Beltway Friction Building Over Proposal To Move Forest Service From USDA To Interior - McClatchy

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON — In what eventually could become a major bureaucratic turf war, there have been stirrings on Capitol Hill about moving the U.S. Forest Service from the Agriculture to the Interior Department. For more than a century, the Forest Service , which manages the federal forests, has been part of the Agriculture Department , while the nation's three other public lands agencies — the Bureau of Land Management , the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service — have been at Interior.

Together, the Forest Service and these other agencies manage more than 680 million acres of forests, rangelands, wetlands, pristine parks and untouched wilderness, mostly in the West.

Backers of the switch say it makes sense because the agencies face such similar problems as climate change, wildfires and the pressures of urbanization. Critics say the move wouldn't save much money, at least initially, and it could leave the Forest Service more vulnerable to political pressure.

"We believe there is a need to approach these things innovatively — to think outside the box," Robin Nazzaro , director of natural resources and environment for the Government Accountability Office , said in an interview. "This is one option. This is the beginning of the debate on how to position ourselves to meet these challenges." Nazzaro was among those who testified last week before the House Appropriations Committee's interior subcommittee about moving the Forest Service to Interior. The committee controls the purse strings for the Forest Service , even though it is part of Agriculture, and the Interior Department .

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090228/sc_mcclatchy/3177920

[Captain Hilts]

1. It belongs in Interior. Case closed.