March 5, 2008

Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin

US House of Representatives

Washington DC 20515

Dear Representative Herseth Sandlin,

The National Association of State Foresters (NASF) would like to offer our support of HR 5236, the Renewable Biomass Facilitation Act. Your foresight in introducing this bill will help to ensure that the definition of renewable biomass takes full advantage of all reasonable sources of biomass feedstock.

NASF represents the directors of all 50 State Forestry agencies, the eight U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. NASF and its members promote sustainable forestry practices that enhance the full array of public benefits derived from the forest.

NASF joins you in recognizing that the definition of renewable biomass as it currently stands in the Energy Independence and Security Act severely limits qualifying biomass materials. Restricting wood from private lands and completely prohibiting the use of wood from federal lands are unnecessary, artificial constraints that leave out completely sustainable and readily available sources of green energy. This will needlessly hamper our nation's efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions and national security concerns related to reliance on foreign fossil fuel sources.

NASF urges a broad definition of renewable biomass that fully recognizes that forests are a renewable resource and ready source of biomass feedstock. HR 5236 provides the changes necessary to ensure that forests aren't excluded from the cutting edge of renewable fuels, and equally important, will help to keep forest lands productive, thereby reducing the incentive to convert land to non-forest uses. Excluding forests from the renewable biomass definition will close off yet another avenue to keeping forests forested.

The National Association of State Foresters would like to thank you for your hard work on making this country more responsible in the ways we meet our energy needs. We look forward to working with you in order to secure passage of HR 5236. Please let us know how we can be of assistance.

With warm regards,

Jay Farrell

Executive Director