When the Forest Service issues a public notice in a newspaper of record of  a proposed action, the public has either 30 or 45 days to comment,  depending on the type of NEPA analysis document prepared. The objection can (1) be set aside  from review, (2) be reviewed by the Forest Service resulting in a change to  the final decision, (3) be reviewed by the Forest Service resulting in no  change to the final decision, or (4) result in the reviewing officer directing  the appropriate Forest Service official to complete additional analysis  prior to issuing a final decision. Of the 29 litigated decisions in our study, 26 had  been subject to appeal, representing 2 percent of the 1,191 decisions  subject to appeal; the remaining 3 litigated decisions had been subject to  objection, likewise representing 2 percent of the 121 decisions subject to  objection. A total of 91 appeals were dismissed for various reasons, including     38 appeals that were resolved informally, of which 30 appeals were  withdrawn by the appellant and 8 decisions were withdrawn by the  agency (when an appeal is resolved informally, changes may or may  not be made to the decision);   53 appeals that were dismissed without review, mostly for failing to  meet procedural requirements, such as timeliness—however, 23 of  these appeals were dismissed without review because, subsequent to  receiving the appeal, the agency official who made the decision  decided to withdraw the decision;   For 1 appeal, the outcome could not be determined based on  documentation in the agency’s regional files, according to an agency  official. According to time frame information provided by Forest Service officials,  all appeals of fiscal year 2006 through 2008 decisions were processed  within the time frames prescribed in applicable laws and regulations. 15 objections were set aside from review. Of the 49 decisions for which objections were filed, 25 were  signed between 35 days and 3 months of legal publication date of the  proposed action. District courts reached  an outcome on the 18 additional decisions, with 8 decided favorably to the  plaintiffs and 10 decided favorably to the Forest Service. Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report to the Forest Service for comment. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

We examined (1) the number and type of Forest Service decisions  involving hazardous fuel reduction activities signed in fiscal years 2006  through 2008; (2) the number of these decisions that were objected to,  appealed, or litigated, and the acreage associated with those decisions;   (3) the outcomes of these objections, appeals, and lawsuits, including  whether they were processed within prescribed time frames, and the  identities of the objectors, appellants, and plaintiffs; (4) the treatment  methods and contract types associated with fuel reduction decisions, and  how frequently the different methods and types were objected to,  appealed, and litigated; and (5) the number of decisions involving  hazardous fuel reduction activities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI)  and inventoried roadless areas (IRA), and how frequently these decisions  were objected to, appealed, and litigated. Therefore, the 10.5 million acres covered by decisions in our review  may include overlapping acreage. Appendix III: Number of Appeals, Objections, and Lawsuits of Fuel Reduction Decisions, by Forest Service Region

Figure 3 shows, for each of the Forest Service’s regions, information on  appeals, objections, and litigation of fuel reduction decisions, including  the total number of appeals, objections, and litigation and the percentage  of decisions appealed, objected to, and litigated.
Why GAO Did This Study

Increases in the number and intensity of wildland fires have led the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service to place greater emphasis on thinning forests and rangelands to reduce the buildup of potentially hazardous vegetation that can fuel wildland fires. The public generally has an opportunity to challenge agency hazardous fuel reduction decisions with which it disagrees. Depending on the type of project being undertaken, the public can file a formal objection to a proposed decision, or can appeal a decision the agency has already made. Appeals and objections must be reviewed by the Forest Service within prescribed time frames. Final decisions may also generally be challenged in federal court. GAO was asked, among other things, to determine, for fiscal years 2006-2008, (1) the number of Forest Service fuel reduction decisions and the associated acreage; (2) the number of decisions subject to appeal and objection, the number appealed, objected to, and litigated, and the associated acreage; and (3) the outcomes of appeals, objections, and litigation, and the extent to which appeals and objections were processed within prescribed time frames. In doing so, GAO conducted a nationwide survey of forest managers and staff, interviewed officials in the Forest Service's regional offices, and reviewed documentation to corroborate agency responses. GAO requested, but did not receive, comments from the Forest Service on a draft of this report.

What GAO Found

Through a GAO-administered survey and interviews, Forest Service officials reported the following information: (1) In fiscal years 2006 through 2008, the Forest Service issued 1,415 decisions involving fuel reduction activities, covering 10.5 million acres. (2) Of this total, 1,191 decisions, covering about 9 million acres, were subject to appeal and 217--about 18 percent--were appealed. Another 121 decisions, covering about 1.2 million acres, were subject to objection and 49--about 40 percent--were objected to. The remaining 103 decisions were exempt from both objection and appeal. Finally, 29 decisions--about 2 percent of all decisions--were litigated, involving about 124,000 acres. (3) For 54 percent of the appeals filed, the Forest Service allowed the project to proceed without changes; 7 percent required some changes before being implemented; and 8 percent were not allowed to be implemented. The remaining appeals were generally dismissed for procedural reasons or withdrawn before they could be resolved. Regarding objections, 37 percent of objections resulted in no change to a final decision; 35 percent resulted in a change to a final decision or additional analysis on the part of the Forest Service; and the remaining 28 percent were set aside from review for procedural reasons or addressed in some other way. And finally, of the 29 decisions that were litigated, lawsuits on 21 decisions have been resolved, and 8 are ongoing. Of the lawsuits that have been resolved, the parties settled 3 decisions, 8 were decided in favor of the plaintiffs, and 10 were decided in favor of the Forest Service. All appeals and objections were processed within prescribed time frames--generally, within 90 days of a decision (for appeals), or within 60 days of the legal notice of a proposed decision (for objections).