Recommendation 3: Provide adequate funding for forest management
Problem
The USDA Forest Service currently spends over 45 percent of its annual budget on firefighting efforts. Although our national forestlands provide invaluable ecological goods and services, current budgets are entirely inadequate for effectively implementing adaptive management or promoting ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation.
Goal
To fund forest management agencies, particularly the Forest Service, at levels adequate to provide services in addition to firefighting. This funding would support important forest functions (such as providing clean water, clean air, and carbon sequestration) as well as research opportunities and wilderness values.
Recommendations
- Provide funding for federal agencies that is adequate to support their stewardship mission. This funding should also support scientific research, monitoring, and adaptive management of forest ecosystems.
- Replace existing funding mechanisms that link firefighting and salvage logging with a comprehensive budget that supports scientifically sound and proactive forest management.
