Laws guiding the  management of the forests require that the Forest Service manage its lands  for various purposes—including recreation; rangeland; wilderness; and the  protection of watersheds, fish, and wildlife—and to ensure that the  agency’s management of the lands does not impair their long-term  productivity. While the  agency has improved some areas, progress has been lacking in other key  areas, and management challenges remain. The Forest Service Continues to Lack Short- or Long-Term Strategies for Using Wildland Fire Management Funds Effectively

Perhaps the most daunting challenge facing the Forest Service is the  dramatic worsening of our nation’s wildland fire problem over the past  decade. In 1999,  to address the problem of excess fuels and their potential to increase the  severity of wildland fires and cost of suppression efforts, we  recommended that a cohesive strategy be developed to identify the  available long-term options for reducing fuels and the associated funding  requirements. By laying out various potential approaches for addressing  wildland fire, the estimated costs associated with each approach, and the  trade-offs involved, such a strategy would help Congress and the agencies  make informed decisions about effective and affordable long-term  approaches to addressing the nation’s wildland fire problems. Establish clear goals and a strategy to help contain wildland fire  costs. Continue to improve its processes for allocating fuel reduction  funds and selecting fuel reduction projects. Take steps to improve its use of a new interagency budgeting and  planning tool. Lack of Complete and Accurate Data on Activities and Costs Continues to Hamper Program Management

Long-standing data problems have plagued the Forest Service, hampering  its ability to manage its programs and account for its costs and reflecting  deep-rooted and persistent shortcomings in the agency’s management of  its activities. Forest Service Lacks Adequate Data on Land Management Activities

In recent years we have identified several land management programs for  which the Forest Service lacks sufficient data, keeping the agency from  effectively overseeing its activities and understanding whether it is using  its appropriated dollars most efficiently. The Forest Service Has Struggled with Financial and Performance Accountability

Over the years, the Forest Service has struggled to provide adequate  financial and performance accountability. Regarding  its performance, the agency has not always been able to provide Congress  and the public with a clear understanding of what its 30,000 employees  accomplish with the approximately $5 billion the agency receives every  year. In  fact, in 2008—only 7 months ago, and more than 5 years after our 2003  report on the problem—the Inspector General echoed our earlier findings,  stating, “Some of these issues have been reported in multiple reports for  over a decade, but their solutions are still in the study and evaluation  process by .”

	Emerging Issues Magnify the Need to Address Management Challenges

Several emerging issues are likely to have profound implications for the  agency, complicating its management responsibilities and underscoring  the importance of addressing the management challenges we have  highlighted so that the agency is well positioned to meet these new issues. The aging of the federal workforce. Our nation’s long-term fiscal condition. Wildland Fire Management: Update on Federal Agency Efforts to Develop  a Cohesive Strategy to Address Wildland Fire Threats. Department of Agriculture: Status of Efforts to Address Major Financial  Management Challenges.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Forest Service, within the Department of Agriculture, manages over 190 million acres of forest and grassland. The agency is responsible for managing its lands for various purposes--including recreation, grazing, timber harvesting, and others--while ensuring that such activities do not impair the lands' long-term productivity. Carrying out these often competing responsibilities has been made more difficult by the increasing cost of wildland fires and the budgetary constraints necessitated by our nation's long-term fiscal outlook. This testimony highlights some of the major management challenges the Forest Service faces in carrying out its land management responsibilities. It is based on numerous reports GAO has issued on a wide variety of the agency's activities.

What GAO Found

While the Forest Service has made improvements in many areas GAO has reported on in recent years, certain management challenges persist--with the agency struggling to manage a worsening wildland fire problem and spiraling fire costs, collect data on its activities and their costs, and demonstrate financial and performance accountability to Congress and the public. Several emerging issues facing the agency underscore the urgency of addressing these challenges. The Forest Service continues to lack strategies for using its wildland fire management funds effectively. In numerous reports over the past decade, GAO has highlighted the challenges the Forest Service faces in protecting the nation against the threat of wildland fires. While the agency has taken important steps to improve its wildland fire management, other key steps remain. Specifically, the agency needs to (1) develop a cohesive strategy laying out various potential long-term approaches for addressing wildland fire, the estimated costs associated with each approach, and the trade-offs involved; (2) establish clear goals and a strategy to help contain increasing wildland fire costs; (3) continue improving its processes for allocating funds and selecting projects to reduce potentially hazardous vegetation; and (4) take steps to improve its use of a new interagency budgeting and planning tool. Program management suffers from lack of data on activities and costs. GAO's work over the years points to a persistent shortcoming in the Forest Service's management of its activities: the lack of adequate data on program activities and costs. This shortcoming spans multiple land management programs, including programs for selling timber and rehabilitating and reforesting lands that have been burned, as well as administrative functions such as the competitive sourcing program, which aims to increase competition between federal entities and private sector organizations. Inadequate data have hindered field managers in carrying out their duties and prevented the agency from understanding how much its activities are costing. Financial and performance accountability have been inadequate. The Forest Service has struggled to implement adequate internal controls over its funds, generate accurate financial information, and provide clear measures of what it accomplishes with the appropriations it receives every year. GAO's concerns about these issues date back to the 1990s but have yet to be fully addressed. Several emerging issues underscore the need for the Forest Service to improve its management. The evolving effects of climate change, increasing development in and near wildlands, the aging of the federal workforce, and our nation's long-term fiscal condition likely will have profound implications for the agency and magnify the urgency of addressing these challenges.