5 Reasons Why Funding the Forest Service is More Important Than Ever
Photo credit: David Bradley
A version of this post also appears on the Winter Wildlands Alliance blog
The Forest Service manages 154 National Forests across the country, home to some of the best places to hike, ski, climb, paddle, mountain bike, and camp. But even as the popularity of outdoor recreation increases and the climate crisis intensifies, funding for the Forest Service and other land management agencies has decreased.
Since the 1990’s, the Forest Service has had its funding and staff reduced across nearly every program. For instance, there are now half as many trail crew and forestry technicians than there were in 1992, even as visitation has increased by more than 800,000 visits a year (source).
With half as many staff and twice as much responsibility to visitors, National Forests have been struggling. Public lands suffer from maintenance issues, increased litter, illegal parking and more, but Forest Service staff are also burned out and demoralized, causing longer-term problems for the agency.
However, there is a solution! The Forest Service, as well as other agencies, need robust funding to protect the places we love to play and ensure they are sustained for generations to come. Winter Wildlands Alliance, The Mountaineers, and Outdoor Alliance recently delivered reports to the Biden administration and to Congress asking them for bold investments in the Forest Service. Here are our five biggest takeaways for why a bold investment in our National Forests is more important than ever:
Demand for recreation is just getting bigger. The pandemic has amplified a trend that’s been going on for the last decade – more and more people are getting outside and enjoying outdoor recreation. Everyone who wants to get outside should have the ability to visit public lands, and the Forest Service needs funding to ensure it can carefully manage increased use, protect these cherished natural resources, and steward our National Forests so people can continue to enjoy them.
Addressing climate change. Public lands must be a part of addressing climate change, and National Forests, which store huge amounts of carbon (source) are already critical for addressing the climate crisis. The Forest Service needs funding to support creating new plans to strategically protect land that can mitigate climate issues. It should also be able to identify lands that are suitable for renewable energy development so that we can balance the country’s energy needs with biodiversity, recreation, and conservation priorities. In addition, the Forest Service needs more resources to address climate impacts like wildfires, water supply, and wildlife issues.
Everyone deserves access to public lands. Everyone in America should be able to access and enjoy public lands. Many people do not feel safe or welcome on public lands today because of a long history of disenfranchisement, prejudice, and outright danger. Indeed, research shows that the Forest Service is failing to serve the full spectrum of the American public, fostering inequity across the National Forest system (source). The Forest Service needs funding to improve permitting, which enables facilitated access to National Forests; to protect cultural resources; and for creating more accessible trails and picnic areas.
Supporting rural economies. Rural communities have struggled since the recession with population loss, job loss, and economic distress (source). Extractive industries that once drove rural economies are on the decline, while outdoor recreation is booming. Research has shown that counties with more access to public lands and to outdoor recreation have greater wealth and faster-growing wages, particularly in rural communities (source). The Forest Service needs additional resources so it can adapt and grow in order to respond to a changing American economy.
Creating jobs. The Forest Service has far fewer staff than it did thirty years ago, making it difficult for the agency to keep up with maintenance, increased recreation demand, and the ecological stressors of our changing climate. Chronic underfunding has made it challenging for the agency to work with community organizations to steward forests and manage volunteers. More funding for the Forest Service would allow the agency to hire adequate staff to meet demand. The Forest Service needs workers at every level, from seasonal positions to career-level hires, and Forest Service jobs provide good pay and benefits. More funding means more jobs, more economic opportunities for people and communities, and more capacity for the agency.
You can read our full report here. And there’s an important role for you to play. As the administration and Congress prepare their budgets for the Forest Service and other public land management agencies this year, they need your input. We’ve made it easy to write a message to your Congresscritters and to the administration asking them to prioritize full, robust funding for the Forest Service to ensure it can meet the needs of America’s people.