Better Data Needed To Determine the Extent to Which Herbicides Should Be Used on Forest Lands

Vegetation management programs and practices on forest lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) were reviewed. The main areas of discussion were the use of herbicides, the controversy over herbicides, the controversy's effect on forest land managers, and the need for both agencies to take actions that would provide better information for making vegetation management decisions.

The use of herbicides for managing unwanted vegetation on forest lands has become a public controversy. In some cases, their use has been restricted. Growing opposition stemming from unanswered questions about herbicides' health and environmental effects could result in further restrictions. Although it has been shown that nonherbicide methods can be used to control unwanted vegetation in national forests, the extent to which these methods can replace herbicides is not known. Serious information gaps exist relating to the costs of vegetation management methods and their relative effectiveness. Most forests GAO visited had some success with alternatives to herbicides. However, site-specific data were not available to identify why methods had succeeded in one area but not in another.

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.

Director: Brian P. Crowley Team: General Accounting Office: Community and Economic Development Division Phone: (202) 512-9450