2: Public Benefits
Provide and Sustain Benefits to the American People Other Information:
Outcome: Forests and grasslands with sufficient long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of society. Overview:
This strategic goal and its associated objectives focus on the portion of the agency’s mission related to sustaining the productivity
of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. Our forests and grasslands contain
abundant natural resources and opportunities that help meet the demands and needs of the American people. Sustainable management
of these resources ensures that the availability of goods and services continues into the future and that land productivity
is maintained. The forest reserves that formed the base of the NFS were created in 1897 for the purposes of improving and
protecting land, securing favorable waterflows, and providing a continuous supply of timber. The Multiple-Use Sustained Yield
Act of 1960 directed that the national forests be administered for outdoor recreation, rangeland, timber, watershed, and wildlife
and fish. National forest management provides a variety of use opportunities while maintaining wildlife diversity, supplies
of wood products, energy sources and transmission infrastructure, wildlife and domestic livestock forage, water supplies,
and other goods and services. Primarily through State and Private Forestry programs, the Forest Service provides technical
and financial assistance for natural resource management and the sustainable use of resources on non-Federal lands in the
United States. International technical assistance is also provided. Our research provides a solid scientific foundation for
the sustainable management of forests and grasslands and improvements in the use and marketing of forest products and services.
During this strategic planning period, the following objectives will be our major focus for accomplishing this goal. Means
and Strategies for Accomplishing Goal 2: • Provide access to natural resources to meet the Nation’s economic, social, and
environmental needs.• Develop and disseminate technologies and market strategies to produce energy and products from renewable
forest and rangeland resources.• Monitor changes in U.S. natural resource-based markets in response to globalization and provide
information to decisionmakers and the public.• Inventory, model, and monitor potential and actual levels of sustainable forest
products from forest land to strengthen forest product markets and improve the use of wood products.• Develop tools and provide
technical and financial assistance to increase the production of energy from woody biomass.• Effectively manage and maintain
the infrastructure to support the products, services, and uses of NFS lands.• Increase the efficiency of decisions about Special
Use Permits for NFS lands.• Target landowner planning, technical, and financial assistance programs to priority forest areas.•
Help State forestry agencies and other partners monitor, evaluate, and advance market-based approaches to enhance and protect
ecosystem services on private and community lands.
Objective(s):
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