Forest Service Accountability in Administering Its Trust Funds

Gorte, Ross W.

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Forests;    Natural resources;    Forest management;   

RP-ID  :  RS20486
RP-ID  :  RS20486_2000Mar08

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The USDA Forest Service has numerous permanently appropriated trust funds and special funds that provide substantial funding independent of the annual appropriations process. Critics have alleged abuse of the funds and have sought greater congressional oversight, and the General Accounting Office has testified on the agency’s management of some of these accounts. While the Administration has offered few responses to the criticisms of these funds, it has, in its FY2001 budget request, proposed creating two new trust funds and combining several existing funds into a new fund with expanded purposes. This report provides an overview of the permanently appropriated Forest Service accounts and concerns over their use and proposed alternative structures that could provide greater public and congressional oversight and control over permanently appropriated funds.