Fact:
'I'he National Forest Management Act of 1976 and the Multiple Use-Sustained
Yield Act of
1970 require management of the National Forests for a range of uses,
including wood, clean
water, livestock rangeland, wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities
and wilderness. However,
problems have arisen because some of these uses are contradictory and
the Forest Service,
lacking clear direction on how to reconcile them, has been heavily
influenced the demands of
extractive industry. As a consequence, logging has become the
predominant use of most forests,
damaging and even destroying the other forest values.
A look at the
agency's budget tells the story.
The final expenditures from the general fund of the U.S.
Treasury in 1996 (Fiscal year 1988 Budget, Explanatory
Notes to the Committee on Appropriations, USFS.):
Timber sale program: $791 million
Fire management: $485 million
Recreation: $164 million
Law enforcement: $59.6 million
Wilderness: $33 million