The U.S. Forest Service’s Tongass Plan Revision Team announced in a press release on Monday, March 16, that it would be releasing a document online March 23 detailing the process of formulating a forest plan and a proposed Species of Conservation Concern list.

The plan, still in its drafting stages, will be outlined in what the press release called “a content document … (that) will give you a look at how the draft plan is taking shape, and help inform comments and conversations.”

The Monday of the release will mark the beginning of a 45-day public comment period, which will be open until May 7. During this time, members of the public can view and share their positions on the current state of the Tongass National Forest Plan.

USFS Tongass Forest Plan Revision Coordinator Erin Mathews told the Ketchikan Daily News via email that the plan is supposed to guide the management of the Tongass National Forest for the next 15 or so years. While it doesn’t implement specific projects or decisions, it establishes principles and best practices to maintain the forest’s integrity.

“The content being shared is just a portion of what goes into a full forest plan, providing review opportunity of desired conditions, goals, preliminary direction, potential management areas and more—and we want more public input before drafting the plan this summer,” Mathews added.

The USFS will also be holding a virtual town hall at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, which the press release stated will be recorded. The release described the town hall as “an opportunity to better understand what’s included in the content document, and how it fits into the overall revision process.”

“The full Draft Plan will be a comprehensive document containing all proposed changes to the forest plan,” Mathews said. She also told the Daily News that public comment “will be considered as the team creates the draft plan.”

Additionally, the Species of Conservation Concern Report and proposed SCC list will be on the USFS’s website. This report aims to identify native species not already protected under the Endangered Species Act, whose survival is a matter of substantial concern.

Once SCCs are identified, plans to sustain these species’ ecological conditions and maintain their populations must be developed by the USFS.

To access the town hall, in-person workshops, public comment portal and proposed SCC list, visit the Tongass National Forest Plan webpage available through the USFS website.

This story was originally published by the Ketchikan Daily News.