Is historic range of variation (HRV) no longer supposed to be considered in land management planning?
Forest Service Handbook 1909.12, section 43.13 (Range of Variation) provides direction for determining the context to evaluate current conditions and establish desired conditions. Historical conditions, or HRV, have great value in helping develop restoration goals and objectives. Scientists and ecologists from several Federal agencies and NGOs, including three members of the Interagency Panel on Climate Change, met in April, 2008, to build an understanding of the proper and scientifically sound use of historical ecological data in modern land management planning. Key conclusions from that workshop include: • HRV is essential to understanding the past, especially in the face of climate change. • HRV is information – not a target. • Understanding historical ecosystem dynamics is critical to understanding potential future ecosystem behavior. • HRV has proven to be essential to understanding fire ecology, watershed hydrologic function, and distribution of wildlife populations. • HRV can te
