Performance and Monitoring Reports

Follow-up monitoring of State Forest plans is conducted to assess how well plans were implemented. Monitoring is also conducted to assess the condition of the forest; the degree to which managementgoals, objectives, and desired future conditions have been met and achieved; and the social and ecological impacts of management activities. Monitoring is also necessary for compliance with forest certification standards for sustainable forest management.

Objective 20 of the Requirements for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) 2010-2014 Program requires monitoring to measure and report performance in achieving the commitment to sustainable forestry. This is largely addressed through the DNR Management Review System, which is a review process for recording, evaluating and reporting nonconformance with forest certification standards and related DNR forest certification instructions. This process has three components:

• Internal Audits
• Forest Re-Certification and Annual Forest Certification Surveillance Audits
• Annual Management Review Reports

These reports are compiled and can be viewed on the DNR Management Review and Corrective Actions web page.

Criterion 8.2 of the July 8, 2010 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) US Forest Management Standard (v1.0) requires monitoring for several elements of forest management, with the monitoring results for each provided as inset bullets:

1. Yield of forest products harvested.
   • Commercial Timber Sale Bid Summary Reports
   • Acres and Cords Cut Summaries
   • Quarterly Timber Treatment Reports
   • Timber Harvest Trends Report

2. Composition, condition, growth rates, regeneration and changes in forest flora and fauna.
   • 2008 Michigan State Forest Management Plan - Current Forest Conditions, Uses, and Trends.

3. Environmental and social effects of harvesting and other operations.
   • Social and Economic Assessment for Michigan's State Forests
   • Compartment Review Narratives and Reports
   • Resource Damage Reports (Available upon request in Forest Management Unit offices)
   • Timber Sale Inspection Reports (Available upon request in Forest Management Unit offices)

4. Cost, productivity and efficiency of forest management.
   • Documentation is not yet available in a concise format.

5. Identification, maintenance/protection, and enhancement/restoration of ecological values including:
   1. Identification and protection of Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species
   2. Maintenance, enhancement and restoration of under-represented successional stages, rare ecological communities, Type 1 and Type 2 old growth, plant and animal species habitat components and associated stand structures, and riparian management zones
   3. Protection of Ecological Reference Areas
   4. Maintenance and enhancement of High Conservation Value Areas

6. Monitoring of these ecological values is conducted via the compartment review process, results of which can be viewed at:
   • Compartment Review Narratives and Reports