1998 Explanatory Notes USDA Forest Service Three-Year Summary Of Appropriations ($ in Thousands) Forest and Rangeland Research State and Private Forestry Emergency Pest Suppression Fund International Forestry National Forest System Wildland Fire Management Reconstruction and Construction Land Acquisition Range Betterment Fund Other Appropriations Southeast AK Disaster Assistance Fund Subtotal-Discretionary Appropriations Permanent Appropriations: Working Funds Permanent Appropriations: Payment Funds Cooperative Work - Trust Funds Reforestation Trust Funds Subtotal-Mandatory Appropriations Grand Total - Forest Service 1998 Explanatory Notes Summary of Receipts ($ in Thousands) USDA, Forest Service NATIONAL FOREST FUND: Power Minerals Land Uses Timber Grazing Recreation, Admission and User Fees Subtotal, National Forest Fund NATIONAL GRASSLANDS AND Minerals Timber Sale Area Betterment (K-V) 1/ These earmarks represent an increase of funding to the line item in FY 1997. Earmarks which were included within available funds are not displayed here, but may be addressed under the appropriate line item. 0 $456 1998 Explanatory Notes USDA, Forest Service Mission & Organization The Agency's mission is to achieve quality land management under the multiple-use, sustained yield concept to meet the diverse needs of people. The phrase "caring for the land and serving people" captures this mission. In carrying out our mission, the Forest Service is guided by the principles of ecosystem management. The Agency is committed to using an ecological approach to achieve multiple use management of the national forests and grasslands. This approach blends the needs of people and environmental values to develop and maintain diverse, healthy, productive, and sustainable ecosystems. Our primary purpose is to provide maximum benefits to the public through proper management and use of renewable and nonrenewable resources in the Nation's forests and rangelands. These benefits take the form of: clean water; wood, paper, and other forest products; a high quality environment for outdoor recreation; energy and minerals; wilderness preservation; forage for grazing livestock; and abundant fish and wildlife. As directed by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA), the Forest Service assesses the status and trends of the Nation's forest and rangeland resources on all ownerships every 10 years and recommends a program every 5 years. We accomplish our mission in three major areas: Forest and Rangeland Research The mission of Forest Service Research is to develop and provide the scientific information and technology needed to protect, manage, use, and sustain the natural resources of the Nation's 1.6 billion acres of public and private forests and rangelands. This information is essential for formulating policy and responsibly managing and conserving the health and productivity of the National Forests as well as all forests and rangelands of the United States. Strategic direction for the Research program is outlined in "Strategy for the 90's for USDA Forest Service Research," with a focus on understanding ecosystems; understanding people and natural resource relationships; and understanding and expanding resource options. Our research is aligned with USDA's Draft 1995 RPA Program and embodies priorities in the National Research Council's "Forestry Research: A Mandate for Change." Further, Forest Service Research addresses science needs identified by the President's National Science and Technology Council: (1) Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR); (2) Committee on Civilian Industrial Technology (CCIT); and (3) Committee on Fundamental Science and Engineering Research. We are a major contributor to the CENR goals. The Forest Service conducts research through a network of seven regional Forest Experiment Stations, a national Forest Products Laboratory, and the International Institute of Tropical Forestry. We also manage the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute which serves as the lead research and technology transfer center for all federal agencies charged with stewardship of the federal wilderness system. We employ approximately 550 permanent full-time research scientists organized into Research Work Units at 67 locations across the U.S. and at sites with our partners such as university campuses. Our research findings can be found in scientific, technical and popular publications and are also transferred to the public through numerous symposiums, workshops and other forms of educational and training techniques. Science to support sound management of U.S. natural resources, and formulation of policy towards this goal, is increasingly linked with international processes and concerns. For example, our U.S. policy is set in a global context that includes dialogue on measures for sustainable forestry, implementation of conventions on global climate change, biodiversity, and timber certification. Similarly, solutions to many U.S. problems are developed through scientific collaboration and coordination 1998 Explanatory Notes USDA, Forest Service with international partners. Such problems include the conservation of migratory species, control of exotic pests, and validation of global change models. Domestic priorities guide our international engagements, but global benefits accrue and help solve domestic problems. State and Private Forestry The goal of the State and Private Forestry programs is to maintain and improve, through collaborative stewardship, the health and productivity of the nation's urban and rural forests and related economies. Through partnerships, State and Private Forestry programs reduce federal and non-federal costs in building and strengthening the capacity of States to achieve sustainable resource management; increase the value of forests and communities by improving forest health, sustainability, and productivity; and support private landowner objectives by using non-regulatory approaches and voluntary participation. State and Private Forestry assistance is provided to non-industrial private landowners, State forestry agencies, tribal governments, schools and universities, local governments, and volunteer groups. Forty-four percent of the nation's forested lands and fifty-nine percent of the nation's commercial forest land is owned by 9.9 million non-industrial private forest landowners. These lands provide nearly half of the nation's annual timber harvest, while at the same time they suffer over seventy-five percent of the wildland fires in the country. Non-industrial private forests are also home to about half of the animal species listed as threatened or endangered. Equally important, eighty percent of the people in the nation live in urban areas, which include over 69 million acres of urban forests. Urban forests have an estimated value of $30 billion and a potential value of $80 billion if properly managed. State and Private Forestry programs provide technical assistance and financial leverage to: protect natural resources from fire and pests; restore and protect forest health; improve management and production on State and private forest, range, and urban lands; strengthen the ability of communities to develop natural resource-based opportunities that |