The Forest Service produces the Resources Planning Act Assessment as mandated by the Forest and Rangelands Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (Public Law 93–378; 16 U.S.C. 1600, et seq., as amended) and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (Public Law 93–378; 16 U.S.C. 1642, et seq., as amended).

Congress mandated an assessment of the Nation’s renewable resources because of concerns about natural resource scarcity and to ensure America’s competitiveness in natural resource industries. The legislation requires a national report on the conditions and trends of renewable resources on all forests and rangelands every 10 years. Assessment authors also often produce voluntary midcycle updates. Congress amended the legislation in 1990 to also require an analysis of the potential effects of climatic change on the condition of renewable resources, broadening the emphasis from a solely economic concern with supply and demand to concern about resource conditions, ecosystem health, and sustainability (Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, S. 2830, 101st Cong. (1990). Title XXIV-Global Climate Change, Section 2408a3). The Agency published the first Resources Planning Act Assessment in 1977.

Analyses in the Resources Planning Act Assessment typically have a national focus, which requires either nationally consistent data or data that can be consistently aggregated at the national level. The results of the analyses are often presented both nationally and for four Assessment regions or subregions. 

The following outlines the evolution of the Resources Planning Assessment, dating back to the first Assessment published in 1977. Due largely to amendments in the authorizing legislation and technological and scientific advancements, the Assessment has evolved in its breadth and complexity. Learn more about the current cycle on the 2020 Resources Planning Act Assessment webpage.

The 2010 Resources Planning Act Assessment Cycle

The 2010 Resources Planning Act Assessment provided a summary of current U.S. forest and rangeland conditions on all ownerships, identified drivers of change for natural resource conditions, and projected the effect of those drivers on resource conditions from 2010 to 2060. Assessment authors used a set of future scenarios to explore a range of possible futures for U.S. renewable natural resources. Authors also used these scenarios to analyze the effects of human and environmental influences on forests and rangelands, including population growth, domestic and global economic growth, global wood energy consumption, land use change, and climate change. The 2010 Assessment expanded analyses of climate effects by directly incorporating climate variables into several resource analyses, including forest inventory projections, rangeland productivity projections, wildlife habitat stress projections, outdoor recreation participation, and water.

Four key themes emerged from the findings: 1) land development will continue to threaten the integrity of natural ecosystems; 2) climate change will alter natural ecosystems and affect their ability to provide goods and services; 3) competition for goods and services from natural ecosystems will increase; and 4) geographic variation in resource response to drivers of change will require regional and local strategies to sustain natural resources.

The Agency published the 2010 Resources Planning Act Assessment Update in 2016. It built upon the 2010 Assessment and provided more recent information and new analyses about resource conditions and trends on the Nation’s forests and rangelands. The 2010 Assessment Update examined how land development, climate change, and natural disturbances continued to influence the extent, pattern, and conditions of forest and rangeland ecosystems. The interaction of socioeconomic and biophysical drivers affected the productivity of forest and rangeland ecosystems and their ability to meet increasing demands for goods and services. These effects varied regionally and locally, requiring flexible adaptation and management strategies.

In addition to updating trends and projections, the 2010 Resources Planning Act Assessment Update examined wood pellet export markets and their effects on southern forests; the effect of adaption options on water scarcity; and how different patterns in natural resource, human, and economic development affect natural resource outlooks for two National Forest System regions.

The 2000 Resources Planning Act Assessment Cycle

The original language of the Resources Planning Act emphasized resource availability in an economic context. However, the ability of the resource base to produce both tangible and intangible outputs for society depends on the condition of the resource base. As a result, assessment authors directed more attention to assessing resource conditions for the 2000 Resources Planning Act Assessment cycle. They also continued to focus on international linkages, as national policies and international agreements on global warming and biological diversity had increased the visibility of international resource issues. Additionally, U.S. demands affect resource conditions and supplies outside national boundaries.

In 1993, the President established a goal of achieving sustainable forest management in all U.S. forests by the year 2000. In 1995, through the Montréal Process and the Santiago Declaration, the United States committed to developing and evaluating seven criteria and 67 indicators of sustainable forest management. 

The seven criteria provided the organizing framework for the 2000 Resources Planning Act Assessment. The Assessment served as a synthesis and reporting mechanism for the sustainable forest management criteria and indicators at the national level. The sustainable forest management indicators focused on historic and current conditions. The Assessment provided additional information on rangeland resources, mineral resources, and the projected outlook for forest and rangeland resources. Supporting documents detailed individual resource areas, climate change, and other topics. The 2000 Assessment also included the first urban forest assessment.

As with previous Assessments, authors published a midcycle update in 2007. The interim update continued to use the seven criteria of sustainable forest management as an organizing framework. Projected increases in population and income suggested continued increases in demands for renewable resources. The update summarized numerous current resource issues, including globalization, climate change, urbanization, and the availability of processing capacity for small diameter timber in the West. Additional publications detailed the 15 key findings from the interim update.

The 1989 Resources Planning Act Assessment Cycle

The Forest Service undertook a major research effort to increase its analytic capabilities in all resource areas for the 1989 Resources Planning Assessment. A scientist for each resource area produced a technical document that provided supporting information for and analysis of the Assessment.

The 1989 Resources Planning Act Assessment summarized the findings from each resource area, and additional documents provided detailed supporting technical information. These seven documents reported on the findings in each resource area (wildlife and fish, range forage, outdoor recreation and wilderness, water, timber, minerals, and land base). Five additional documents reported on resource interactions, global climate change, programs and responsibilities of the Forest Service, evolving uses of the Nation's resources, and basic assumptions.

Assessment authors voluntarily produced an update to the 1989 Assessment in 1993. Although the update included new information on supply and demand trends, it mostly focused on domestic and international resource issues. Based on 1989 Assessment findings, Assessment authors identified a number of issues that could impact resource availability and use. The Agency commissioned studies to further study a subset of those issues. The results of these studies are highlighted throughout the 1993 Assessment update, and a technical document supports each issue analysis. Issues included biological diversity, recycling, threatened and endangered species, customer diversity and the demand for recreation, forest productivity and climate change, private forest investment, and water quality on forest and rangelands.  

The 1979 Resources Planning Act Assessment Cycle

In the first Resources Planning Act Assessment published in 1977, authors compiled existing information on renewable resources. Report chapters described basic assumptions, the forest and rangeland resource base, the current and projected supply of and demand for outdoor recreation and wilderness, wildlife and fish, range forage, timber, water, and additional needs for scientific information and data for the development and guidance of forest and rangeland policies.

The Forest Service developed a more rigorous analytical approach for completing the next assessment in 1979. The 1979 Assessment was similar to the 1975 Assessment. However, it included more original analysis as well as a section on resource interactions, which addressed the feasibility of meeting all resource demands simultaneously. Authors also published a supporting document on timber. This report initiated the decadal publishing cycle.