Forest Service: Information on Decisions Involving Fuels
Reduction Activities (14-MAY-03, GAO-03-689R).
Human activities--especially the federal government's decades-old
policy of suppressing all wildland fires--have resulted in
dangerous accumulations of brush, small trees, and other
vegetation on federal lands. This vegetation has increasingly
provided fuel for large, intense wildland fires, particularly in
the dry, interior western United States. The scale and intensity
of the fires in the 2000 wildland fire season made it one of the
worst in 50 years. That season capped a decade characterized by
dramatic increases in the number of wildland fires and the costs
of suppressing them. These fires have also posed special risks to
communities in the wildland-urban interface--where human
development meets or intermingles with undeveloped wildland--as
well as to watersheds and other resources, such as threatened and
endangered species, clean water, and clean air. The centerpiece
of the federal response to the growing threat of wildland fires
has been the development of the National Fire Plan. This plan
advocates a new approach to wildland fires by shifting emphasis
from the reactive to the proactive--from attempting to suppress
wildland fires to reducing the buildup of hazardous vegetation
that fuels fires. The plan recognizes that unless these fuels are
reduced, the number of severe wildland fires and the costs
associated with suppressing them will continue to increase.
Implementation of the National Fire Plan began in fiscal year
2001; full implementation of the plan is expected to be a
long-term, multibillion-dollar effort. In fiscal year 2001, the
first year the National Fire Plan was in effect, the Congress
substantially increased funding for hazardous forest fuels
reduction--from $108 million in FY 2000 to $401 million in FY
2001. The Congress continued this increased funding level for
2002 and 2003. Among the federal agencies, the Forest Service
receives, by far, the largest portion of these funds. Since the
National Fire Plan began emphasizing the need to reduce forest
fuels buildup and the Congress has supported this initiative with
substantially increased funding, concerns have been raised about
delays in implementing forest fuels reduction projects.
Essentially, these concerns focus on whether Forest Service
decisions to implement specific forest fuels reduction activities
are being delayed by the appeals and litigation of these
decisions. In August 2001, we were asked to report on some
limited aspects of this issue. We provided this information to
the congressional requesters on August 31, 2001. In 2002, the
Forest Service also analyzed specific aspects of this issue and
provided its findings to the Congress. While the subject of these
reports was the same, the specific objectives and scope of the
analyses differed considerably. Not unexpectedly, these
differences led to different analytical results. Accordingly, in
the summer of 2002, Congress asked us to perform a more
comprehensive analysis of the issue. Specifically, we determined
(1) the number of decisions involving fuels reduction activities
and the number of acres affected in FY 2001 and FY 2002, (2) the
number of decisions that were appealed and/or litigated and the
number of acres affected in FY 2001 and FY 2002, (3) the outcomes
of the appealed and/or litigated decisions and the names of the
appellants and plaintiffs, (4) whether the appeals were processed
within prescribed time frames, (5) the number of acres treated or
planned to be treated by each of the fuels reduction methods, and
(6) the number of decisions involving fuels reduction activities
in the wildlandurban interface and inventoried roadless areas.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-03-689R
ACCNO: A06900
TITLE: Forest Service: Information on Decisions Involving Fuels
Reduction Activities
DATE: 05/14/2003
SUBJECT: Data collection
Forest conservation
Forest management
Internal controls
National forests
National Fire Plan
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GAO-03-689R
GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction United States General
Accounting Office
Washington, DC 20548
May 14, 2003 Congressional Requesters Subject: Forest Service: Information
on Decisions Involving Fuels Reduction
Activities Human activities* especially the federal government*s decades-
old policy of suppressing all wildland fires* have resulted in dangerous
accumulations of brush, small trees, and other vegetation on federal
lands. This vegetation has increasingly provided fuel for large, intense
wildland fires, particularly in the dry, interior western United States.
The scale and intensity of the fires in the 2000 wildland fire season made
it one of the worst in 50 years. That season capped a decade characterized
by dramatic increases in the number of wildland fires and the costs of
suppressing them. These fires have also posed special risks to communities
in the wildland- urban interface* where human development meets or
intermingles with undeveloped wildland* as well as to watersheds and other
resources, such as threatened and endangered species, clean water, and
clean air.
