The State and Future of U.S. Forestry and the Forest Industry (May ...

Chapter 4Ecological Health and Vulnerability of FederallyOwned Forests15IntroductionThe effects of climate change, increasing forest fragmentation,and other stressors increasingly affect forest health acrossthe U.S. Of particular concern are the ways in which thesestressors affect federally owned forests and the capacity ofthe public sector to manage them. The USFS manages 19.6percent of the nation’s forests, with many of these landsconcentrated in the western U.S. Though federal forests weremanaged through much of the 20th century primarily fortheir commercial and recreational values, increasingly theseforests are also recognized for their role in protecting waterquality and the water supplies of communities, maintainingbiodiversity, storing carbon, and other benefits. Despite manyefforts to invest in and manage National Forests, their healthis a significant and growing concern.Private 57%U.S. Forest Ownership (%)Management of National Forests requires adequate, prioritized,and efficiently deployed federal investments as well as requiring significant collaboration with communities andlandowners that live in and manage lands interconnected with federal forests. In a 2013 Report to the Secretary ofAgriculture, the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) underscores their concerns that:[F]ederal forest lands throughout the West are experiencing serious environmental stress that affectsthe health and vitality of these ecosystems. They are overgrown; they exhibit all the symptoms of anunhealthy ecosystem; and they demand urgent attention. 6Though the WGA’s focus was on National Forests in the West, similar challenges encumber federally managedforests, as well as some other public and private lands, across the nation.Federal 20%State10%Local 1%Tribal/Other 13%Figure 4-1: U.S. Forest Ownership—Source: US Forest ServiceNational Forests—Significant TrendsThree factors shape the overall context in which the health of federal forests continues to evolve. These includethe effects of a changing climate; forest losses and fragmentation on non-federal lands; and constrained federalfinancial capacity and societal support to manage the approximately 189 million acres of National Forests.Effects of a Changing Climate: Accumulating evidence indicates that warming temperatures and shifting weatherpatterns may be contributing to increased frequencyTable 4-1: National Forests and Grasslandsof extreme events like floods, droughts, and heatwaves. These effects may also result in changes inthe frequency, intensity, and timing of wildland fire;contribute to changes in insect infestations; affect waterquality and availability; and result in changes in thecomposition of vegetation and distribution of wildlife. 7Forest Losses and Fragmentation: A 2012 report by theUSFS projects significant forest losses over the nextfive decades resulting from increasing populations,continued urbanization, and other changes in land6Western Governors’ Association, “Western Governors request private sector be utilized to improve federal forest management,” Letter to Secretary Vilsack, April 15, 2013, availableat: http://www.westgov.org/news/295-news-2013/442-western-governors-request-that-private-sector-be-utlized-to-better-manage-federal-forest-land7See, for example, USDA, Resource Planning Act Assessment, 2010; and USDA, National Report on Sustainable Forests, 2012. See also, McKenzie, et al., Global warming andstress complexes in forests of North America, in Bytenerowicz, Andrzej, et al. (eds.), Wildland Fires and Air Pollution, The Hague, Netherlands, Elsevier Publishers, 2009: 317-337.No.UnitsNFS Acreage Other Acreage Total AcreageNational Forests 155 188,240,056 37,352,594 225,592,650Purchase Units 59 388,312 1,903,356 2,291,668National Grasslands 20 3,837,470 626,887 4,464,357Other 62 455,572 71,498 436,402Totals: 296 192,921,310 39,954,335 232,875,460Source: USDA Forest Service