State government agencies and authorities affecting the use and management of forests in northern United States.

State agencies responsible for the use, management and protection of forests have increased in number and have become increasingly more diverse in mission and organization. Such is often inconsistent with holistic approaches advocated for the management of large forest ecosystems. An assessment of state agencies affecting forest conditions in the North was undertaken in 2000-2001. The assessment found that such agencies are dispersed over all sectors and levels of state government; a state’s lead forestry agency is often only a small piece in the puzzle of state agencies affecting forests; consequences of fragmented state agency responsibility for forests are generally adverse, especially public confusion over agency roles and lack of integrated resource management; and coordination among state agencies affecting forest conditions takes many forms, although it occurrence is generally modest.Research Supported by the University of Minnesota’s Department of Forest Resources and MN Agricultural Experiment Station, and Cooperative Forestry Unit of State and Private Forestry, Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC