Book excerpt: Place-based planning is an emergent method of public lands planning that aims to redefine the scale at which planning occurs, using place meanings and place values to guide planning processes. Despite the approach's growing popularity, there exist few published accounts of place-based approaches. To provide practitioners and researchers with such examples, the current compilation outlines the historical background, planning rationale, and public involvement processes from four National Forest System areas: The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana; the Willamette National Forest in Oregon; the Chugach National Forest in Alaska; and the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests in Colorado. These examples include assessments of the successes and challenges encountered in each approach.