Download or read book Forest Service written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-05-18 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forest Service: Emerging Issues Highlight the Need to Address Persistent Management Challenges
Download or read book Forest Service written by U S Government Accountability Office (G and published by BiblioGov. This book was released on 2013-06 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.
Download or read book Forest Service Emerging Issues Highlight the Need to Address Persistent Management Challenges written by Robin M. Nazzaro and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2009-09 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Forest Service written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-05-12 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forest Service: Continued Work Needed to Address Persistent Management Challenges
Download or read book Forest Service written by Robin M. Nazzaro and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the Forest Service has made improvements in many areas GAO has reported on in recent years, certain management challenges persist--with the agency struggling to manage a worsening wildland fire problem and spiraling fire costs, collect data on its activities and their costs, and demonstrate financial and performance accountability to Congress and the public. Several emerging issues facing the agency underscore the urgency of addressing these challenges. The Forest Service continues to lack strategies for using its wildland fire management funds effectively. In numerous reports over the past decade, GAO has highlighted the challenges the Forest Service faces in protecting the nation against the threat of wildland fires. While the agency has taken important steps to improve its wildland fire management, other key steps remain. Specifically, the agency needs to (1) develop a cohesive strategy laying out various potential long-term approaches for addressing wildland fire, the estimated costs associated with each approach, and the trade-offs involved; (2) establish clear goals and a strategy to help contain increasing wildland fire costs; (3) continue improving its processes for allocating funds and selecting projects to reduce potentially hazardous vegetation; and (4) take steps to improve its use of a new interagency budgeting and planning tool. Program management suffers from lack of data on activities and costs. GAO's work over the years points to a persistent shortcoming in the Forest Service's management of its activities: the lack of adequate data on program activities and costs. This shortcoming spans multiple land management programs, including programs for selling timber and rehabilitating and reforesting lands that have been burned, as well as administrative functions such as the competitive sourcing program, which aims to increase competition between federal entities and private sector organizations. Inadequate data have hindered field managers in carrying out their duties and prevented the agency from understanding how much its activities are costing. Financial and performance accountability have been inadequate. The Forest Service has struggled to implement adequate internal controls over its funds, generate accurate financial information, and provide clear measures of what it accomplishes with the appropriations it receives every year. GAO's concerns about these issues date back to the 1990s but have yet to be fully addressed. Several emerging issues underscore the need for the Forest Service to improve its management. The evolving effects of climate change, increasing development in and near wildlands, the aging of the federal workforce, and our nation's long-term fiscal condition likely will have profound implications for the agency and magnify the urgency of addressing these challenges.
Download or read book Forest Service written by Anu K. Mittal and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Forest Service, within the Department of Agriculture, manages over 190 million acres of national forest and grasslands. 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. Numerous GAO reports examining different aspects of Forest Service programs--including a testimony before this Subcommittee in 2009--have identified persistent management challenges facing the agency. In light of the federal deficit and long-term fiscal challenges facing the nation, the Forest Service cannot ensure that it is spending its limited budget effectively and efficiently without addressing these challenges. This testimony highlights some of the management challenges facing the Forest Service today and is based on recent reports GAO has issued on a variety of the agency's activities. In 2009, GAO highlighted management challenges that the Forest Service faced in three key areas--wildland fire management, data on program activities and costs, and financial and performance accountability. The Forest Service has made some improvements, but challenges persist in each of these three areas. In addition, recent GAO reports have identified additional challenges related to program oversight and strategic planning. Strategies are still needed to ensure effective use of wildland fire management funds. In numerous previous reports, GAO has highlighted the challenges the Forest Service faces in protecting the nation against the threat of wildland fire. The agency continues to take steps to improve its approach, but it has yet to take several key steps--including developing a cohesive wildland fire strategy that identifies potential long-term options for reducing hazardous fuels and responding to fires--that, if completed, would substantially strengthen wildland fire management. Incomplete data on program activities remain a concern. In 2009, GAO concluded that long-standing data problems plagued the Forest Service, hampering its ability to manage its programs and account for its costs. While GAO has not comprehensively reviewed the quality of all Forest Service data, shortcomings identified during several recent reviews reinforce these concerns. For example, GAO recently identified data gaps in the agency's system for tracking appeals and litigation of Forest Service projects and in the number of abandoned hardrock mines on its lands. Even with improvements, financial and performance accountability shortcomings persist. Although its financial accountability has improved, the Forest Service continues to struggle to implement adequate internal controls over its funds and to demonstrate