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088974 1 (1973-03-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacuyd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D C 20548 RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION MAR 15 1973 Mr. John R McGuie Chief, Forest Service Department of Agriculture Dear Mr. McGuire. We have surveyed the Forest Service's policies, procedures, and practices for determining allowable timber harvest levels (allowable harvest) on national forest land The survey covered selected field offices in the Intermountain and Pacific Northwest Regions and included discussions with Forest Service field and headquarters personnel At the time of our survey, the field offices were determining new allowable harvests in accordance with new manual instructions These instructions require that all timber management plans be updated by July 1, 1973 In addition, headquarters personnel were in the process of implementing several of the actions listed in the National Forest in a Quality Environment Action Plan for improving the accuracy of allowable harvest computations Because of the actions being taken, we do not plan to continue our survey at this time During our survey we noted certain ways in which we believe the Forest Service could improve its planning for allowable harvests These include (1) using more precise timber resource data in computing allowa- ble harvest, (2) comparing planned timber management assumptions with past accomplishments, and (3) providing more specific criteria for classifying commercial forest land These improvements, which are dis- cussed in more detail below, would provide land managers with a better basis for determining and appropriately adjusting sustainable harvest levels Need to use more precise timber resource data in computing allowable harvests In computing allowable harvests, Forest Service field personnel generally use forest inventory data, such as the forest's physical characteristics, condition, capacity, and volume, developed from a statistical sampling process The data is used in estimating the tim- ber resources on commercial forest land within the area sampled, and to determine and regulate the allowable harvest. In some instances, more

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