The Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment reports on the status and trends of the Nation’s renewable resources on all forest and rangelands, as required by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. The USDA Forest Service has conducted natural resource analyses for over a century. The 1974 RPA legislation established a periodic reporting requirement and broadened the coverage to all renewable resources on U.S. forests and rangelands. The RPA Assessment includes analyses of forests, rangelands, wildlife and fish, biodiversity, water, outdoor recreation, wilderness, urban forests, and the effects of climate change on these resources.

2010 RPA Assessment

The most current assessment, Future of America’s Forests and Rangelands: Forest Service 2010 Resources Planning Act Assessment, is now available. View the one page fact sheet for the most current RPA Assessment.

The report provides a snapshot of current U.S. forest and rangeland conditions (all ownerships), identifies drivers of change for natural resource conditions, and projects the effects of those drivers on resource conditions 50 years into the future. This assessment uses a set of future scenarios that influence the resource projections, allowing us to explore a range of possible futures for U.S. renewable natural resources. Alternative future scenarios were used to analyze the effects of human and environmental influences on our forests and rangelands, including population growth, domestic and global economic growth, land use change, and climate change.

The information in the 2010 RPA Assessment is supported by a variety of publications, including Forest Service General Technical Reports (GTRs) and journal articles. The supporting GTRs are posted on the 2010 RPA Assessment publication page as they become available.