April 4, 2006

The Honorable Conrad Burns
187 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC20510-2603

Dear Chairman Burns:

The undersigned organizations strongly support the US Forest Service Forest Inventory Analysis Program (FIA) and urge Congress to fully fund the program in FY 2007 at $73.4 million. FIA is the only national inventory system that delivers current and consistent information about the status, condition and trends of America's forestland, crossing all ownerships.

Forests, representing 1/3 of the US land base, are faced with increasing challenges-catastrophic wildfires, insect and disease infestations, hurricane damage, invasive species outbreaks,
development pressures, and a number of other threats. FIA provides important and credible information needed to measure change and to confront these challenges. It is essential to enabling land managers to continue managing and conserving the U.S. forestland base and the associated values and benefits. Fully funding FIA will help achieve a national, annualized inventory system with 20% annual measurement consistently applied across all ownerships and reported for each state every 5 years.

We fully support attaining the goals and vision of the base federal program and urge continuous improvement in data collection efficiencies. Implementation of a full inventory cycle in each state and timely public access to the data is paramount. FIA is the nation's continuous forest census - collecting, analyzing and reporting information on the status and trends of America's forests. We must have this information in order to make sound ecological, economic, and social decisions about the current and future state of the nation's
forests. We urge Congress to continue its support for FIA and fully fund the program in FY 2007.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Community Trees
Alliance of Forest Workers and Harvesters
American Forest & Paper Association
American Forest Foundation
American Forests
Association of Consulting Foresters
Bear Trust International
Boone & Crockett Club
Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council
Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation
Defenders of Wildlife
Ecological Society of America
Environmental Defense
Forest Landowners Association
Forest Resources Association
International Society of Tropical Foresters
Mississippi Land Trust
National Association of Forest Service
Retirees
National Association of State Foresters
National Woodland Owners Association
Northern Forest Alliance
Pinchot Institute for Conservation
Ruffed Grouse Society
Society of American Foresters
Society for Range Management
The Nature Conservancy
The Wilderness Society
Tree Trust
Wallowa Resources
Whitetails Unlimited
Wildlife Mississippi