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U.S. Forest Policy

U.S. forest policy is an evolving doctrine influenced by new problems and new concerns raised by different interest groups, by environmental changes, by economic concerns, and so on, but at the same time there is an underlying forestry policy that guides decision-making and shapes the way Congress and other interested parties develop programs for the stewardship and controlled exploitation of resources in the national forests. When these lands were first designated a national forests, it was clear that they had been set aside for consumptive uses, but new priorities and new forces have brought into question many of the traditional guidelines for the use of this land. The U.S. Forest Service administers the National Forests of the nation under a mandate signed in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The political and social environment of the management of the national parks has changed many times over the years as a re-examination and a re-ordering of priorities have occurred, and as part of this process considerable conflict has been generated among different groups and factions with different ideas about what the priorities should be. The situation is still in flux, with recent controversies centering on issues of forestry, endangered species, and mining interests, often with a contrast set up between maintaining jobs n the one hand and offering full protection for the lands for their recreational uses and for protection of the environment on the other.

There are 120 national forests in forty-one states--nine states have no national forests at all. The forest system, however, is considered to be owned by and of benefit to all of the people. The primary responsibility of the Forest Service is to assure that this is true, but there are many today who charge that the agency is failing in its duty. Critics see the Forest Service as an agency out of control, an agency that is spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to h...

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U.S. Forest Policy. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:11, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1681473.html