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NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF STATE FORESTERS
444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite
540, Washington, DC 20001
April 30, 2004
The Honorable Conrad Burns, Chairman
Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies
Attention: Outside Witness Testimony
United States Senate, SD-132
Washington, DC 20510
TESTIMONY ON FY 2005
APPROPRIATIONS: Forest Service and Dept. of the Interior
Burnell C. Fischer, President of the National Association of State
Foresters
Before U.S. Senate Appropriations Interior Subcommittee
INTRODUCTION
The National Association
of State Foresters (NASF) is pleased to provide testimony on the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) $4.98 billion budget request for Fiscal Year
2005. Representing the directors of state forestry agencies from all
fifty states, eight U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, our
testimony centers around those program areas most relevant to the long
term forestry operations of our constituents. State and Private
Forestry programs multiply the public benefits of Federal funding by
leveraging in-kind contributions through cost-share programs and
matching funds from states. Wildland Fire Management supports essential
State and Private and Federal programs to address wildland fire. We
commend the President’s commitment to the Healthy Forests Restoration
Act and the Healthy Forests Initiative in the USFS budget for FY 2005.
Our recommendations include our top three priorities (FLEP, Forest
Health, and State Fire Assistance) and discuss other opportunities for
Congress to further the advancement of sustainable management on both
public and private forestland nationwide.
sTATE AND PRIVATE FORESTRY programs
Forest
Land Enhancement Program (FLEP)
NASF urges Congress to fund FLEP at $20 million for
FY 2005. The 2002 Farm Bill provided $100 million for FLEP over five
years. Replacing the Forestry Incentives Program (FIP) and the
Stewardship Incentives Program (SIP) by combining the best attributes of
these predecessor programs, FLEP is able to better meet the needs of
family forest landowners. FLEP implementation began in FY 2003 with $20
million. The result was an enormously successful and popular forestry
cost-share, technical assistance, and educational program. However, $50
million was transferred from FLEP to help pay for Forest Service fire
suppression efforts during the 2003 fire season, with $10 million repaid
by Congress. Congress’ help is now needed to ensure that the $10
million for FLEP in FY 2004 is made available to the Forest Service and
funds are appropriated for FY 2005.
Family forest owners have demonstrated funding
needs for three to five times the amount that could be funded in the
first year. The President’s FY 2005 budget proposes the remaining $40
million in the FLEP account, including the $10 million appropriated for
FY 2004, would be “canceled”. No other program provides direct
assistance to help landowners implement forest management practices on
family forest lands. Financial assistance typically results in a
two-to-four-fold increase in the implementation of sustainable forestry
practices on private lands, allowing landowners to better meet long-term
public demand for timber, clean water, and other forest resources while
providing environmental benefits for the general public. NASF
recommends funding FLEP at $20 million in FY 2005 by rejecting the
language in the Administration’s budget and instead reinstating the $40
million remaining in the account.
Forest Health Management (FHM)
The Forest Health Management (FHM) programs within
State and Private Forestry are the only federal programs that address
the breadth of forest health threats across all of our nation’s
forests. Every year, invasive species cost the American public $138
billion in losses, detection, and control. Providing for the
prevention, detection, and suppression of damaging insects, diseases,
and plants, this program also assists in the development and application
of new technologies to address forest health problems on all lands. FHM
is funded under both State and Private Forestry (S&PF) and Wildland Fire
Management.
NASF recommends funding S&PF Forest Health
Management for Federal and Cooperative Lands at FY 2004 levels ($54
million for Federal lands and $45 million for Cooperative lands) to
provide the tools needed to address Forest Health issues across the many
forest types and ownerships in the United States.
NASF also recommends $15 million for Federal lands
and $10 million for Cooperative lands to continue level support for
Forest Health Management under Wildland Fire Management to address
forest health problems that increase the risk of catastrophic wildland
fire. Forest health management helps states achieve the goals of the
Healthy Forests Initiative.
State Fire Assistance (SFA)
State Fire Assistance (SFA) provides much-needed
financial and technical assistance to states for wildland fire
management. It ensures that state resources receive the best training
and can acquire and maintain equipment necessary to prepare them to act
as the first line of defense for their local forests and communities.
These fire fighting resources serve both as “first responders” for local
situations and as “ready reserves” for large federally managed
catastrophic fires. Further, it is the only program that currently
provides some funding for fuel reduction work on non-federal lands. SFA
is funded under both Cooperative Fire Protection (State and Private
Forestry) and Wildland Fire Management in the Forest Service budget.
Together with Volunteer Fire Assistance, these programs provide critical
support for the wildland firefighting community.
SFA provides the flexibility to meet different
state needs, which may include firefighting preparedness, firefighter
training, fire suppression, and hazardous fuel reduction, as well as
prevention activities. In addition, the renewed focus on hazardous fuel
reduction will wear out equipment more quickly, requiring more frequent
repair and replacement. A reduction in SFA will be counterproductive,
making it more difficult for states – often the first line of defense –
to extinguish small fires quickly before they grow into large, costly
fires.
