Although providing more public visibility and control of agency spending could boost confidence in the agency, it also would turn more of the agency's budget over to a Congress whose leaders often don't share Dombeck's vision. The lawmakers could use the funds to beef up timber sales, cut taxes or bolster other agencies. If Congress took the money away from the Forest Service, the agency would be devastated, Lyons says. Dombeck says he isn't worried that the money would be diverted from his priorities. He would rely on popular pressure and scientific evidence to shape the funding debate.
Some environmental groups agree.
Francis says his group won congressional backing to reduce road building and logging subsidies. I think we can win support for restoration, too. Dombeck has yet to make a public appeal for ending the trust funds, which he has only begun discussing within the administration and on Capitol Hill. Timber industry executives, however, are appalled. Senior lawmakers from the rural West seem almost certain to object.