The centerpiece of the federal response to the growing threat of wildland
fires has been the development of the National Fire Plan. This plan
advocates a new approach to wildland fires by shifting emphasis from the
reactive to the proactive* from attempting to suppress wildland fires to
reducing the buildup of hazardous vegetation that fuels fires. The plan
recognizes that unless these fuels are reduced, the number of severe
wildland fires and the costs associated with suppressing them will
continue to increase. Implementation of the National Fire Plan began in
fiscal year 2001; full implementation of the plan is expected to be a
long- term, multibillion- dollar effort.
Reducing the buildup of hazardous forest fuels is typically accomplished
through a number of treatment methods. Most often, federal land managers
use controlled fires (prescribed burns) or mechanical treatments such as
chainsaws, chippers, mulchers and bulldozers. Other means include using
livestock grazing and herbicides. On federal lands, these activities are
managed by five agencies: the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife
Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
all within the Department of the Interior, and the Forest Service within
the Department of Agriculture.
Page 2 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction In fiscal year 2001,
the first year the National Fire Plan was in effect, the Congress
substantially increased funding for hazardous forest fuels reduction* from
$108
million in FY 2000 to $401 million in FY 2001. The Congress continued this
increased funding level for 2002 and 2003. Among the federal agencies, the
Forest Service receives, by far, the largest portion of these funds.
Since the National Fire Plan began emphasizing the need to reduce forest
fuels buildup and the Congress has supported this initiative with
substantially increased funding, concerns have been raised about delays in
implementing forest fuels reduction projects. Essentially, these concerns
focus on whether Forest Service decisions to implement specific forest
fuels reduction activities are being delayed by the appeals and litigation
of these decisions.
In August 2001, we were asked to report on some limited aspects of this
issue. We provided this information to the congressional requesters on
August 31, 2001. 1 In 2002, the Forest Service also analyzed specific
aspects of this issue and provided its findings to the Congress. 2 While
the subject of these reports was the same, the specific objectives and
scope of the analyses differed considerably. Not unexpectedly, these
differences led to different analytical results. Accordingly, in the
summer of 2002, you asked us to perform a more comprehensive analysis of
the issue. 3 Specifically, you asked us to determine
the number of decisions involving fuels reduction activities and the
number of acres affected in FY 2001 and FY 2002,
the number of decisions that were appealed and/ or litigated and the
number of acres affected in FY 2001 and FY 2002,
the outcomes of the appealed and/ or litigated decisions and the names of
the appellants and plaintiffs,
whether the appeals were processed within prescribed time frames, the
number of acres treated or planned to be treated by each of the fuels
reduction methods, 4 and
the number of decisions involving fuels reduction activities in the
wildlandurban interface and inventoried roadless areas. 5 To respond to
your request, we conducted a Web- based survey of all 155 national
forests. The survey focused on all Forest Service decisions with a forest
fuels 1 U. S. General Accounting Office, Forest Service: Appeals and
Litigation of Fuels Reduction Projects,
GAO- 01- 1114R (Washington, D. C.: Aug. 31, 2001). 2 U. S. Forest Service,
Factors Affecting Timely Mechanical Fuel Treatments Decisions (Washington,
D. C.: July 2002).
3 We received a request from Representative McInnis and Senators Craig and
Smith in July 2002. We received a separate request from Senator Bingaman
in August 2002. 4 The same acreage can be the subject of more than one
decision. 5 Inventoried roadless areas are defined in 36 C. F. R. part 294
subpart B as *areas identified in a set of inventoried roadless area maps,
contained in Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation, Final
Environmental Impact Statement, volume 2, dated November 2000.*
GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction Page 3 reduction component
that were issued in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. 6 We obtained a
100 percent response rate from the national forests, and we have partially
completed our verification of 10 percent of the reported decisions for
accuracy.