how its expenditures relate to the goals in the agency's strategic plan. For example, in 2010 Agriculture reported that the agency needed to improve controls over its expenditures for wildland fire management and identified the wildland fire suppression program as susceptible to significant improper payments. Additional challenges related to program oversight and strategic planning have been identified. Several recent GAO reviews have identified additional challenges facing the Forest Service, which the agency must address if it is to effectively and efficiently fulfill its mission. Specifically, the agency has yet to develop a national land tenure strategy that would protect the public's interest in land exchanges and return fair value to taxpayers from such exchanges. In addition, it has yet to take recommended steps to align its workforce planning with its strategic plan, which may compromise its ability to carry out its mission; for example, it has not adequately planned for the likely retirement of firefighters, which may reduce the agency's ability to protect the safety of both people and property. Finally, the Forest Service needs a more systematic, risk-based approach to allocate its law-enforcement resources. Without such an approach it cannot be assured that it is deploying its resources effectively against illegal activities on the lands it manages. GAO has made a number of recommendations intended to improve the Forest Service's management of wildland fires, strengthen its collection of data, increase accountability, and improve program management. The Forest Service has taken steps to implement many of these recommendations, but additional action is needed if the agency is to make further progress in rectifying identified shortcomings.
Download or read book Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2010 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2010 Part 6 2009 111 1 Hearings written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Identifying Emerging Issues in Forestry as a Tool for Research Planning written by H. M. Gregersen and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Report of Committee Activities written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildland Fire Management written by Robin M. Nazzaro and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Major Problems and the Next Big Step in American Forestry written by Earle Hart Clapp and published by . This book was released on 1933 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Farm Bill Accountability written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Vision for the U S Forest Service written by Roger A. Sedjo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-09-25 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 2000, this title is a collection of engaging, nontechnical contributions of scholars, policymakers, and forestry officials providing broad reflections on the agency’s past and future, contemporary perspectives about the use and stewardship of public lands, and insightful analyses about the science involved in the practice of scientific management. The authors offer challenging ideas for evaluating the performance of the U.S. Forest Service, reshaping its mission, enhancing its effectiveness, improving internal morale, and increasing public participation in the agency. It is a valuable resource for policymakers, professional foresters, and any student interested in Environmental Studies.
Download or read book Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2012 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 698 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book USDA Forest Service Perspectives On Forest Management In A Changing Climate written by Jamie E Laatsch and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Forest Service faces significant climate change-related management challenges. Understanding employee perspectives on climate change will inform potential strategies to address these challenges. By analyzing data from key informant interviews and an internet survey of Forest Service employees in the Intermountain West, this study examined how Forest Service employees view and approach climate change, assessed how they perceive barriers to and opportunities for climate change adaptation within the National Forest System, and compared their perspectives across the organizational hierarchy, from district level to national policy making. The results show that although forest managers consider climate change a concern for the agency in general, they do not necessarily see how it affects the work they do personally. Although they tend to agree that climate change should be a high priority for the agency, their own ability to incorporate adaptive practices into managing a National Forest is limited by various constraints, including a lack of time, funding, and personnel, a lack of direction for on-the-ground management, and a communication gap, which has inhibited climate change-related knowledge transfer within the agency. Thus, more effective communication is needed to help forest managers see how climate change affects various aspects of forest ecosystem health in their own National Forests or districts, how climate change poses challenges to forest resilience, and what can be done to incorporate climate change considerations into their own work. The agency needs to focus on building trust, especially across its hierarchical structure, and on encouraging both vertical and horizontal information flow among employees to facilitate scientific knowledge sharing and to enhance formal and informal social networking for increased collaboration. The agency also needs to create more opportunities for district-level employees to provide feedback and get involved in climate change-related policy making, as they are a crucial source of local knowledge and experience and can be invaluable in problem-solving within the National Forest System. The insights from this study not only contribute to the Forest Service0́9s continuous efforts to adapt to climate change but also shed light on strategies that can be tailored by other natural resource agencies to address various management challenges within the context of global environmental change.
Download or read book Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2010 Forest Service oversight possible move of the Forest Service to the Department of the Interior pt 7 Witnesses Native American issues witnesses other issues written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: