Tongass National Forest

Scenery Management System Updates

The 1997 Forest Plan was developed under the Visual Management System and included direction to transition to the newer Scenery Management System (SMS). A number of accomplishments have been made relative to this transition, in recent years. However, in addition to mapping the Scenic Attractiveness Classes and producing the Existing Scenic Integrity layer, several other tasks needed to be completed in order to fully transition to the SMS. These tasks related to mapping the Scenic Attractiveness Classes, producing the Existing Scenic Integrity layer, mapping the Visual Priority Routes and Use Areas, and other items related to identifying Concern Levels, Scenic Integrity Objectives, and Visual Absorption Capability (VAC). Upon completion of these tasks, appropriate updates to the 2008 amended Forest Plan were made.

Work Product(s): The products for this work item were updated geographic information system (GIS) layers and appropriate edits to the 1997 Forest Plan.