Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell this Friday will appear before House appropriators to defend his agency's 2013 budget, which many expect to continue a focus on conservation and integrated forest restoration.

Tidwell is expected to again propose consolidating several budget items under an integrated account that aims to maximize the agency's ability to restore ecological health across nearly 200 million acres of forests and grasslands.

Tidwell last year told lawmakers that the agency's "integrated resource restoration" fund would allow it to clean more streams, eradicate more invasive species and harvest more timber, among other things, using a roughly flatlined budget.

He last year proposed adding the agency's collaborative restoration program, road decommissioning, post-fire rehabilitation and some hazardous fuels removal to the fund.

While many lawmakers were skeptical, Congress in December agreed to authorize the plan on a pilot scale in select regions.

Members of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee may seek assurances from Tidwell that the agency will support private-sector jobs in rural communities including forestry, ranching, recreation and wilderness management.

Tidwell last year took heat for the agency's proposal to significantly increase land acquisitions and conservation easements under the Land and Water Conservation Fund, for which the Obama administration proposed full funding in 2012.

The agency's $5.1 billion request last year was $178 million below funding levels at the time and $239 million below the president's fiscal 2011 request.

"It doesn't make sense to me that we would use this initiative to dramatically increase land acquisition instead of focusing our limited resources on desperately needed efforts to improve forest health and address the maintenance backlog, grazing permit backlog and numerous other problems across the country," Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chairman of the subcommittee, said at last year's hearing.

"At a time when our forests are significantly overstocked and unhealthy, the Forest Service proposes reducing spending on hazardous fuels, forest health, grazing and fire suppression," he said. "Many of these programs support private jobs in rural communities -- from ranching and forestry to recreation and wilderness management. These important programs, so valuable to rural communities, should be the priority."

Last year's budget for the first time proposed using $328 million in discretionary funding to support the Secure Rural Schools program, which had been a mandatory program until it expired last fall. The program funds Western counties that have seen a decline in timber revenues in past decades.

It is unclear whether the administration will again request discretionary dollars to support the program as lawmakers in both chambers quibble over how, and if, they should extend it.

Non-budget issues are sure to also crop up among the subcommittee members, many of which have large tracts of forestlands in their home states.

A prime candidate for discussion will be the Forest Service's new rule for updating land management plans on its 175 national forests and grasslands.

Since its release late last month, the agency's final planning rule has sparked a flurry of complaints from ranchers, loggers and motorized vehicle users, in addition to many Republicans. The agency plans to implement the new rule in four Western states shortly after it is finalized in the coming weeks (Greenwire, Feb. 6).

Appropriators may also get a closer look at the agency's plan to replace its aging fleet of air tankers that it uses to stall the spread of severe wildfires, a perennial concern in the West. The Forest Service last week released a long-awaited strategy to update its fleet, but did not provide a cost estimate (E&ENews PM, Feb. 10).

Schedule: The hearing is Friday, Feb. 17, at 9:30 a.m. in B-308 Rayburn.

Witnesses: Tom Tidwell, chief, Forest Service; Susan Spear, acting director, budget, Forest Service.