In discussions with your staffs, we agreed to provide you with a briefing
on the preliminary results of our work, with a final report to follow when
we have completed our analysis and verification. This briefing occurred on
May 9, 2003. As we pointed out at the briefing, there are some limitations
to the information provided. First, we have not yet completed our
verification work, so some of the preliminary information in the briefing
and this report may change. However, on the basis of the partial
verification work we have done, we do not anticipate significant changes
to the reported information. Further, as with any survey, the information
obtained from the national forests was self- reported, and we were not
able to independently ensure that all decisions were reported. In
addition, the Forest Service does not have a common definition of a fuels
reduction activity. Accordingly, if the Forest Service decision documents
explicitly stated that the purpose of an activity was fuels reduction, we
accepted it. Likewise, if the decision documents did not include an
explicit discussion of fuels reduction, we did not include the decision in
our analysis. Finally, the Forest Service does not have a uniformly
applied definition of the wildland- urban interface. Consequently,
individual forests may have their own definition or no definition at all
which could result in inconsistent data.
Enclosure II contains the information we provided during our May 9, 2003,
briefing with your office. This report briefly summarizes our preliminary
answers to your questions.
In brief, the national forests reported the following:
762 decisions involved fuels reduction activities in FY 2001 and FY 2002.
The fuels reduction activities in these decisions covered 4.7 million
acres. The national forests originally reported 851 decisions involving
fuels reduction activities. Of these, we eliminated 67 because respondents
did not identify fuels reduction as a stated purpose of the activities. We
also eliminated 22 decisions because they may not have been issued in FY
2001 or FY 2002.
180 decisions were appealed affecting 900,000 acres. These decisions
represented 24 percent of all decisions or 59 percent of appealable
decisions. Generally, decisions that were categorically excluded from the
requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement are not
appealable; 457 decisions covering 3 million acres were not appealable.
Conversely, decisions that were issued after preparation of an
environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement are
appealable; 305 decisions covering 1.7 million acres were appealable. All
decisions can be litigated; 23, or 3 percent of decisions were litigated,
affecting 100,000 acres.
The outcomes of the 180 appealed decisions and 23 litigated decisions are
as follows: 6 Our work focused only on national forests, national
grasslands were not included.
Page 4 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction o Of the 180 appealed
decisions, 7 133 required no change before implementation (i. e., the
Forest Service affirmed its original decision);
16 were modified to some degree (i. e., the Forest Service allowed the
decision to be implemented with changes);
19 were reversed (i. e., the Forest Service did not allow the decision to
be implemented); and
12 were withdrawn by the Forest Service, but it was unclear if changes
were required.
84 interest groups and 39 private individuals appeared as appellants in FY
2001 and FY 2002.
o Of the 23 litigated decisions,
10 were still in the courts at the time of our survey;
5 were settled by agreement of the parties;
3 were reversed, overturning the Forest Service*s decision;
1 was upheld by the court; and
the outcomes of 4 were unknown because the respondents did not report
their status.
27 interest groups and one private individual appeared as plaintiffs in
the litigated decisions.
The national forests processed 79 percent of appeals within the prescribed
90- day time frame. The national forests reported many reasons for
exceeding the 90- day time limit 21 percent of the time, including the
following: in general, staffing was inadequate; insufficient staff were
available around the holiday season; appeals were backlogged; and
settlement of some appeals was imminent.
The national forests planned to use prescribed burning on 3.3 million
acres and mechanical treatments on 800,000 acres. In addition, the
national forests reported using other methods on 1.1 million acres (mostly
because of an annual firewood removal program at one forest). Because the
same acreage can be treated by more than one method, the sum is greater
than the total acreage treated.
The national forests issued 464 decisions involving fuels reduction
activities in the wildland- urban interface covering 1.5 million acres of
planned treatments. Of these, 163 were appealable, and 84 were appealed.
73 decisions involved fuels reduction activities in inventoried roadless
areas covering 200,000 acres of planned treatments. Of these 73 decisions,
39 were appealable, and 24 were appealed.
7 We have not yet analyzed to what extent activities planned under the
reversed and withdrawn decisions still occurred after problems leading to
the reversal or withdrawl were resolved.
GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction Page 5 We provided a draft of
this report to the Forest Service for its review and comment.
The Forest Service generally agreed with the information presented in the
report. In commenting on the report, however, the Forest Service had one
major concern. Specifically, the agency believes that we should not have
included a 1 million acre personal use firewood program at one forest in
the material presented because, in their opinion, it unnecessarily skews
the data by increasing the amount of acreage with fuel reduction
activities. However, we did not change the report to omit the information
because, as the Forest Service agrees, it was reported and documented as a
fuels reduction project by the agency. Nonetheless, in the interest of
full disclosure, we highlighted the unique nature of the project in the
information we are providing, as appropriate. In addition, the agency
provided some editorial comments that we considered in finalizing the
report.
- - - - - As arranged with your offices, unless you publicly announce its
contents earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30
days after the date of this report. At that time, we will send copies to
the Secretary of Agriculture; the Chief of the Forest Service; the
Director, Office of Management and Budget; and other interested parties.
We will make copies available to others upon request. This report will
also be available on GAO*s home page at http:// www. gao. gov.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact
me at (202) 512- 3841 or Cliff Fowler at (202) 512- 8029. Major
contributors to this report include Carolyn Boyce, Curtis Groves, Roy
Judy, Nicole Shivers, Patrick Sigl, and Shana Wallace.
Barry T. Hill Director, Natural Resources and Environment Enclosure
Page 6 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction List of Requesters
The Honorable Scott McInnis Chairman, Subcommittee on Forests
and Forest Health Committee on Resources House of Representatives
The Honorable Larry E. Craig Chairman, Subcommittee on Public Lands
and Forests Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United States Senate
The Honorable Jeff Bingaman Ranking Member, Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources United States Senate
The Honorable Gordon Smith United States Senate
Enclosure Page 7 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
1
Briefing for Congressional Requesters
Information on Forest Service Decisions Involving Fuels Reduction
Activities
Enclosure Page 8 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
2
Background
* Decades of well- intended fire management policies have resulted in
dangerous accumulations of brush, small trees and other hazardous
vegetation (i. e. forest fuels) on federal lands. These accumulations of
forest materials have increasingly provided
fuel for large, intense wildfires that all too often become catastrophic
and result in the loss of life and property.
As a result, addressing the threat of catastrophic wildfires has become
an overarching theme in managing national forests. The policy and
management principles guiding the nation*s efforts in addressing this
danger are provided in the National Fire Plan.
Reducing the buildup of forest fuels is a central component of this
initiative.
Enclosure Page 9 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
3
Background (cont.)
To carry out forest fuels reduction activities, the Forest Service must
comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), as well as other statutes.
NEPA requires the Forest Service, and all other federal agencies, to
assess the environmental impacts of their major actions that significantly
affect environmental quality. As part of the NEPA process, the Forest
Service generally publishes a document* referred to as a decision
document*
detailing the specific activities to be implemented. This document can
include activities to reduce forest fuels. Under certain circumstances
the public can appeal decision
documents. An appeal is a written document filed with a designated forest
service official objecting to a decision. The designated forest service
official renders a decision on the appeal. In addition, the public can
file a lawsuit with a federal district court objecting to a decision.
Enclosure Page 10 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
4
Background (cont.)
Each decision can include many activities, such as those aimed at
reducing forest fuels. In response to the National Fire Plan, the
Congress appropriated
hundreds of millions of dollars for the Forest Service to undertake fuels
reduction activities. Controversy has arisen about whether the appeals
and litigation of
Forest Service decisions delays the implementation of fuels reduction
activities. Recent legislative and administrative proposals would revise
the
appeals process or exempt certain fuels reduction activities from it.
