Law Enforcement Operations

What this funds

Table FS-55. Law Enforcement Operations Details Table (thousands of dollars) Law Enforcement Operations - Justification of Changes 2027 Budget allows the Forest Service Law Enforcement Operations to continue the highest priority projects and patrol high-use areas. Law Enforcement Operations - Status of Programs The Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations (LEI) program upholds a longstanding tradition of exemplary public service, safeguarding the Nation's natural resources and preserving them for future generations. The Forest Service's LEI program is the only authorized entity to enforce federal laws related to NFS lands and are experts in investigating complex natural resource matters that preserve and sustain these precious resources for present and future generations. LEI is dedicated to preventing, detecting, and investigating violations of federal laws and regulations to protect visitors to NFS lands, Forest Service employees, and natural resources. Law Enforcement Operations Officers (LEO) provide a uniform patrol presence and respond to safety incidents and violations of laws and regulations. Common incidents include resource damage, looting from historic sites, theft, alcohol and drug use, unauthorized motor vehicle use, illegal occupancy or exceeding stay limits, trespassing, and destruction of natural and cultural resources. Law enforcement duties also include more complex civil and possession, smuggling and manufacturing of illegal substances, assaults, and both domestic and international Lacey Act violations. LEI resources dedicate over 750,000 hours annually to public safety, resource protection, and law enforcement activities. To accomplish this mission, dedicated law enforcement officers cover approximately 689,000 acres of NFS land each, maintaining high standards of public safety and resource protection. LEI officers are frequently sought to provide training and expertise, including through collaboration with the Department of State, for law enforcement officers in foreign countries worldwide. Additionally, LEI continues to adapt and respond to increasing demands, including activities involving the growing homeless population found on NFS lands, while also supporting ongoing Emergency Support Function-13 incidents and emergency declarations. LEI personnel have also been assigned to assist the United States Border Patrol in securing the border. LEI continues to enhance relationships both internally and externally. LEI has long practiced a "shared stewardship" model with cooperating law enforcement agencies, members of local communities, and other staff areas within the Forest Service. The USDA, through the Forest Service, is statutorily charged with managing all NFS lands along the international borders. LEI shares law enforcement responsibilities over these lands with federal, State, and local partners. While it is fully recognized that the DHS, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have the primary mandate of controlling and guarding the Nation's borders, Forest Service stewardship and law enforcement responsibilities support the greater federal response to the border crisis and protection of American communities from criminal aliens. LEI is vital to assisting CBP with effectively defending national security, responding to terrorist threats, safeguarding human life, and stopping the degradation of the natural and cultural resources on NFS lands. In 2006, LEI entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between DHS, DOI, through the USDA regarding cooperative national security and counterterrorism efforts on federal lands along the United States' borders. The collaborative work in FY 2025 has allowed the Forest Service to align its priorities with these partners in pursuit of shared objectives. The MOU enables interagency cooperation, improved radio interoperability, and improves access and patrol capabilities for CBP agents. LEI continues to provide CBP with additional support and resources as appropriate and authorized. LEI prioritizes addressing emergencies involving human health and safety and preventing or minimizing LEI is continually improving the coordination and capabilities to work with other agencies to secure our borders and protect the National Forests. LEI and CBP mutually rely on the combined collective strengths to advance distinct goals. For example, LEI has established full-time liaison positions with the U.S. Border Patrol for both the Tucson Sector, based in Tucson, Arizona, and for the Spokane Sector, based in Kalispell, Montana. LEI has coordinated with CBP, U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on special operations and on an ad-hoc basis that combine the resources of LEI with DHS to address the impacts of illegal immigration as well as narcotics and other smuggling. In addition to daily coordination, joint operational Trespass cannabis cultivation complexes and the Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and co-conspirators that operate illegally on NFS lands threaten environmental and that poison wildlife and contaminate soil and plants, fragment habitats, and sometimes cause wildfires. LEI continues to work diligently to identify, investigate, eradicate, and removing materials, including banned pesticides that require additional safety and disposal measures, infrastructure, and human refuse from the sites. In FY 2025, LEI and cooperators located 15 sites, eradicating 25,934 marijuana plants; 62 short-haul loads; and seizing 579 pounds of processed marijuana. Four arrests were also made. Reclamation efforts on nine sites resulted in the removal of 28,750 pounds of restoration of 70 thousand gallons of water. Rainbow Family of Living Light Gathering The Rainbow Family of Living Light, also known as the Rainbow Family, is a self-proclaimed loose-knit group of individuals located throughout the United States and other countries 2025, the gathering took place on the Mark Twain National

Extracted from Forest Service, p. 59. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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