United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-06-17 monographic deposited born digital 20 p. GA 1.13:RCED-99-166 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166 P0b002ee18039e0f4 f:rc99166 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166 RCED-99-166 National forests Strategic planning Forest management Natural resources Environmental law Wildlife conservation Agency missions Timber sales Forest conservation Forest Service Timber Sales Program Letter Report RCED Y2000 The Forest Service's mission and funding priorities have evolved over many years in response to laws, and Congress has never explicitly accepted them or acknowledged their effects on the availability of timber or other uses on the national forests. This report describes (1) the priorities that the Congress set in enacting the National Forest Management Act of 1976, which guides the development of plans for managing national forests; (2) the Forest Service's current mission and funding priorities and how they have evolved during the last two decades; and (3) the effect of these priorities on the availability of timber and on the costs of and receipts from timber sales. GAO found that the act and other multiple-use laws intended to guide the management of the national forests provide little guidance on how the agency is to resolve conflicts or make choices among competing uses on its lands. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166.pdf GAO/RCED-99-166 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-166 Letter Report GAO/RCED-99-166; Forest Service Priorities: Evolving Mission Favors; National forests Strategic planning Forest management Natural resources Environmental law Wildlife conservation Agency missions Timber sales Forest conservation Forest Service Timber Sales Program