|
NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF STATE FORESTERS
444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite
540, Washington, DC 20001
April 15, 2005
The Honorable Robert Bennett
Chairman
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
TESTIMONY ON FY 2006 APPROPRIATIONS
Pat McElroy,
President of the National Association of State Foresters
Before the U.S.
Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies
INTRODUCTION
The
National Association of State Foresters (NASF) is pleased to provide
testimony on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget request
for Fiscal Year 2006. Representing the directors of state forestry
agencies from the states, eight U.S. territories, and the District of
Columbia, our testimony centers around those Deputy Areas most relevant
to the long-term forestry operations of our constituents: Research,
Education, and Economics, as well as Natural Resources and Environment.
We believe the USDA budget for FY 2006, which offers opportunities for
advancing the sustainable management of private forestland nationwide,
can be strengthened through our recommendations.
USDA Cooperative State Research, Education,
and
Extension Service (CSREES) Programs
Cooperative forestry research (mcIntire – Stennis) Program
The Cooperative Forestry
Research (McIntire–Stennis) Program (CFRP) is a crucial part of the
foundation that underlies academic and scientific understanding of the
nation’s forest resources. McIntire-Stennis CFRP was originally enacted
in order to provide universities with formula funds for the explicit
purpose of research in the field of forestry, which was not provided for
in similar research funding programs. For more than forty years, CFRP
has equipped both private and land-grant universities with the ability
to produce invaluable research concerning forest productivity,
environmental quality, and technologies for monitoring and extending the
natural resource base. The program also provides rigorous scientific
education and training for university students – the future managers of
the nation’s forest resources.
Universities,
supported by base funds from the federal government, have consistently
supplied science-based forestry research not affiliated with any
particular resource use or interest group. Without sufficient base funds
from the federal government, society will lose the benefits wrought by
this productive partnership.
The
Administration’s proposed FY 2006 budget reduces funding for the
McIntire-Stennis CFRP to half the amount enacted in FY 2005 and aims to
eliminate the program formula funds in FY 2007. The Administration plans
to redirect the funds toward both the National Research Initiative
competitive grants program (NRI),
and the new State Agriculture Experiment Station competitive grants
program (SAES), which would provide competitive grants exclusively to
land-grant universities. Although the amount of funding would
theoretically be maintained, the proposed change in the funding
mechanism would drastically alter the way that the funds would
ultimately be used. Neither NRI
nor SAES support specific forestry research efforts. The combination of
the proposed elimination of McIntire-Stennis formula funds and the shift
in the program funding mechanism would significantly reduce
universities’ ability to conduct necessary and credible forest resource
research.
NASF recommends
full restoration of program funding for the Cooperative Forestry
Research (McIntire-Stennis) Program to $22 million. The proposed
increase in CFRP will help the program continue to serve as the
cornerstone of forest research in universities, providing knowledge
central to sound management from environmental, economic, and social
perspectives.
The National research initiative competitive grants program (nri)
The National Research
Initiative Competitive Grants Program (NRI)
advances fundamental scientific agriculture and forestry research. Two
of the notable NRI forestry
funding opportunities available in 2005 are Bio-based Products research
grants and Bioenergy Production research grants. While grants such as
these have great potential to contribute to forest resource research
efforts, only 6 percent of NRI
funds were allocated to forestry research proposals in FY 2005.
NASF supports
continued funding for NRI, and encourages the President to increasing
the proportion of spending dedicated to forest research to a minimum of
10%. However, NASF strongly disapproves of the proposed shift of
McIntire-Stennis funds to NRI, thereby ending the forestry focus of the
McIntire-Stennis program.
The Renewable Resources Extension Act (rrea)
The Renewable Resources
Extension Act (RREA) facilitates the transfer of needed forestry
information and technology to non-industrial private forest landowners,
as well as loggers and small businesses involved with forest resource
management.
Extension’s
education programs aid private landowners in understanding their
management options and responsibilities, and encourage them to take
advantage of other technical and financial assistance programs.
NASF recommends
funding RREA at $4.1 million for FY 2006, in order to sustain the
program’s ability to address critical extension and stewardship needs.
Farm
Bill
Conservation Programs
NASF
believes that the conservation programs enacted in the 2002 Farm Bill
are integral for protecting water quality, erodible soils, wildlife
habitat, and wetlands associated with forestry and agricultural
operations. Trees and forestry practices are often the best solution to
many of the conservation challenges arising from these operations.
NASF
recommends funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
at the FY 2005 level of
$1.2 billion, full funding
for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), $85 million for the Wildlife
Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP), targeting of 321,000 acres under the
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP),
and $150 million for the Emergency Watershed Program (EWP). NASF
supports the President’s FY 2006 funding proposal of $274 million for
the Conservation Security Program (CSP). NASF recommends that the
Subcommittee strongly encourage the Secretary of Agriculture and the
NRCS to expand the emphasis on forestry practices in EQIP and the other
Farm Bill Conservation Programs.
These
programs are important for landowners with both forest and agricultural
land, as well as farmers who wish to plant trees for conservation
purposes on their agricultural lands. Nearly two thirds of the land in
the United States
is forested, the majority of which is privately owned. Investing
federal funds in conservation practices on private forest lands produces
benefits for all, not simply landowners. These benefits include
abundant clean water for drinking and recreation, improved wildlife
habitat, open space, viable rural economies, and many other tangible and
intangible public benefits.
CONCLUSION
The National
Association of State Foresters seeks the Subcommittee’s support for a
USDA FY 2006 budget that will make sure the public’s conservation needs
– provided by private landowners – are met. Thank you for the
opportunity to provide our testimony.
Sincerely,
/s/ Pat McElroy
Pat McElroy
President |
