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OWNERSHIP OF TEXAS FORESTLANDS
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Source: Texas Forest Service, 1998
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Of the 733 million acres of forests in the United States, 191 million acres are managed by the U.S. Forest
Service.
- National forests in Texas represent a small percentage of the total amount of forestland in
the state: of the approximately 12 million acres of timberland, 633,308 acres are in national forests.
- Texas also has five state forests totaling approximately 8000 acres.
National forests are the home of 25 percent of the species currently in danger of extinction. According to
the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 60 million people in 3400 communities in 33 states rely on national forests for their drinking water.
National forests are designated by and funded by Congress. However, the U.S. Forest Service, without Congressional
approval, is able to engage in land exchanges with private landowners, and according to the Forest Service's office in
Texas this has resulted in a small net annual increase of national forest acreage in the state.*
Much of the national forests in Texas were originally privately owned lands that were abandoned by the lumber industry
during the economic decline of the 1930s. These abandoned forestlands were put up for sale, but at the time there
were neither commercial nor private interests willing to buy the lands, and the USDA acquired them for national forests. As a result of the multiple-use management policy legislation, national forests in Texas and elsewhere can be used for
timber production, grazing, and oil and gas production, as well as for recreational uses. It is estimated by the U.S.
Forest Service that 521,000 out of 633,308 acres of national forests in Texas are suitable for timber production on a sustained-yield basis (reforestation after cutting).* Timber from national forests is used for such items as lumber, plywood, poles, furniture, pulp, and paper.
In 1999, the U.S. Treasury received approximately $5 million from timber sales from the national forests in Texas. At
that time, a quarter of the timber sale revenues were returned to the states, which meant that in 1999, 12 Texas
counties, where national forest are located, shared approximately $1,333,021 in revenues.* The Secure Rural Schools
and Self Determination Act of 2000, however, changed the way in which funds were returned to the states. Under the
Act of 2000, counties have the option of receiving the traditional payment from timber sales that are returned to the
states or "predictable payments" based on the average of the state's three highest payments between fiscal 1986-1999.
Texas has chosen to use the predictable option and in 2002, received $4.6 million, which was shared by 12 East Texas counties.*
From 1997 to 2000, the United States Forest Servce was under a court ordered injunction which limited the amount of
Logging in the national forests in Texas. (Since 1988, the U.S. Forest Service has been under an injunction preventing
the clear-cutting or even-age cutting within 12 meters of the red-cockaded woodpecker.)The injunction, brought by the
Texas Committee on Natural Resources, concerned the Forest Service's failure to adequately inventory forest
resources and monitor the impacts of logging on wildlife species,particularly the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker colonies and the environment.
There are major issues concerning the management of the national forests that have not been resolved, including the
use of clear-cutting, with its attendant problems, such as loss of wildlife habitat and soil erosion; the debate over
prescribed burning, and the continued debate about the primary function of national forests i.e., wildlife habitat,recreation, or timber production.
Under President Clinton, rules governing the management of national forests required that the government had to
assess the effects on the environment in managing national forests. The rules also required that the government
protect fish and wildlife in the forest so that species would not become endangered or threatened. Environmental
protection and wildlife protection efforts would be spelled out in forest mangement plans developed by the managers of
each of the national forests. Under the Clinton rules, long-term management plans had to maintain viable populations of wildlife, including amphibian and fish species.
When President Bush was elected, Clinton's rules were put on hold. In 2002, President Bush, proposed to srcap the
rules altogether in favor of two possible options that Forest Managers could pursue. President Bush's plan provides that
forest managers "should provide" these environmental protections,but does not require them, or forest managers can
identify steps needed to conserve fish and wildlife but, again,the managers are not require to take those steps. Of
President Bush's proposal,environmentalists contend it will lead to more logging and destroy critical wildlife habitat.
Bush's proposed rules were designed with the assistance of the former Vice President of the American Forest and
Paper Association. In 2003, the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas will be one of 10 forests nationwide that will test Bush's policy to expedite timber harvesting.
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