By Parker Jones
The Director General and leadership of the Chinese State Forest Administration and other related agencies visited NASF offices in Washington D.C. today. NASF was one of their many scheduled visits with U.S. forestry agencies and associations during their trip.
NASF Policy Director, Gary Schiff, provided a presentation explaining the role of State Foresters and their organizations and NASF’s role in advocating on their behalf. During the Q&A they conveyed that China has 30 Provincial State Foresters and that forests cover 22% of China. They indicated that their largest national issue was dealing with wildfires ignited from agricultural burning. The twenty Chinese forest leaders asked a number of questions about regulations on private forest management, the relationship between the US Forest Service and State Foresters, etc.
The Chinese delegates planned to visit with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) staff later this afternoon.