PRINCIPLE #7: MANAGEMENT PLAN
A management plan -- appropriate to the scale and intensity of the operations -- shall be written, implemented, and kept up to date. The long term objectives of management, and the means of achieving them, shall be clearly stated.

7.1. The management plan and supporting documents shall provide:
a) Management objectives.
b) Description of the forest resources to be managed, environmental
limitations, land use and ownership status, socio-economic conditions, and a
profile of adjacent lands.
c) Description of silvicultural and/or other management system, based on
the ecology of the forest in question and information gathered through
resource inventories.
d) Rationale for rate of annual harvest and species selection.
e) Provisions for monitoring of forest growth and dynamics.
f) Environmental safeguards based on environmental assessments.
g) Plans for the identification and protection of rare, threatened and
endangered species.
h) Maps describing the forest resource base including protected areas,
planned management activities and land ownership.
i) Description and justification of harvesting techniques and equipment
to be used.

7.1.a. Management vision, goals, and objectives

7.1.a.1. A written management plan is prepared that includes the landowner's short-term and long-term vision, goals, and objectives (ecological, silvicultural, social, and economic). The objectives are specific, achievable, and measurable. Appropriate to the scale, intensity, and context of management, the plan includes strategies for:

• Timber production
• Harvest of non-timber forest products (e.g., botanical and mycological)
• Soil and water conservation
• Conservation of biodiversity, including sensitive, rare, threatened, and endangered species, communities, and processes
• Management of timber types and natural community types
• Management of special areas
• Mimicking natural disturbance regimes
• Management of fish and wildlife habitat
• Public access and use
• Conservation of historical and cultural resources
• Protection of aesthetic values
  
• Employee and contractor policies and procedures
  
• Community relations

7.1.b. Description of forest resources to be managed

7.1.b.1. Using data collected proportionally to the scale and intensity of management, the forest owner or manager develops and documents strategies for the following resources:

• Timber
• Fish and wildlife
• Harvested non-timber forest products (e.g., botanical and mycological)
• Non-economic biological resources

7.1.b.2. The management plan describes special management areas; sensitive, rare, threatened, and endangered species and their habitats; and other ecologically sensitive features in the forest.

7.1.b.3. The management plan includes a description of past land uses and incorporates this information into goals and objectives.

7.1.b.4. The management plan identifies the legal status of the forest and its resources (e.g., ownership, usufruct rights, treaty rights, easements, deed restrictions, and leasing arrangements).

7.1.b.5. The management plan identifies relevant cultural and socioeconomic issues (e.g., traditional and customary rights of use, access issues, recreational uses, and employment issues) and conditions (e.g., composition of the workforce, stability of employment, and changes in forest ownership).

7.1.b.6. The management plan incorporates landscape-level considerations within the ownership and among adjacent and nearby lands, including major water bodies, critical habitats, and riparian corridors shared with adjacent ownerships.

7.1.c. Description of silvicultural and/or other management system

7.1.c.1. The silvicultural system(s) and prescriptions are based on the integration of ecological and economic characteristics (e.g., successional processes, soil characteristics, existing species composition and structures, desired future conditions, and market conditions).

7.1.c.2. The management plan describes components of the silvicultural system(s) to be employed, such as:

Description and rationale of silvicultural systems employed

Regeneration strategies
Maintenance of structural and species diversity
Control of pests, disease, invasive species, and vegetation

Methods and annual rates of harvest, by species and products

Description of equipment and personnel needs

Fire management

Prescribed fires Wildfires

Fish and wildlife

Game species Non-game species

Non-timber forest resources, if utilized
Non-economic biological resources

Riparian management zones Set asides of samples of representative existing ecosystems Sensitive, rare, threatened, and endangered species protection Other protected areas

Landscape level analyses and strategies

7.1.c.3. Prescriptions are prepared prior to harvesting, site preparation, pest control, burning, and planting and are made available to relevant personnel for use.

7.1.d. Rationale for the rate of annual harvest and species selection

7.1.d.1. Harvest by species or volume does not significantly exceed growth, and is based on reliable data of growth, yield, stocking, and regeneration.

7.1.d.2. Species selection meets the economic goals and objectives of the forest owner or manager, while maintaining or improving the ecological composition, structures, and functions of the forest.

7.1.e. Monitoring forest growth and dynamics

7.1.e.1. The management plan contains a strategy for monitoring forest conditions as detailed in Principle 8.

7.1.f. Environmental safeguards based on environmental assessments

7.1.f.1. The management plan describes the methods and elements of environmental assessments required by Criterion 6.1.

7.1.g. Plans for the identification and protection of rare, threatened and endangered species.

7.1.g.1. The management plan includes provisions for compliance with criterion 6.3.

7.1.h. Maps describing the forest resource base including protected areas, planned management activities and land ownership.

7.1.h.1. The management plan includes maps of the forests characteristics, such as relevant landscape level factors, property boundaries; roads; timber production areas; forest types by age class; topography; soils; riparian zones; springs and wetlands; archaeological sites; cultural and customary use areas; locations of and habitats for sensitive, rare, threatened, and endangered species; and designated High Conservation Value Forest.

7.1.i. Description and justification of harvesting techniques and equipment to be used.

7.l.i.1. The management plan includes provisions for compliance with criterion 6.5.

7.2 The management plan shall be periodically revised to incorporate the results of monitoring or new scientific and technical information, as well as to respond to changing environmental, social and economic circumstances.

7.2.a. Provisions of the management plan are modified in response to detrimental environmental effects (e.g., road damage and depletion of timber and non-timber resources) of illegal and unauthorized activities, as documented by monitoring.

7.3. Forest workers shall receive adequate training and supervision to ensure proper implementation of the management plan.

The Standards Committee recommends no indicators for this criterion.

7.4. While respecting the confidentiality of information, forest managers shall make publicly available a summary of the primary elements of the management plan, including those listed in Criterion 7.1.

The Standards Committee recommends no indicators for this criterion.