Author: Robin M. Nazzaro
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Published: 2009-06
Total Pages: 71
ISBN-13: 1437912001
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have stewardship contracting authority, which allows the agencies to trade goods -- such as timber -- for services (e.g., thinning forests or rangelands) that the agencies would otherwise pay for with appropriated dollars, and to enter into stewardship contracts lasting up to 10 years. The authority is set to expire in 2013. This report determines: (1) the extent to which the agencies are using stewardship contracting; and (2) what successes and challenges the agencies have experienced in using it. In doing so, the auditor assessed agency data, reviewed project files, and visited projects in numerous locations. Illus.
Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 73
ISBN-13: 1428935967
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land Management
Publisher:
Published: 2000
Total Pages: 138
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: United States. Government Accountability Office
Publisher:
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 66
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have stewardship contracting authority, which allows the agencies to trade goods--such as timber--for services (e.g., thinning forests or rangelands) that the agencies would otherwise pay for with appropriated dollars, and to enter into stewardship contracts lasting up to 10 years. The authority is set to expire in 2013. GAO was asked to determine, among other things, (1) the extent to which the agencies are using stewardship contracting and (2) what successes and challenges the agencies have experienced in using it. In doing so, GAO assessed agency data, reviewed project files, and visited projects in numerous locations. From fiscal years 2003 through 2007, the Forest Service and BLM awarded a combined total of 535 stewardship contracts, with the number increasing each year--from 38 in fiscal year 2003 to 172 in fiscal year 2007. However, for certain aspects of stewardship contracting, such as the acres involved or the value of the services exchanged for goods, reliable data were not available for the full 5-year fiscal period because neither agency has had a comprehensive database of its stewardship contracting activity since 2003. The agencies did not begin to maintain nationwide stewardship data until recently, primarily because of difficulties in adapting their systems to account for all aspects of stewardship contracting. Further, these data are not complete, and reside in myriad systems, not all of which interface with one another. These deficiencies keep the agencies and Congress from accurately assessing the costs and value of stewardship contracting. The agencies credit stewardship contracting with allowing them to accomplish more work--by allowing them to trade goods for services, thereby extending their budgets for thinning and other services--and spurring collaboration with members of the community and environmental groups. But stewardship contracting has its challenges too, including some resistance to its use (e.g., by contractors unfamiliar with it) and a paucity of markets for the small trees typically removed in stewardship projects. Also, although agency officials view long-term multiyear contracts as crucial to market development, these contracts can involve financial challenges. These contracts are attractive because they offer contractors and industry operators some certainty of supply, enabling them to obtain loans for equipment or processing facilities, which can then spur demand for materials resulting from stewardship projects. But such contracts can require a substantial up-front obligation of funds--to protect the contractor's investment if the government later cancels the contract--that may exceed the budget of a field unit (e.g., a national forest). Also, funding the annual work specified in the contract can force a unit to scale back its other programs if the value of the timber removed is not sufficient to pay for that work. Yet neither agency has developed a strategy for using such contracts, a step that could help field units determine which projects are appropriate for these long-term contracts and how they would be funded.
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry
Publisher:
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 88
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: United States. Government Accountability Office
Publisher:
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 66
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have stewardship contracting authority, which allows the agencies to trade goods--such as timber--for services (e.g., thinning forests or rangelands) that the agencies would otherwise pay for with appropriated dollars, and to enter into stewardship contracts lasting up to 10 years. The authority is set to expire in 2013. GAO was asked to determine, among other things, (1) the extent to which the agencies are using stewardship contracting and (2) what successes and challenges the agencies have experienced in using it. In doing so, GAO assessed agency data, reviewed project files, and visited projects in numerous locations. From fiscal years 2003 through 2007, the Forest Service and BLM awarded a combined total of 535 stewardship contracts, with the number increasing each year--from 38 in fiscal year 2003 to 172 in fiscal year 2007. However, for certain aspects of stewardship contracting, such as the acres involved or the value of the services exchanged for goods, reliable data were not available for the full 5-year fiscal period because neither agency has had a comprehensive database of its stewardship contracting activity since 2003. The agencies did not begin to maintain nationwide stewardship data until recently, primarily because of difficulties in adapting their systems to account for all aspects of stewardship contracting. Further, these data are not complete, and reside in myriad systems, not all of which interface with one another. These deficiencies keep the agencies and Congress from accurately assessing the costs and value of stewardship contracting. The agencies credit stewardship contracting with allowing them to accomplish more work--by allowing them to trade goods for services, thereby extending their budgets for thinning and other services--and spurring collaboration with members of the community and environmental groups. But stewardship contracting has its challenges too, including some resistance to its use (e.g., by contractors unfamiliar with it) and a paucity of markets for the small trees typically removed in stewardship projects. Also, although agency officials view long-term multiyear contracts as crucial to market development, these contracts can involve financial challenges. These contracts are attractive because they offer contractors and industry operators some certainty of supply, enabling them to obtain loans for equipment or processing facilities, which can then spur demand for materials resulting from stewardship projects. But such contracts can require a substantial up-front obligation of funds--to protect the contractor's investment if the government later cancels the contract--that may exceed the budget of a field unit (e.g., a national forest). Also, funding the annual work specified in the contract can force a unit to scale back its other programs if the value of the timber removed is not sufficient to pay for that work. Yet neither agency has developed a strategy for using such contracts, a step that could help field units determine which projects are appropriate for these long-term contracts and how they would be funded.
Author: Jesse Abrams
Publisher:
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 24
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Stewardship contracting is a recent innovation in federal land management designed to address land stewardship needs through collaboration with local communities. The White Mountain Stewardship Contract (WMSC), which is focused on restoring ponderosa pine forests in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests (ASNF) in east-central Arizona, is the nations largest stewardship contract to date, and the first to commit to the maximum duration of ten years. After two-and-a-half years of implementation, the WMSC is credited with helping to restore forest health, protect vulnerable communities, and revitalize local wood products businesses, and has received strong support from a broad spectrum of local stakeholders. These accomplishments are particularly impressive given the fact that less than a decade ago the White Mountains region was mired in a shut down of forest activities, characterized by social division over forest management issues, local mill closures, and an inability to implement most forest management efforts. This case study examines how community members, business owners, and agency employees were able to transition from community gridlock to broad-based support for the most ambitious forest stewardship plan in the National Forest System.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Publisher:
Published: 2014
Total Pages: 16
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: Cassandra Moseley
Publisher:
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 24
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This working paper was made possible with funding from the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University and the USDA Forest Service.