Enclosure Page 11 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
5
Objectives
We were asked to provide information on: 1) The number of decisions
involving fuels reduction activities and
the number of acres affected in FY 2001 and FY 2002 2) The number of
decisions that were appealed and/ or litigated and
the number of acres affected in FY 2001 and FY 2002 3) The outcomes of the
appealed and/ or litigated decisions and the
names of the appellants and plaintiffs 4) Whether appeals are processed
within prescribed time frames 5) The number of acres treated or planned to
be treated by each of
the fuels reduction methods 6) Decisions involving fuels reduction
activities in wildland- urban
interface and inventoried roadless areas
Enclosure Page 12 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
6
Scope and Methodology
The Forest Service has no national database of fuels reduction
decisions, appeals, or litigation. We consulted with Forest Service
headquarters, regional, and
national forest officials on where needed information resides. We
conducted a web- based survey of all 155 national forests to
collect data on decisions issued in fiscal years 2001 and 2002 * the first
2 years of activity under the National Fire Plan. We did not include
national grasslands in our analysis. We had a 100% response rate. We
sampled 10% of the reported decisions to verify the accuracy of
reported data. We have not yet completed our verification work. On the
basis of
work done so far, we do not anticipate any major problems with data
accuracy.
Enclosure Page 13 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
7
Scope and Methodology
The national forests originally reported 851 decisions involving fuels
reduction activities. Of these, we eliminated 67 because respondents did
not identify fuels reduction as a
purpose of the project. We have not yet analyzed why respondents did not
identify these decisions as having fuels reduction activities. 22
because they may not have been issued within the time frame we were
analyzing. We have not completed verification to ascertain when these
decisions were signed.
Enclosure Page 14 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
8
Limitations/ Caveats
Information obtained from the national forests was self- reported.
Therefore, we have no independent assurance that all decisions were
reported.
The Forest Service does not have a common definition of a fuels
reduction activity. If documentation described the activity as fuels
reduction, we accepted it in our analysis. Although the Forest Service
published a general definition of the the wildland- urban interface in the
federal register, it is not uniformly applied to all national forests.
Because verification is incomplete, some numbers presented in this
briefing may change.
Enclosure Page 15 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
9
Results in Brief
The national forests reported: 762 decisions involving fuels reduction
activities covering 4.7M acres. 457 decisions (60% of all decisions)
covering 3M acres were not appealable, and 305 decisions covering
1.7M acres were appealable. 180 decisions were appealed (0. 9M acres)
representing
59% of appealable decisions or 24% of all decisions; 23, or 3% of all
decisions, were litigated (0. 1M acres). Of those appealed, 133
decisions required no change before implementation; 35 required changes;
and 12 were withdrawn and it is unclear whether changes were required. Of
those litigated, many were still in the courts at the time of our
analysis; many appellants/ litigants were interest groups.
Enclosure Page 16 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
10
Results in Brief (cont.)
79% of appeals were processed within the prescribed 90day time frame.
Reasons given for not processing the appeals within 90- days included
inadequate staffing, availability of staff around the holiday season,
appeal backlog, and settlement of the appeal was imminent.
3. 3M acres were treated, or treatment was planned using prescribed
burning; 0.8M acres using mechanical methods; 1.1M using other means
(mostly due to firewood removal at one forest). Because the same acreage
can be treated by more than one method, the sum is greater than the total
acreage treated.
464 decisions (1. 5M acres) involved fuels reduction activities in the
wildland- urban interface; 73 decisions (0. 2M acres) involved such
activities in inventoried roadless areas.
Enclosure Page 17 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
11
Objective 1: Number of decisions and acres affected
In FY 2001 and FY 2002, there were 762 decisions involving fuels reduction
activities.
There are three kinds of decisions. Those that were categorically
excluded (CE) from the preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) or
an environmental impact statement (EIS). CEs are generally not appealable.
Those for which an EA was prepared. Those for which an EIS was
prepared.
Enclosure Page 18 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
12
Objective 1 (cont.)
Decisions and acreage by decision type: 100 6 30 64 %of total acres 4.7M
0.3M 1.4M 3M No. of acres
100 6 34 60 % of total decisions 762 49 256 457 No. of decisions
Total EISs EAs CEs a a One activity covered by a CE treats approximately
1M acres under an annual program to allow private individuals to collect
firewood.
