U.S. Forest Service lacks preservation funds
Report says archaeological sites deteriorating.
DENVER — Indian pueblos, Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields and trails used by Lewis and Clark are in jeopardy because the Forest Service lacks the means to protect them, a prominent preservation group said Thursday.
The nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation released a report saying the U.S. Forest Service lacks a clear legal mandate and the financial ability to protect thousands of historic sites and buildings on national forest lands from development, vandalism and other threats.
Richard Moe, trust president, said in a news conference in Denver that only about 1,900 of 325,000 Forest Service sites identified as historically or culturally significant are on the National Register of Historic Places.
"It's estimated that more than 2 million sites of cultural and historical significance may be out there on Forest Service land," Moe said.
At-risk treasures include American Indian pueblos and sacred sites, petroglyphs, Revolutionary and Civil War battlegrounds, trails used by the Lewis and Clark expedition and Forest Service lookout towers.
About 80% of the 193 million acres the agency manages in 44 states and Puerto Rico haven't been surveyed for such sites, according to the Washington, D.C.-based trust.
"The National Forest System: Cultural Resources at Risk" says the Forest Service, unlike other federal land management agencies, has no statute that specifically mandates historic or archaeological preservation as part of its mission.
Other threats are off-road vehicle use, oil and gas development in the West, livestock grazing, logging and a resurgence in uranium, gold and other hard-rock mining, Moe said.
A 2005 report by the group said the federal government's push to develop energy on millions of acres of land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management was leaving natural and cultural resources at peril.
A big issue for the Forest Service is funding. Less than 1% of its $4.4 billion budget goes to heritage resource programs, according to the new report.
"The Forest Service is understaffed and underfunded," Moe said.
His group has called for doubling the Forest Service's $14.5 million budget for heritage programs.
Joel Holtrop, deputy chief of the National Forest System, said the agency could do more with more money, but that could mean diverting funds from somewhere else.
"It's likely going to happen at the expense of something else," Holtrop said.
