Introduction
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is one of the forest agency under the United States Agricultural Department that monitors the country’s 20 national grasslands and 155 national forests that consist of 193 000 000 acres (i.e. 780 000 square kilometers). The main divisions under this agency include the R&D branch, Private and State Forestry, Law Enforcement and Investigations, and the National Forest branch.
Involvement of different government parts in decisions and regulation making
The operation of the Forest Service is controlled by the federal government, which is responsible in formulating new laws and regulations. This research examines how the different parts are involved in the decisions and regulation making, and thus constraining the operation of the Forest Service.
Furthermore, the executive may be involved in the regulation making via the issuance of orders by the presidential executive, as well as the use of budgetary powers of the executive through the budget and the Management Office. For example, “Healthy Forests Restoration Act” was signed to become law by President Bush, in 2003, in order to minimize the destructive threat of wildfires, and, on the other hand, upholding the standards of the environment and encouraging public participation during the process of planning. Similarly, on 23rd December 2011, the current president of U.S., Barak Obama, signed the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012” into a law. The Act’s section 428 directs the Agricultural secretary, acting via Forest Service chief, “to provide for a pre-decisional objection process” that was based on section 105-a- of “Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003”, for Forest Service proposed actions concerning the activities and projects implementing plans of the land management and tabled down with a Decision Notice or Decision record. The Forest Service is also required to be accountable to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and Environmental Quality Council.
The operation of the Forest Service can also be influenced through the judicial action. This judicial restraint can be applied through the issuance of suits that charge errors made while making the Forest Service’s decisions based on various interpretations of certain acts as stipulated in the federal constitution. Some of the examples of such action are “the Sierra Club suit concerning Mineral King” and “a proposed ski development in Sequoia National Forest, California”.
Budget Process
However, in order to maintain the one-hundred and fifty-five national forests in good condition, money is required through budgeting. The process of funding is also important in determining the activities that the Forest Service would undertake during the following year. The congress is the one that is mandated to appropriate funds to all the federal agencies, which include the Forest Service. Annually, the congress prepares appropriations bills, which indicate the amount of money that each agency gets, and also how they will go about spending it. However, the appropriations bills of the Forest Service are also part of Interior and Environment among the other related agencies. Even though the congress is mandated to prepare as well as passing the appropriations bills, a very significant role is played by the president in this process. During each winter, the budget is submitted by the president to the congress accompanied by the recommended appropriations that each of the federal agencies will receive.
Public Involvement
Forest Service started the revision process of planning rule with the main objective of coming up with a new rule of planning, which would last for a long time. This effort was accomplished through the utilization of participatory and transparent method. For instance, the 2012-planning rule demands a very effective collaboration in the entire planning process. This rule was made through collaborative process that was open, and it was improved by close to three-hundred thousand public comments, which were received as response from the proposed rule.
On the other hand, the keystone of the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and the NFMA (National Forest Management Act) passed by Congress is to involve the public. Substantial efforts are being made by Forest Service so as to gain knowledge on the underlying opinions and values as a section in the process of making decision. Creating and maintaining talks with the general public, state, other agencies of the federal, tribal and local government are necessary for the Forest Service operation. The ability of the public to get accessed to judicial review and post-decisional administrative shows a positive indicator in the U.S. political system. However, the public is involved early by the agency in making decisions for the public to express their opinions and views in order to avoid or eliminate conflicts between them and the agency. On the other hand, this approach is sometimes made ineffective because of some constraints resulting from the broader divergence in public views or opinions, or issues relating to resources, and public incentives to make use of judicial and administration to change decisions.
Industries relying on proper regulation making
Some of the industries that rely on proper results of this process are the timber buyers among the other primary industries that use wood and also the manufacturers that buy round-wood, pulpwood, veneer logs and saw-logs products. In addition, many dealers of the wood products provide timber to industries that deals in forest products, and also some loggers, who buy timber. In order for these industries to be listed in the Forest Service database, each industry is expected to submit a questionnaire that is completed or send a request to their offices. This database contains the company name, phone number, address, contact person, fax number, and the species and kinds of timber they purchased.
Benefits of Forest Service to American People
A report released by the Forest Service indicate that there are several benefits that the Americans and foreign visitors receive from the services provided by the forest agency, and they are discussed below. To begin, the report shows that the Americans people continue to enjoy residing near their national grasslands and forests. This is also an indication that the public lands are beneficial and of good bargain to the people of America. These lands are the America’s greatest benefits when it comes to travel. However, these benefits are given by the agency through its management of trails with over one-hundred and fifty thousand miles, which includes motorized trails, equestrian, biking, and hiking, and over ten-thousand established recreation sites. This has made it possible for visitors, since they can now choose from many different kinds of recreational facilities.
Today, the American society benefits more from the outdoor recreation as compared to the past. The American spends two trillion U.S dollars on medical and health care crisis. Physical inactivity – obesity - and overweight are the major causes of chronic diseases - for example – cancer - cardiovascular disease - and diabetes. It important to note that physical activity is one of the requirements for a healthy living, and thus outdoor recreation becomes one of the best choices, a solution for disease prevention.
The main mission of this agency is to maintain diversity, production, and health of the American grasslands and forests in order to satisfy the demand for the present, as well as the future generations. The recreational activities taking place in the forest system helps in sustaining two-hundred thousand both part- and full- time employment, and also contribute over thirteen billion U.S. dollars annually to the American economy.
Bibliography
Devall, William, B. “The Forest Service and Its Clients: Input to Forest Service Decision-Making.” Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 2, no. 4(1973):731-757. http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2014&context=ealr.
The Wilderness Society. “National Forest Service Budget,” wilderness.org. Accessed February, 21, 2014. http://wilderness.org/article/national-forest-service-budget.
Thomas. “Review of the Forest Service Legal and Regulatory Framework,” fs.fed.us. Accessed February, 21, 2014. http://www.fs.fed.us/projects/documents/ApdxA.pdf.
USDA Forest Service. “US Forest Service visitor report shows economic, health benefits of America’s forests and grasslands,” fs.fed.us. Accessed February, 21, 2014. http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2012/releases/07/healthbenefits.shtml.
