Glickman Accepts Recommendations on Improving Management of National Forests
                                                               
                                            Release No. 0104.99

                                  Andrew Kauders (202) 720-4623
                                        andrew.kauders@usda.gov
                                       Joe Walsh (202) 205-1089
                                            jwalsh/wo@fs.fed.us

GLICKMAN ACCEPTS RECOMMENDATIONS ON IMPROVING MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL FORESTS

     WASHINGTON, March 15, 1999 -- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced the release of a series of recommendations by a panel of preeminent
scientists, known as the Committee of Scientists, to improve National Forest
planning.  These recommendations will be strongly considered as the Forest
Service, USDA's largest agency, develops its new regulation guiding forest
management and planning.

     "Today, the Committee of Scientists has recommended a new planning
framework for the management of our forests for the 21st century," said
Glickman.  "The report urges the federal government to continue to involve the
public and science as a guide to managing our national treasures and affirmed
our view that  the agency's mission is clear:  sustaining the health and
vitality of our forests, grasslands, and wildlife for generations to come
while providing Americans with goods and services like clean water,
recreation, natural resources, and viable wildlife." 

     The panel of thirteen scientists, with expertise in natural resources,
social and economic science and management issues, was appointed by the
Secretary in December, 1997.  Over the course of 1998, the Committee held
public discussions in all regions of the country with a wide variety of people
involved in forestry to get their views on how to improve the forest
management and planning process.  The Committee's recommendations are intended
to help guide USDA's revision of the regulations that govern management of
over 191 million acres of public land.  By law, the Forest Service is required
to amend its 155 forest plans every 10-15 years.  Over 150 million acres of
national forest and grasslands are scheduled for plan revisions within the
next 5 years.

     Jim Lyons, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment,
noted that the Committee had found many examples of success stories of science
and public collaboration, particularly in the Northwest under the President's
Forest Plan.  "The Committee recommends that we build on these success stories
and ensure that the new planning framework is flexible and not a 'one-size-
fits-all' process for solving natural resource issues," said Lyons.  "We are
committed to creating a regulation that will be less burdensome, easy to use,
and less costly to taxpayers."

     "The time is ripe to revise these rules," said Mike Dombeck, Chief of
the Forest Service.  "We are not serving the public or the forests well by
waiting longer to integrate science and public involvement in a consistent way
across all our forests and grasslands."

     

     The Committee's recommendations, which are consistent with existing
laws, include ways to:

          develop more collaborative relationships with local communities and
     interest groups throughout the planning process;

          use scientific assessments of the land to inform the public and land
     managers in making decisions;

          strengthen the connection between science and management by adapting
     land management practices in response to results from scientific
     monitoring of land conditions;

          sustain ecological integrity, protect biological diversity and
     watersheds on forests and grasslands; and

          integrate the budget more fully into forest plan implementation.

     The national forests and grasslands total approximately 191 million
acres and provide many and diverse benefits to the American public.  900
million people visit and recreate on their national forests and grasslands
every year to enjoy the great outdoors from skiing, hiking, camping, to
rafting and more.  The headwaters in our nation's forests, from where our
rivers are born, provide Americans with more that 20 percent of their fresh
water every year, making the protection of these lands critical to sustain
water quality.  Wildlife and plant species, some of which are endangered, also
call the national forests and grasslands home.  Many thousands of people also
depend on the forests for their livelihoods in many ways, from recreation and
commodity extraction, such as oil, gas, minerals, and timber, to providing
their families with food.