Place-based planning is an emergent method of public lands planning that aims to redefine the scale at which planning occurs, using place meanings and place values to guide planning processes. Despite the approach's growing popularity, there exist few published accounts of place-based approaches. To provide practitioners and researchers with such examples, the current compilation outlines the historical background, planning rationale, and public involvement processes from four National Forest System areas: The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana; the Willamette National Forest in Oregon; the Chugach National Forest in Alaska; and the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests in Colorado. These examples include assessments of the successes and challenges encountered in each approach.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is adopting a new National Forest System land management planning rule (planning rule). The new planning rule guides the development, amendment, and revision of land management plans for all units of the National Forest System (NFS), consisting of 155 national forests, 20 grasslands, and 1 prairie. This planning rule sets forth process and content requirements to guide the development, amendment, and revision of land management plans to maintain and restore NFS land and water ecosystems while providing for ecosystem services and multiple uses. The planning rule is designed to ensure that plans provide for the sustainability of ecosystems and resources; meet the need for forest restoration and conservation, watershed protection, and species diversity and conservation; and assist the Agency in providing a sustainable flow of benefits, services, and uses of NFS lands that provide jobs and contribute to the economic and social sustainability of communities.