The Public Lands Omnibus Act of 2009 placed the trail under the management of the Department of Agriculture, with the United States Forest Service serving as the trail administrator. When Congress designated the pacific northwest trail in 2009, they also mandated that the forest service produce a management plan within two years. This management plan is required to determine the carrying capacity of the trail, and include public oversight. A FACA Committee intended to assist in establishing the management plan was not established until 2015, already 4 years past the date that it was required by law to have been implemented. The first meeting of the FACA Committee wasn't held until October 2015 and met 3 times, and was allowed to expire in 2016. Currently, the advisory council and interdisciplinary committees are inactive. Thus, at this point, the forest service is eight years out of compliance with the law that requires that a comprehensive management plan should have been implemented within 2 years of 2009.