Forest Service Management

Budgetary constraints and scientific findings on ecosystem management will challenge the Forest Service as never before to find new ways to achieve program goals with fewer resources. GAO testified that the Forest Service needs to work closely with Congress to get a better return on the sale or use of natural resources on public lands. It also needs to work with Congress and other federal land management agencies to find ways to work more efficiently and to manage federal lands so as to preserve the nation's natural resources and sustain their long-term economic productivity. GAO believes that a coordinated interagency strategy may be needed to link Forest Service reforms to changes being considered by other federal land management agencies. The goal would be to coordinate and integrate these programs, activities, and functions so that these agencies can function as a unit on the local level.