Introduction

Abstract

The 2020 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment is the sixth report prepared in response to the mandate in the 1974 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (P.L. 93-378, 88 Stat 475, as amended), which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to assess the Nation’s renewable resources every 10 years. The RPA Assessment is intended to provide reliable information on the status, trends, and projected future of the Nation’s renewable natural resources on all forests and rangelands on a 10-year cycle. While not required by the authorizing legislation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service also prepares midcycle updates to decadal RPA Assessments. The 2020 RPA Assessment focuses on past, current, and projected future availability and condition of forests, forest product markets, rangelands, water, biodiversity, and outdoor recreation, as well as the effects of socioeconomic and climatic change upon these resources.

Parent Publication

• Future of America's Forest and Rangelands: Forest Service 2020 Resources Planning Act Assessment

Citation

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 2023. Introduction. In: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 2023. Future of America’s Forest and Rangelands: Forest Service 2020 Resources Planning Act Assessment. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-102. Washington, DC: 2-1 - 2-7. Chapter 2. https://doi.org/10.2737/WO-GTR-102-Chap2