National Forest Management Act (NFMA)

The national forest management act (nfma) of 1976 (NFMA) is the principal statute governing the administration of the national forests. The act is an amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, which called for the management of renewable resources on national forest lands. The 1976 legislation reorganized and expanded the 1974 act, requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to assess forest lands and develop and implement a resource management plan, regularly revised, for each forest unit. NFMA also set standards and procedures for timber harvesting.

The amended act emerged out of controversy over clear-cutting practices in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia and the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana. Throughout the late 1960s, efforts by West Virginia legislators and conservation organizations ...