Increased development and accompanying landscape alteration on private rural lands adjacent to national forests and grasslands will have significant implications for the management and conservation of public land resources, ecological services and products, and social and cultural amenities. The following examples are among the consequences that may be associated with increased housing density on the periphery of National Forest System lands:

• Reduced populations of native fish and wildlife;
  
  
• Replacement of native plants, reduced plant diversity and introduction of diseases;
  
  
• Decreased public access to national forests for recreation and other uses;
  
  
• Increased potential for wildland fires;
  
  
• Reduced water quality;
  
  
• Increased potential for encroachment, trespassing and unauthorized use of national forests and national grasslands;
  
  
• Reduction in timber and other forest products.