Part of this process involves developing the ASQ, which is the Forest Service’s estimate of the maximum harvest consistent with sustaining many other uses of the forest. The Ouachita National Forest was the only forest whose timber sales were higher in 1993 than in 1991. Factors contributing to differences between ASQs and timber sales at the five forests we reviewed included limitations in data and estimating techniques, the emergence of new forest management issues and changing priorities, and rising or unanticipated costs associated with preparing and administering timber sales. More detailed, on-the-ground analysis may later reveal that actual timber volumes differ somewhat from the estimated quantities, as the following examples show:
After estimating ASQ volumes for planning purposes, officials at the Deschutes National Forest discovered that they had overestimated the size of the timber inventory in timber harvest areas. In mid-1990, when the forest plans containing the ASQs for the three Pacific Northwest forests were ready to be implemented, the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service announced its decision to list the northern spotted owl as a threatened species under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. The budget request for each forest is subject to levels of internal Forest Service review. Timber sales were below average annual ASQs in all years since the ASQs were implemented. The first period, usually a decade, provides the allowable sale quantity.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on timber sales in five national forests between 1991 and 1993, focusing on: (1) whether the Forest Service met its allowable sale quantity (ASQ) for the five forests; and (2) why the quantity of timber sold from the national forests was sometimes substantially below ASQ.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) timber sales for each of the 5 forests reviewed were significantly below the average ASQ between 1991 and 1993; (2) factors contributing to the Forest Service's inability to meet ASQ included the lack of adequate data and estimating techniques to base ASQ, the emergence of new and changing forest management priorities, and rising or unanticipated costs associated with preparing and administering timber sales; (3) forest officials at one of the five forests overestimated the size of the timber inventory and improperly based the inventory on average volumes rather than on the specific parts of the forest where timber sales were being prepared; and (4) ASQ were reduced in Pacific northwest forests after the northern spotted owl was listed as an endangered species and much of the proposed harvest areas were set aside for its habitat.