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Maintaining Infrastructure

Maintaining the Forest Service’s portfolio of engineered infrastructure like roads, bridges, buildings and dams is essential to public safety, protecting the environment, and the economy at both local and national levels. It is also essential to allowing the Forest Service to meet its various missions.

Infrastructure wears out with time and use. Repairs and maintenance, which include annual and preventive maintenance, are necessary to make sure that that assets can be safely used for their needed purpose, are cost efficient to operate, and do not cause harm to the environment.

Limited resources, aging infrastructure and increase in public use have led to the delay of a portion of the regularly scheduled maintenance. The current estimate of the agency wide maintenance backlog, or “deferred maintenance”, was over $8.6 billion in FY2023.

Infrastructure Asset Life Cycle

All infrastructure assets have a design life. Generally, the life span of an asset could be 30 to 75 years depending on several factors such as type, material, and the consistency of regular maintenance. The longer maintenance is deferred, the quicker the asset falls into a state of disrepair and the shorter its life span. Most of the Forest Service infrastructure was built over 60 years ago, placing those assets past the intended lifespan and in need of rehabilitation or reconstruction.

As assets approach the end of their life cycle, critical decisions must be made on disposal or reconstruction. The decision to dispose an asset could depend on its functionality, costs to operate and maintain, costs to decommission, public opinion, health and safety risks, and environmental factors. Assets no longer needed, that are not decommissioned, continue to accumulate deferred maintenance.

 

A circular flowchart starting with Acquisition of Asset, to Use and Maintenance of Asset, to Condition Monitoring of Asset, to Disposal or Rehabilitation of Asset, then starting over again.

 

National Asset Management Program

The Forest Service has a National Asset Management Program that incorporates the Comprehensive Capital Improvement Plan (PDF, 2.4 MB) process. This program prioritizes investments in capital improvement and maintenance projects that reduce the deferred maintenance backlog. These projects address improvements, repairs and rehabilitation of mission critical buildings, recreation sites, roads, bridges, dams and the decommissioning of infrastructure assets no longer needed. Projects are expected to reflect the Agency’s priorities.

Infrastructure projects are evaluated against predetermined criteria before being selected for funding through the program to ensure the agency is making efficient and strategic infrastructure investments. Funding for the Agency’s infrastructure comes from a number of sources such as Capital Improvement and Maintenance appropriations, the Great American Outdoors Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provisions such as the Legacy Roads and Trails program and the Federal Lands Highway Program.

Construction materials outside of a guard station, including a paint brush and paint can in the forefront, and a wood deck with generator next to the structure.
Renovations at historic Burgdorf Guard Station near completion, thanks to Great American Outdoors Act funding. The guard station will be used as a recreation rental in 2024. (USDA Forest Service photo by Kelly Martin). Visit the Payette National Forest to learn more about projects. Agency-wide projects can be found on the Forest Service Great American Outdoors Act website.