L’US Forest Service et la biodiversité

The U.S. Forest Service was established in 1905 to address devastating environmental problems on U.S. range and forest lands. Unlike its sister agency, the National Park Service, the Forest Service was established with a “multiple-use” mission. That is, rather than to protect and preserve natural resources within the public forest domain, the Forest Service’s mission was to allow grazing, mining, and timber production, as long as these uses could be conducted sustainably. The spotted owl issue in the Pacific Northwestern US shifted forever the policy framework for managing the public forests, as litigation challenged the agencies’ ability to continue harvesting old growth timber and protect the owl. The harvesting of old growth timber virtually ceased on national forests. Changes followed quickly in many sectors, including forest education and certification, rules for forest management at both the state and national level, and timber industry standards of practice as these uses could be conducted sustainably. Thus, moving from three decades of intensively managing natural forests, the Forest Service has shifted priorities to protecting watersheds and biodiversity, reducing the risk of wild fire, and adapting to climate change. This has required new skills, tools, and policies, including a new forest planning framework. With budgets contracting, the Forest Service has begun exploring new sources of revenue, including private capital from environmental markets for biodiversity, carbon, wetlands, and water.