NASF recommends continued level funding for State
Fire Assistance at $28 million under Cooperative Fire Protection and $51
million under Wildland Fire Management, as well as funding for Volunteer
Fire Assistance at $5.0 million under Cooperative Fire Protection and
$8.1 million under Wildland Fire Management. Funding these line items
at last year’s level provides continued protection for local communities
from catastrophic wildland fire, many of which originate on federal
lands.
NASF also recommends funding Community and
Private Land Fire Assistance (CPLFA). The model for this program
began with National Fire Plan funding in FY 2001. Subsequently
authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill at $35 million per year, NASF
recommends $20 million to begin implementation of the program in FY
2005. CPLFA is the perfect tool to help communities leverage limited
wildfire mitigation dollars and achieve the goals laid out in the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act: to prepare community wildfire
protection plans, restore unhealthy forests on private lands, and to
reduce fuels around communities.
Forest Stewardship Program
The Forest Stewardship Program continues to serve
as the foundation program for promoting sustainable forest management on
family forest lands. The program compliments the Forest Land
Enhancement Program (FLEP) by providing landowners assistance in
creating sustainable forestry Stewardship Plans that can be implemented
with cost-share funds from FLEP. From 1991 to 2002, the Forest
Stewardship program turned out more than 217,000 Stewardship Plans
covering more than 25 million acres. NASF supports the President’s
proposed funding of $41 million in FY 2005 for the Forest Stewardship
Program.
Watershed Forestry Assistance Program
(WFAP)
NASF recommends funding the Watershed Forestry
Assistance Program (WFAP) with the full $15 million authorized in Title
III of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act for FY 2005. Through
forestry practices in targeted watersheds and collaborative approaches
to watershed restoration, WFAP provides landowners, communities, and
organizations with the technical and financial tools necessary to
protect and restore water resources. By focusing on priority watersheds
within each state, this unique program is able to leverage funding and
support from local watershed partnerships to measurably increase water
quality and overall watershed health.
Urban and Community Forestry
NASF recommends funding the Urban and Community
Forestry program at $36 million in FY 2005. The program leverages
existing local efforts by assisting rural and urban communities to
manage, maintain, and improve their tree cover and green spaces,
achieving important social and economic benefits.
Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
The Forest Inventory and Analysis program provides
crucial forest information to policy makers and land managers, enabling
them to make informed forestry-related decisions. Increasing funding
for this program will enable the important work to continue, while
improving the quality of information being provided. NASF recommends
$64 million for FIA to continue progress toward implementation of the
FIA strategic plan. Together with a well funded research program, FIA
will continue to provide essential inventory data for addressing
long-term forest management needs.
Economic Action Program (EAP)
The Economic Action Program is the only federal
assistance program that targets forest-based economic development. With
our current forest health threats across the country, EAP helps find
local solutions to forest health problems while fostering economic
sustainability in communities. State Foresters will continue to work
with the Forest Service and rural communities to help communities
deliver a focused and results oriented forest-based economic development
program. NASF supports level funding for the Economic Action Program at
$11 million, not including Congressional earmarks.
OTHER FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Federal
Wildland fire management
NASF recommends continued funding of federal
wildland fire management at the 10-year average. Funding is integral to
quickly suppress small fires before they grow into large and costly
fires. The increasing costs of wildfires – due mainly to drought, fuel
accumulation, and the rapid expansion of the wildland-urban interface –
makes adequate suppression funding critical. We support continued
funding for preparedness, fire operations, and hazardous fuels treatment
on federal land, including the $15 million provided under State and
Private Forestry Appropriations that may be used on non-Federal land to
protect communities at risk from adjacent USFS lands where hazard
reduction activities are planned.
DOI
conservation grant programs
NASF supports the Department of the Interior
conservation grant programs for private landowners to manage their land
for a variety of public benefits. Continued funding will ensure these
programs remain viable.
CONCLUSION
NASF seeks the Subcommittee’s support for a Forest
Service FY 2005 budget that will ensure the continued delivery of a
broad range of public benefits from privately owned forest lands.
Collaboration among stakeholders across the landscape—federal, state,
and local government agencies, private landowners, industry, and
non-profit organizations—is necessary to manage for the wide range of
forest resources and values found on all ownerships.
Cooperative Forestry, State and Private
Forestry (S&PF), and Wildland Fire Management provide these
links, and the federal share leverages private dollars and provides an
important catalyst for collaboration in order to take the work far
beyond the usual boundaries of federal land management. Thank you for
the opportunity to provide our testimony.
Sincerely,
/s/ Burnell C. Fischer
Burnell C. Fischer
President |
