Let's start with some praise for the Forest Service

Everyone in America recognizes Smokey the Bear, and most realize the Forestry Service fights forest fires and regulates logging. But few are aware just how far reaching the influence of the Forestry Service is thanks to the transparent nature of their governance, a credit to an agency based on the democratic ideals outlined in the Declaration of Independence.

The mission of the USDA Forest Service (USFS) is to sustain the health of hundreds of millions of acres of forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. Achieving this goal requires everything from road building and maintenance to thousands of annual research projects. As a world leader in research, the USFS studies the health of nearly every plant, animal and fish species living in forest and grassland habitat.

"Caring for the land and serving the people," is the USFS’s mission statement and highlights the importance they place on serving the needs of everyone while responsibly maintaining authority. The USFS depends on several important principles, involving the public, employed to achieve quality land management, while insuring the policies meet the diverse needs of people. But what sort of regulations evolve as a result of this focus on public involvement and how effective are they?

Because I ride mountain bike, backpack, photograph wildlife, rock climb, and fish I am affected by the Forestry Services nearly every week. Every trip to a national forest requires research on what permits are required, and of course how much those permits cost. But sometimes no amount of planning is enough. I remember an August backpacking trip to northern Arizona, which I had no other choice than to spend two nights in the bed of my pick-up truck, hoards of mosquitoes and all, because the entire Tonto National Forest was closed due to the possibility of fire. Through other trips into USFS land, I now know that special bear-proof food containers are required in Kings Canyon National Forest (and only models which are approved after USFS experiments and research), that no open fires are allowed above 11,00 of elevation in many areas of the Sierra, and that a fire permit is currently required for even cookstove use in all California and Arizona national forests. Thanks to my interaction with rangers and USFS officials I am also aware of the restrictions placed on entering areas where plant or wildlife research is taking place. Since nearly all of my free time activities revolve around the outdoors, the Forestry Service plans play a major role in my private life.

The general public as a whole benefits from my relationship with the Forestry Service. By charging me access fees and then spending the funds collected on research and management programs, every other user benefits. Often times the road and trail conditions, snow cover and current weather information the Forestry Service shares are a result of phone calls or visits from private citizens such as myself who report back to the local ranger station. I remember calling the ranger station in Lone Pine, California last winter to inquire on snow conditions while planning a trip in the Eastern Sierra, only to be told no rangers had been into that area so they were unsure. They ranger I was speaking to made a point of asking me to please report on the snow cover as quite a few other forest users had inquired. When I returned from the trip I was more than happy to call back and check in with a ranger. As a "thank you," I was mailed a special application for a drawing to access Mount Whitney.

Despite the power the a federal agency such as USFS holds through threat of fees and other penalties, the regulations the Forestry Service creates are largely self-enforced, because there are only so many rangers to enforce the laws in the remote and sprawling forests. I have spent over three weeks this year in the backcountry (as the forest areas are commonly referred as) and have yet to see a ranger outside of the ranger stations. This obviously limits the power of the Forestry Service somewhat and if it did not successfully promote a sense of ecology and sustainability among forest users, the USFS would have a difficult time using the self-policing tactic.

The USFS also maintains authority through protection of property. The Forestry Service is responsible for the planning and implementation of fire prevention and management plans. By providing a benefit to everyone by protecting their homes, land and even their lives, the USFS earns the respect of those who live near the forests and grasslands. Due to their proximity, these people are also the most likely to responsibly utilize the land under USFS management.

The reason the Forestry Service is so successful and well respected is due to a philosophy outlined on the their website, involvement of the people and that philosophy is. Central to the USFS is "Listening to people and responding to their diverse needs in making decisions." This is often done by encouraging grassroots participation in decisions and activities through the scheduling of public meetings. Every national forest is required to publish a quarterly newsletter that lists all public meetings and comment periods as well as workshops, special events and proposed projects. To in effort to promote high level public involvement, most national forests also have formal advisory committees that the general public can serve on.

Similarly, a focus on public involvement and consideration of their opinion is a central ideal in the Declaration of Independence. While the Declaration of Independence focuses on the transgressions of the British government, the USFS has successfully employed several methods to encourage input from the public and avoid oppressing public sentiment, averting a situation where "repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury"
While Thomas Jefferson decried the King of England for calling "legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures," the USFS often schedules meetings in "schools, community centers and other non-federal sites" near public transportation and are "held during hours convenient for most people" This insures that everyone is able to voice his or her opinion. The meetings are also held near the affected forests or grasslands, as well as in nearby urban centers so concerned citizens do not have to trek out to the rural areas in which the forests or grasslands are found.

Individual property rights are also central to a successful democratic government. The USFS states on its website that they "are good neighbors who respect property rights" While many agencies make similar claims, the Forestry Service continually demonstrates a commitment to meeting the economic and property needs of the public in a "fair, friendly and open way" (USDA Forestry Service). Because of their focus on the needs of the people, the USFS undergoes an involved process that begins with environmental study, moves on to meetings with landowners, and finishes with public hearings on such matters as purchase proposals before redesignating or regulating potential and existing forestland. This ensures property owners are not forced out and are allowed to continue to live normally on their property. In fact, many forests allow livestock grazing and even the building of new homes. This is in contrast to the government which Jefferson claimed abolished "the System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries"

The Forestry Service exercises a great deal of authority over me, as well as millions of others who are sometimes completely unaware. Fortunately, the one-hundred year old agency remains viable because it enacts and enforces regulations in fair manner and with the input and acceptance of the general population.