SCOTT LINNETT / Union-Tribune Forest Service public affairs officer Brian Harris looked over a hikers log book yesterday at Dripping Springs campground, which is operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The sign next to him has become illegible and was scheduled to be replaced.

“It's all those types of things that users typically see,” said Brian Harris, a spokesman for the agency in Rancho Bernardo.

National forests in California are on the hook to lose $33 million, and they could give up more if the Forest Service has to battle a massive wildfire. That money would have been used for removal of hazardous trees, roof repairs, new vehicles and other needs.

In the 438,000-acre Cleveland National Forest, the funding hit is estimated at $1.3 million – or roughly 5 percent of the forest's annual budget. The forest, which stretches across San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties, is a major recreation area that gets about 850,000 visits a year.

Like many federal sites, the Cleveland forest has not kept up with demands for maintenance and capital improvements. The latest funding shortfall will make matters worse.

“My little daughter won't go into the bathroom at most Forest Service facilities” because of how grungy they are, Harris said.

More than half of the money being diverted from the Cleveland budget to the headquarters' fire-suppression coffers was designated for replacing decades-old vault toilets with new restrooms that are more sanitary and less smelly. Those upgrades were scheduled for the Falcon, Dripping Springs, Fry Creek and El Prado campgrounds and the Agua Dulce trail head.

About $250,000 was earmarked for road repairs and new sidewalks along some campground roads. Cleveland forest officials also had wanted to install photovoltaic systems at two fire stations that currently rely on generators.

By the numbers The Cleveland National Forest has canceled or delayed $1.3 million in projects because the U.S. Forest Service needed the money, along with about $400 million more from the agency's other offices, to pay firefighting bills. $700,000 – Replace decades-old vault toilets at campgrounds and a trail head. $250,000 – Pave and patch campground roads. $190,000 – Install solar-power systems at fire stations. $100,000 – Demolish abandoned cabins. $35,000 – Support wildlife management. $32,000 – Dispose of hazardous waste.

The rest of the funds were slated for demolition of old buildings, removal of hazardous materials and wildlife management.

“Most every time we hear about what is going on (in the forest), it's that they are short of funding,” said Camille Armstrong, a longtime advocate for habitat protections in the Cleveland.

On a national scale, the funding shift threatens to turn the agency into little more than a fire service, critics said. Over the past decade, the Forest Service has spent increasingly large portions of its budget on fire suppression and shortchanged other programs, including environmental work and fire prevention.

For 2009, more than half the agency's budget will be spent on controlling wildfires, according to the National Association of State Foresters, which represents the directors of all 50 state forestry agencies.

“It's not allowing the agency to meet its mission. They can't deliver their core duties and programs,” said Caitlyn Peel, spokeswoman for the organization.

With about one month left before the end of the fiscal year, Forest Service managers have run through the national fire-suppression budget of more than $1.1 billion.

The agency's officials said the budget was chewed up by the Southern California wildfires last October and blazes sparked by June's lightning storms in Northern and Central California. More than 900,000 acres of Forest Service land in the state burned between January and mid-August – the most for that period since at least 1970.

Forest Service leaders said they would exercise their authority to move money from nonfire programs to cover the costs.

“We deeply regret the impacts this funding transfer is having,” Abigail Kimbell, the agency's chief, said in an Aug. 22 memo.

She said the agency needed $400 million more for fire programs to get through September, but the agency is seeking to transfer an additional $100 million, and more could be needed.

In recent months, Congress has discussed providing more funds for the Forest Service to cover this year's fire bill and creating a special account to pay for fighting catastrophic blazes.

Mike Lee: (619) 542-4570; mike.lee@uniontrib.com