78 



statements using GAAP, we assume that the treatment of costs in a similar circum- 

 stance for a corporation would be the same as recommended by Brown and Compa- 

 ny — there would be no . hange in the TSPIRS bottom line. 



Question 24- Does the Forest Service maintain data on PRC and appropriated- 

 dollar investments in roads? Are data on PRC and appropriations maintained so as 

 to distinguish between these funding sources in the depreciation cost pools? Are 

 road prism investment data included in separate, nondepreciated accounts? Are the 

 various road investment data maintained at each forest? Are they regularly report- 

 ed in any Forest Service documents (e.g., the budget justification or the annual 

 report)? 



Answer. The agency does separate road costs by funding source (purchaser credit 

 and appropriated) and reports that data separately in TSPIRS. They are included in 

 separate cost pools, but are treated under the same depreciation schedules based on 

 the type of asset (surfacing, culverts, or bridges). These data are maintained by each 

 national forest and are regularly reported in the Timber Sale Program Annual 

 Report. 



Question 25. Are all deposits by timber purchasers to trust funds and special ac- 

 counts included as receipts in TSPIRS? Are the expenditures from these accounts 

 all reported as expenses in TSPIRS? Please identify which cost pool is used for the 

 expenditures from each trust fund or special account. 



Answer. All deposits by timber purchaser are included as receipts. Some K-V 

 trust fund expenditures are not timber related as they may be used for wildlife 

 habitat or other provisions of the K-V Act. Both brush disposal and cooperative 

 road maintenance expenditures are included in the short-term sale activity pool. K- 

 V expenditures are in the growth pool (reforestation) and salvage sale expenditures 

 are in harvest administration, sale activity pool and growth pool as well as general 

 administrative costs. 



Question 26. For expenditures reported in the growth activity or depreciation cost 

 pools, what is the consequence for the TSPIRS bottom line of counting the deposits 

 as current receipts and the expenditures as costs a decade or a century later? Are 

 there any Forest Service regulations, rules, directives, etc. that discourage or limit 

 deposits to trust funds and special accounts? 



Answer. In accordance with the matching principle of GAAP, assets are expensed 

 as they are "used up." This presents the most accurate reflection of operations. 

 Again, the question is not which method provides the better "bottom line" but 

 which method meets generally accepted accounting principles used by the private 

 sector throughout the United States. 



Forest Service policy and direction prescribes the basis for trust fund collections 

 and appropriate use of trust fund receipts. The salvage sale fund and X-V legisla- 

 tion was not intended to encourage nor discourage deposits to trust funds but to pre- 

 scribe the use of those funds. 



Question 27. Does the Forest Service maintain data on deposits to, expenditures 

 from, and balances in the trust funds and special accounts? Are these data main- 

 tained at each national forest? Are they available to the public? Are they regularly 

 reported in any Forest Service documents (e.g., the budget justification or the 

 annual report)? 



Answer. The agency does maintain data on deposits to and expenditures from all 

 trust funds and special accounts at each national forest. These data are available to 

 the public upon request and are both published in internal reports for agency use 

 and reflected in the Forest Service's yearly financial statement. 



Question 28. The data reported in TSPIRS are not fully consistent with data re- 

 ported elsewhere, especially the budget justification and the annual report. Why? 

 Does this indicate that the Forest Service is keeping two (or more) sets of books? 

 How does this implication affect Forest Service credibility with Congress and the 

 public? 



Answer. The agency maintains one official set of data regarding timber sale har- 

 vest volumes, costs, and revenues. These data are maintained in the Timber Sale 

 Accounting and Central Accounting Systems. On occasion, it may appear that the 

 data do not match. However, this is generally due to the use of different rules in 

 assembling the data for a report. As an example, GAAP provides specific criteria for 

 reporting revenue and expenses — the costs for undelivered orders would not be in- 

 cluded in a particular year's income statement. But, the agency budget reports may 

 routinely include those costs. As a result, those two reports will look different even 

 though there is a good and valid reason for it. At times, we do show different num- 

 bers in different reports where they should match. This is generally due to correc- 

 tions in the number after the first is published, but before the second has been put 

 together. We are working on resolving this problem. 



