Incorporating Wildlife Connectivity into Forest Plan Revision Under the United States Forest Service’s 2012 Planning Rule

The U.S. Forest Service’s 2012 planning rule requires National Forests to evaluate, protect, and/or restore ecological connectivity when revising land management plans. This document describes an approach for considering connectivity in forest planning that was developed for the Custer Gallatin National Forest and relies on freely available data to address the planning rule requirements. The result of this approach identified locations important for connectivity for multiple species and characterized CGNF’s role in supporting regional connectivity.