The Forest Service's catch 22; it's hard to see the forest when you've cut down all the trees

Washington Monthly, Jan, 1990 by Randal O'Toole

In 1985, Cherry Dulaney, a Forest Service employee in California, surveyed reforestation staff throughout the state and found that 15 to 30 percent of the work they had done in the past five years wasn't needed - it was done only to meet targets. Herbicides were sprayed during the wrong season; trees were planted in areas that were already well stocked. Sometimes, employees falsely claimed that they had reforested areas in order to meet their targets - all so that the regional offices could get their cuts.

Dulaney estimated that between 1980 and 1985, superfluous forest projects cost $3 million. Since the Forest Service spends close to $1 on overhead for every $3 of K-V money spent in the forests, this means the bureaucracy paid nearly $1 million to support the fraud.

Only God can make trees, but only Congress can save them from this budget-powered sawmill. Forest managers are just as human as anyone else, and they respond to the incentives built into their budget process. Changing these incentives will lead them to manage the national forests in the public interest, instead of as tax-subsidized tree farms.

For starters, the Knutson-Vandenberg Act and related laws badly need "enhancing": they should be cut. Second, Congress should allow the Forest Service to explore sources of revenue besides timber sales. Right now, managers are not permitted to charge fees for most non-timber resources. One alternative means of raising revenue would be to allow managers to charge user fees for all forest resources, rewarding them with a fixed share of net receipts - instead of gross receipts, as the K-V Act does. This fundraising scheme would discourage money-losing timber sales and put a premium on protecting scenic beauty, wildlife, and water. The Forest Service says that revenues from recreation fees would greatly exceed timber receipts. And since most vacationers expect trees to block their view of the forest, under a user-fee system forest managers will be less tempted to start "enhancing" anything.

It's heartening to note that some environmental organizations have finally figured out the Forest Service's budget scam. The Wilderness Society recently joined local groups across the country in calling for the repeal of the K-V Act and backing the collection of recreation fees. How many more trees will have to fall in our national forests before Congress finally hears the noise?

Randal O'Toole is a forest economist from Portland, Oregon, and author of Reforming the Forest Service.