Traditionally, forestlands are categorized as being public or private. The remaining 9 percent is under a variety of other private ownerships, such as hunting clubs and Native American tribes. This 20-state region is home to 112 million people. That number is more than lived in the entire country in 1900 and represents about 41 percent of the current U.S. population. This population makes enormous demands on our resources, and the demand for housing and services is making forestland conversion one of the most important issues in the region.
People also depend upon the resources for their livelihood, either directly or indirectly.
Forestry ranks sixth in overall economic importance. In order to understand what we're doing as an agency of the Federal government in this region, it's important to understand what's happening with our agency at the national level. The USDA Forest Service provided technical support to the President s office at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The concept basically means looking at outcomes related to a suite of values that the public holds. For example, in addition to information on the amount of money that's put into a problem, we need information about the effect or outcome of those expenditures on ecosystems, jobs, etc.