The Forest Service, within the U.S. Dept. of Ag., manages over 190 million acres of forest and grassland. The agency is responsible for managing its lands for various purposes -- including recreation, grazing, timber harvesting, and others -- while ensuring that such activities do not impair the lands' long-term productivity. Carrying out these often competing responsibilities has been made more difficult by the increasing cost of wildland fires and the budgetary constraints necessitated by our nation's long-term fiscal outlook. This testimony highlights some of the major management challenges the Forest Service faces in carrying out its responsibilities. It is based on numerous reports issued on a wide variety of the agency's activities.
The nation's wildland fire problems have worsened dramatically over the past decade, with more than a doubling of both the average annual acreage burned and fed. appropriations for wildland fire mgmt. The deteriorating fire situation has led the agencies responsible for managing wildland fires on fed. lands -- the Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Mgmt. (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service -- to reassess how they respond to wildland fire and to take steps to improve their fire mgmt. programs. This testimony discusses: (1) progress the agencies have made in managing wildland fire; and (2) key actions the auditor believes are still necessary to improve their wildland fire mgmt. Illustrations.
The nation's wildland fire problems have worsened dramatically over the past decade, with more than a doubling of average annual acreage burned and federal appropriations for wildland fire management. The deteriorating fire situation has led the agencies responsible for managing wildland fires on federal lands -- the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and four agencies in the Department of the Interior -- to reassess how they respond to wildland fire and to take steps to improve their fire management programs. This report reviewed: (1) progress the agencies have made in managing wildland fire; and (2) key actions previously recommended and are still necessary to improve wildland fire management. Charts and tables.