Critical loads (CLs) are thresholds of atmospheric deposition (typically in kg S or N ha-1 y-1) below which harm to specific elements of ecosystems do not occur.  Recent improvements in our understanding of community, functional group and species level (71, 348 and 362 trees, herbs, and epiphytic lichens, respectively) responses to deposition have promising implications for federal land managers. Potential applications of CL information include air quality assessments for long term national forest-level planning and for project level planning for activities like oil and gas development; monitoring and assessing air quality in protected areas such as Wilderness; use as an air quality indicator within multi-indication national scale assessments of terrestrial and watershed condition; and understanding potential impacts to air pollution sensitive natural resources of proposed emissions sources outside federal lands. We present sample output for each of the above applications using available lichen CLs. Our results should contribute to the larger discussion of how to present and synthesize CL information to optimize their utility for particular management applications.