Research Natural Areas Program National Strategy

The Forest Service Research Natural Areas (RNA's) Program maintains a network of 289 established areas and over 300 candidate areas representing common and unique natural ecosystems on National Forest System lands in the United States. These areas are managed in conditions minimally disturbed by human activities for nonmanipulative research, monitoring, education and to maintain natural diversity and ecological processes. Prompted by desires to improve the effectiveness of the current program and realizing that opportunities exist for an expanded role for RNAs in ecosystem management, RNA Coordinators agency-wide have been meeting over the last 2 years to evaluate new directions for the program.

The current document condenses these evaluations into a set of strategies aimed at defining opportunities for the next 5-10 years. The Strategy was developed by RNA Coordinators representing all Regions and Research Stations, with input from the national headquarters, and is intended for all managers and researchers who have a stake in the RNA Program.