Comments on U.S. Forest Service land management

This article is a classic example of why we need state contrrol over public lands, in the 70's the USFS generated 2 dollars in revenue for every dollar spent in management.. Today, depending on which numbers you use, they spend between 4, and 7 dollars for every dollar of revenue brought in. Basically it has become a huge organization shuffling papers back and forth from Washington to your hometown, with a minority of the people engaged in the field.. In contrast, the state of Montana gains 4 dollars of revenue, for every one dollar spent in management of its public lands. We need to do it locally!!!

Craig Neal

Livingston, MT

U.S. Forest Service rejecting purpose of wood harvest causing fire.

Consider this

The Forest Reserve Act of 1891, which allowed the president to establish forest reserves from timber covered public domain land. Several early leaders and visionaries, along with willing presidents (especially Teddy Roosevelt), scientific and conservation organizations, and newly trained forestry professionals, led the successful effort in retaining millions of acres of Federal forest land for future generations.

The United States currently has a system of 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands, and 222 research and experimental forests, as well as other special areas, covering more than 192 million acres of public land. The Forest Service has evolved into a 30,000 employee agency that manages the national forests for a number of multiple uses, including recreation, timber, wilderness, minerals, water, grazing, fish, and wildlife.

And instead of harvesting timber to continue the healthy forest management the current administration simply eliminate timber harvest and buy more land. Case and point here

Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said the Forest Service's $4.9 billion budget request for fiscal 2014 would be a "huge blow" to forest health and would counteract the agency's restoration goal of harvesting 3 billion board feet of timber a year.

The administration's budget seeks full funding for a popular collaborative restoration program and seeks increased funding for land acquisitions and private land easements

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