Enclosure Page 19 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
13
Objective 1 (cont.) Figure 1: Total decisions and acres, by Forest Service
region
Enclosure Page 20 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
14
Objective 1 (cont.) Figure 2: Regional data on decisions
Enclosure Page 21 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
15
Objective 1( cont.) Figure 3: Regional data on acres
Enclosure Page 22 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
16
Objective 2: Number of decisions appealed and/ or litigated and acreage
affected
Appealed decisions and acreage: Of 762 decisions, 305 were appealable.
Generally, decisions covered by CEs are not appealable. Decisions
covered by EAs and EISs are appealable. 180 decisions were appealed (59%
of appealable decisions or 24%
of all decisions). 63 decisions were appealed more than once* at least
267 appeals
on the 180 decisions. The appealed decisions covered 0.9M acres.
Enclosure Page 23 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
17
Objective 2 (cont.) Figure 4: Appeal rates of all decisions and appealable
decisions by region
Enclosure Page 24 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
18
Objective 2 (cont.)
Litigated decisions and acreage: Of the 762 decisions:
23 were litigated (3%) covering 0. 1M acres. All decisions can be
litigated. None of the 457 CEs were litigated. 23 of the 305 decisions
covered by EAs and EISs were litigated covering 0.1M acres.
Enclosure Page 25 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
19
Objective 2 (cont.) Figure 5: Decisions, appeals, and litigation by region
Enclosure Page 26 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
20
Objective 3: The outcomes of the appealed and/ or litigated decisions and
the names of the appellants and plaintiffs
Appeal Outcomes Of the 180 appealed decisions:
133 required no change before implementation. 16 were modified to some
degree (i. e., the Forest Service allowed the decision to be implemented
with changes). 19 were reversed (i. e., the Forest Service did not allow
the decision to be implemented). 12 were withdrawn (the Forest Service
withdrew the decision, but it was unclear if changes were required).
Enclosure Page 27 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
21
Objective 3 (cont.)
Appellants A decision can be appealed multiple times. There were at
least 267
appeals on the 180 appealed decisions. About 84 interest groups and 39
private individuals appeared as appellants in the 267 appeals.
Multiple appellants can appear as parties to an appeal. The 84 interest
groups appeared about 432 times as parties to the appeals. The 39 private
individuals appeared about 48 times as parties to the appeals.
Of the interest groups: 7 groups each appeared as appellants 20 or
more times: the Alliance
for Wild Rockies, Ecology Center, Forest Conservation Council, Lands
Council, National Forest Protection Alliance, Oregon Natural Resources
Council, and Sierra Club. Interest groups were most active in Forest
Service*s Northern, Pacific
Southwest, and Pacific Northwest regions-- regions 1, 5, and 6
respectively.
Enclosure Page 28 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
22
Objective 3 (cont)
Litigation outcomes Of the 23 litigated decisions:
10 were still in litigation at the time of the survey. 5 were settled
by agreement of the parties. 3 were reversed, overturning the Forest
Service*s decision; the Forest Service has appealed one of these to a
higher court.
1 was upheld by the court, allowing the Forest Service to proceed with
the decision. 4 are unknown because the respondents did not report
outcomes.
Enclosure Page 29 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
23
Objective 3 (cont.)
Litigants Of the 23 litigated decisions, 27 different interest groups
appeared
77 times as plaintiffs and 1 private individual appeared once as a
plaintiff.
Of the interest groups: 5 groups appeared as plaintiffs in 4 or more
decisions: the
Ecology Center, Sierra Club, Oregon Natural Resources Council, Hell*s
Canyon Preservation Council, and Native Ecosystems Council.
Interest groups were most active in the Forest Service*s Northern,
Intermountain, Pacific Southwest, and Pacific Northwest regions* regions
1, 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
Enclosure Page 30 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
24
Objective 4: Information on whether appeals are processed within
prescribed time frames
Appeals must be processed within 90 days of the date a decision was
legally published There were at least 267 appeals on 180 decisions:
At least 212 appeals (79%) affecting 141 decisions were processed within
90 days. At least 55 appeals (21%) affecting 39 decisions were not
processed within 90 days.
Enclosure Page 31 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
25
Objective 4 (cont.)
