Description:
S. 1254 would designate 15 areas, totaling roughly 130,000 acres of federal land, in the Olympic National Forest in Washington as wilderness and would add 470 miles of river segments to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The bill would generally withdraw those areas from availability for commercial timber production. Using information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates that the agency would incur upfront costs averaging $400,000 for each of the 15 designations. That amount includes costs to assess the areas for wilderness characteristics, develop and update management plans, and conduct boundary surveys. In addition, using information from the Forest Service and the National Park Service (NPS), CBO estimates that the agencies would incur upfront costs of $7 million to implement the wild and scenic river designations; most of that amount would be for boundary surveys. Finally, we estimate that the Forest Service and the NPS would spend $600,000 annually for additional staff and rangers under the bill. In total, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1254 would cost $16 million over the 2024-2029 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Income from timber production, the sale of forest products, and special use permits is classified in the budget as offsetting receipts (that is, as reductions in direct spending). Under S. 1254, the federal government could forgo receipts because land would be unavailable for those purposes. CBO estimates that any increases in direct spending from the loss of receipts would be insignificant over the 2024-2034 period.
« Return to search CBO reports
