Federal Interests Should Receive More Consideration under the Forest Highway Program

Gao ID: CED-77-130 October 13, 1977

The Forest Highway Program, as currently administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) and the Forest Service, is not meeting the Forest Service's needs for managing the national forest resources.

Forest highways total about 22,000 miles and are of special federal interest because they link the national forests to the federal-aid highway system. Congress, in establishing the Forest Highway Program, expressed a special interest in providing access to government-owned national resources, as well as for the benefits of communities in or near national forest boundaries. Incremental administrative and legislative changes in the Forest Highway Program between 1970 and 1977 have changed the program's focus from federal control to state control and have lessened the Forest Service's input. As a result, forest highway funds were devoted to roads of primary importance to the states and had little or no relation to national forest transportation needs.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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