Managing Wildlife within U.S. National Forests

Abstract

The main question addressed in this research is whether the Forest Service has been able to maintain control over its wildlife conservation program in the face of increased interest and policymaking activity from the president and Congress. Determining who has influence over wildlife management decisions is assessed by examining the development of national forest policies over the past 30 years along with more recent shifts in rulemaking and the allocation of staff and budgetary resources. I conclude that political institutions have been increasingly successful in their efforts to shape wildlife program decisions through both policy and regulatory initiatives. This includes the willingness of public officials to make greater use of positive incentives to obtain agency cooperation as well as the threat of sanctions for agency noncompliance.

Keywords:

• wildlife policy
• natural resources
• U.S. Forest Service
• executive control
• national forests