around what forest health actions they are willing to support or take on. This process helps build the understanding and trust needed to implement and sustain forest and fuels treatments. 

Read the Report: People, Places and Priorities (3P) Framework: Community Voices in Forest Planning