Views and Vision of the new Chief of the Forest

[YellowSub1962]

Statement of
DALE N. BOSWORTH
Chief, USDA Forest Service

Concerning
Views and Vision of the new Chief of the Forest
Service
Before the
SUBCOMMITTEE OF FORESTS AND FOREST HEALTH
COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 15, 2001

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to talk
about my views and vision for the

Forest Service. Let me also say, as Chief of the
Forest Service for only a few weeks, I am deeply
honored to have been selected.

First, I am grateful to Secretary Veneman for her
confidence in me, and I thank the dedicated, hard
working employees of the Forest Service for their
support and encouragement. Let me also express my
appreciation in advance to you Mr. Chairman, Mr.
Inslee, and members of the Subcommittee for working
with the Forest Service and me during this transition.


I would like to start my testimony by saying a few
words about myself and my life-long commitment to the
Forest Service. I have worked in the Forest Service
for 35 years. I am what in the agency is often called
a “Forest Service brat,” a title I inherited because
my father was also a Forest Service employee. It is
fair to say I have a lifetime of being part of the
Forest Service culture, traditions, and debates about
management of America’s forests and rangelands.
Coming from this background, I am truly humbled by the
duties entrusted in me as Chief and I am eager to lead
this agency through challenging times.

In my testimony today, I will briefly talk about a
couple of themes of my leadership. First, I will
discuss the fundamentals central to our ability to get
the job done—providing the support and resources for
“on-the-ground” work, reconnecting the headquarters
with the field, and empowering local decision-making.
Next, I will discuss agency accountability. I will
talk about accountability not only in the
implementation of financial reforms, but also from the
standpoint of getting our work done. I also want to
talk about how the National Fire Plan, with its strong
focus on protecting communities from the dangers of
catastrophic fire represents a broader focus on how,
in general, we need to manage the Nation’s forests and
rangelands to protect communities and natural
resources, and provide services and products on a
sustainable basis.

Management Priorities

Mr. Chairman, as a Regional Forester in two regions
over the past 7 years, and in many other positions in
the Forest Service, I have developed an appreciation
for the job being performed on-the-ground by our
employees, the foundation of our credibility with the
public. This applies to researchers, employees on the
National Forests and Grasslands, and employees who
provide support to State, local, private, Tribal and
international stakeholders. It is the responsibility
of employees in the national headquarters and at the
regional offices to ensure the best possible support
is given to that on-the-ground job. Over the next
several months, I want to emphasize what I think is
essential in establishing a “reconnection” between the
headquarters and the field. I want to make sure that
ongoing initiatives to improve financial compliance
and track natural resource information do not
unintentionally hinder employees from doing their
work. This assessment of ongoing initiatives does not
alter the agency’s commitment to moving forward with
achieving financial accountability.

One of the greatest strengths of the Forest Service is
the ability of line officers at the forest and ranger
district level to make and implement decisions that
take local community interests into account. I am
concerned that in recent years this ability has been
limited by an over-reliance on top-down initiatives
that have dis-empowered local decision making, and
have prevented the greatest possible funding from
reaching the field unit level. I firmly believe that
each field unit has different needs. A single
management prescription cannot produce healthy forests
and rangelands that provide opportunities to deliver
goods and services across the wide array of
environments in which our National Forests and
Grasslands exist.

Along these lines I believe we need to adjust the role
of our Washington Office. Instead of providing
specific management direction, the goal of the
Washington Office needs to be one of providing broad
program and policy direction and then the necessary
programmatic level of review to ensure that we are
accountable for accomplishing funded objectives and
achieving desired results.

In the immediate future, I will work closely with
Secretary Veneman to assess recent initiatives to make
sure the ability to manage and protect our diverse
resources is not adversely affected. We will assess
the agency’s strategic goals and objectives to ensure
full compatibility with local forest plans and
priorities. To get the agency’s work done it is
critical to ensure funds held at the headquarters and
regional levels are only those funds that are
essential to accomplishing our mission. In recent
years the amount of funds taken off the top has grown
to unprecedented levels. While the majority of this
funding ultimately goes to the field, too much does
not. Too little of this money goes to projects that
directly support on-the-ground accomplishments. Two
weeks ago the Forest Service, with help from field
line officers, began the most intensive screening of
this off the top funding in years. I will personally
make the final decision on funds held at the
headquarters level.

I also intend to take a close look at the
organizational leadership structure of the Forest
Service. I want to make sure our line officers are
empowered to make and implement natural resource
management decisions at the field level, in the best
tradition of our decentralized organization, while
assuring that systems used in the field meet best
business practices and are consistent and comply with
national law, regulation, and policy. I intend to be
available to all employees at all levels of the
organization so they can give me their insights. One
of the first things I did as Chief was to have the
Regional Foresters and Station Directors report
directly to me, so I can personally maintain
day-to-day contact with the field.

Accountability

Another key theme of my leadership will be to continue
the improvement of our financial accountability that
has been a significant emphasis of the agency for the
past three years. Under the direction of Secretary
Veneman, we will continue on the path of bringing our
financial management and accounting of agency assets
into full compliance with the best business management
standards.

However, as I mentioned earlier, being accountable is
much more than having good financial accountability.
It is delivering on program commitments.

I intend to provide the agency’s line officers with
the resources to perform on-the-ground work, and
systems that allow them to efficiently report their
accomplishments. We must emphasize performance
accountability as strongly as we emphasize financial
accountability.

National Fire Plan

As I mentioned, one of our greatest current needs is
to address the threat to our forests and communities
from the enormous build-up of hazardous fuels that has
occurred in the National Forests and Grasslands. As a
Regional Forester, I personally witnessed the
catastrophic wildland fires that occurred in the
Bitterroot Mountains of Montana last year.

The National Fire Plan is a good example of what can
be achieved when Congress and the Administration work
together. It also is a good example of how the Forest
Service can integrate the full array of agency
programs to improve the health of our Nation’s forests
by providing the resources needed to protect
communities and natural resources from wildland fires
and invasive species. Additionally, through our
outstanding Research and State and Private Forestry
programs, the Fire Plan provides emphasis to
developing technologies that will increase the use of
forest products by communities and industry. These
programs have the potential to make it economically
beneficial for the Forest Service and private industry
to restore the health of the land by increasing the
value and use of traditionally non-or low valued
forest products. The balancing process of restoring
forests and protecting communities will integrate
local community employment and expanding local
economic capacity with the generation of forest and
range products to accomplish restoration objectives.

Working with the States and local communities we have
made a good start on implementing hazardous fuel
reduction projects, increasing our fire suppression
capabilities, and providing financial and technical
assistance to assist communities to address wildfire
concerns in the urban-wildland interface.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman, Secretary Veneman has made clear to me
that she wants the Forest Service to be a world-class
provider of goods and services for America. I know
the agency has that capability. To that end, I intend
to personally devote my attention to achieving this
goal through emphasis on the management priorities I
have described and continued aggressive adherence to
improved performance accountability. Let me again say
that I am deeply honored to be the Chief of the Forest
Service. I look forward to working with you and thank
you for your support. I will be happy to answer any
questions.

For more information contact: Tom Tidwell http://www.fs.fed.us/congress/2001_t..._New_Chief.htm