State forest practice regulatory programs: An approach to implementing ecosystem management on private forest lands in the United States

Implemented in the context of a long history of intense public debate, forestry practices applied on private forest land are regulated in some form by 38 states. State regulatory activities can involve many agencies implementing numerous regulatory laws, a single forestry agency administering a comprehensive regulatory program, or a combination of the two. Regulatory programs are designed to protect resources such as soils, water, wildlife, and scenic beauty. Program administration often involves rule promulgation, harvest plan reviews, coordination of interagency reviews, and pre- and postharvest on-site inspections. Forest practice rules usually focus on reforestation, forest roads, harvest procedures, and wildlife habitat protection. Emerging regulatory trends include growth of multiagency regulatory authority and associated jurisdictional conflicts, increased tendencies to narrowly specify standards in statutes and rules, emergence of contingent regulations, growing sensitivity to processes enabling the adoption of new forest practice technologies and an ability to address cumulative effects, interest in collaborative rule-making stemming from heightened concern over legalization of administration processes, and growing concern over the constitutional foundations for regulatory programs and the government and private sector cost of implementing such programs.