The national forests reported various reasons for not processing the 55
appeals within 90 days, including:
Inadequate staffing Availability of staff around the holiday season
Appeal backlog Settlement of the appeal was imminent. If an appeal is
filed, a decision may not be implemented until 15
days after the outcome of the appeal is determined. However, an *emergency
mechanism* permits the Forest Service chief to implement a decision even
if an appeal was filed. This mechanism was not used in FY 2001 or FY 2002.
Enclosure Page 32 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
26
Objective 5: The number of acres treated or planned to be treated by each
of the fuels reduction methods.
Treatment Methods 3. 3M acres were treated, or treatment was planned by
prescribed burning.
0. 8M acres were treated by mechanical treatment (e. g., bulldozers,
chainsaws, chippers, mulchers).
687 acres were treated by chemical/ herbicide treatment. 300 acres
were treated by grazing. 1. 1M acres were reported as *other* treatment
methods. Most of these acres were for a single firewood program.
Because multiple treatment methods can be used on the same acres, the
numbers will not total to 4. 7M acres treated in FY 2001 and FY 2002.
Enclosure Page 33 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
27
Objective 5 (cont.) Figure 6: Acres treated or planned to be treated by
prescribed burning under each decision type
Of the 3.3M prescribed burning acres: 1. 9M acres were covered under
CEs. 1. 2M acres were covered under EAs. 0. 2M acres were covered
under EISs.
Source: U. S. Department of the Interior
Enclosure Page 34 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
28
Objective 5 (cont.) Figure 7: Acres treated or planned to be treated by
mechanical treatment under each decision type
Of the 0.8M acres mechanically treated: 0. 2M acres were covered under
CEs. 0. 5M acres were covered under EAs. 0. 1M acres were covered
under EISs. Note: Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
Enclosure Page 35 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
29
Objective 5 (cont.) Figure 8: Acres treated or planned to be treated by
chemical treatment, grazing, and other methods under each decision type
Of the 1,060,687 acres treated by chemical, grazing, and other methods:
1,007,064 were covered under CEs 53,573 were covered under EAs 50 were
covered under EISs
Enclosure Page 36 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
30
Objective 6: Information on decisions with fuels reduction activities in
wildland- urban interface and inventoried roadless areas
Wildland- urban interface (WUI) decisions: Of the 762 decisions, the
national forests reported 464 (61%) decisions with fuels reduction
activities in the WUI.
These 464 decisions covered 1.5M acres (32% of total acreage for all
reported fuels reduction activities).
Enclosure Page 37 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
31
Objective 6 (cont.) Figure 9: Comparison of WUI and non- WUI acreage
covered by fuels reduction activities
Enclosure Page 38 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
32
Objective 6 (cont.) Figure 10: WUI acreage by decision type
Of the 1.5M acres in the WUI: 1. 0M were covered under CEs 0. 4M
were covered under EAs 0. 1M were covered under EISs
Note: Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
Enclosure Page 39 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
33
Objective 6 (cont.)
WUI appeals: Of the 464 decisions involving activities in the WUI (1. 5M
acres),
163 were appealable (0. 5M acres). 84 decisions were appealed (0. 2M
acres).
Enclosure Page 40 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
34
Objective 6 (cont.)
Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA) decisions: Of the 762 decisions, the
national forests reported 73 (10%) decisions with fuels reduction
activities in an IRA.
These 73 decisions covered 0.2M acres (4% of total acreage for all
reported fuels reduction activities).
Enclosure Page 41 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
35
Objective 6 (cont.) Figure 11: Comparison of IRA and non- IRA acreage
covered by fuels reduction activities
Enclosure Page 42 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
36
Objective 6 (cont.) Figure 12: IRA acreage by decision type
Of the 240K acres in the IRA: 95K were covered under CEs 129K were
covered under EAs 16K were covered under EISs
Note: Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
Enclosure Page 43 GAO- 03- 689R Forest Service Fuels Reduction
37
Objective 6 (cont.)
IRA appeals: Of the 73 decisions involving IRAs (0. 2M acres), 39 were
appealable (0. 15M acres).
24 decisions were appealed (0. 08M acres).
(360272)
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