Improving Budget Execution at the US Forest Service

How can federal budgeting better support effective forest stewardship and public accountability? This discussion paper examines how fragmented budget structures hindered the Forest Service’s ability to connect planning, spending, and results. It explores reforms that would align budgets with integrated natural resource management, including organizing funding around places and measuring progress toward environmental outcomes. Written in 1999, it offers a historical perspective on the institutional and political challenges of making conservation agencies more effective and accountable.