Skip to main content

Views on the Proposed Bill for Forestland Vegetation Management

B-203506 Published: Oct 19, 1981. Publicly Released: Oct 19, 1981.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

GAO was requested to comment on a proposed bill for forestland vegetation management. The bill would promote forestry employment and the safe use of herbicides on public forest lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The comments were based on a review of the Forest Service's and Bureau's use of herbicides in their vegetation management programs and a prior GAO report. In the review, GAO concentrated on the agencies' vegetation management activities at two forest management stages: site preparation and release. It is at these stages in managing a forest that herbicides are generally used. The bill would require the Forest Service and the Bureau to institute stricter guidelines on the use of herbicides in their vegetation management programs and, as GAO recommended in the report, would require them to obtain better information before deciding on treatment and the method of treatment. The bill requires site-specific determination of the need for vegetation management programs. However, information gaps exist on both the cost and the relative effectiveness of various options available to carry out site preparation and release work. A particular concern is that, in those forests and districts relying heavily on herbicides, the decisionmakers do not have adequate empirical data on the nonherbicide alternatives, thereby making meaningful comparative analyses difficult or impossible. Because this bill represented proposed new legislation rather than an amendment of existing legislation, GAO suggested that sections be added authorizing the issuance of regulations and rules necessary to implement its provisions.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

EmploymentForest managementForestry legislationHerbicidesPersonnel managementProposed legislationLegislationForestsForestryLand management