Forest Health

Publication Date: March 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

Type:

Abstract:

The pine ecosystems in the intermountain West are considered by many to be unhealthy. While the data are inconclusive, studies show at least localized problems of timber mortality and dense stands of small trees, including a shift away from the fire- and drought-resistant pines in mixed conifer stands. The comprehensive land management planning processes of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management were intended, in part, to address such issues, but to date, efforts by the agencies, the interest groups, and Congress have focused on separate authorities and funding for forest health activities -- salvage timber sales, prescribed burning, thinning, and other timber stand activities.