Letters

State Foresters responded to the release of President Obama's fiscal year 2012 budget last week by urging the Administration and Congress to adopt a bipartisan approach to budget compromises that does not compromise America's forests and forest economies.  Jake Donnay, NASF Policy Director has prepared an Issue Brief that addresses both the FY12 budget and [read more]

NASF has signed a letter in support of a proposal to eliminate the current exemption in 7 CFR §319.40-3, which allows wood packaging material from Canada to enter the United States without having been treated in accordance with requirements of the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15. Under the proposal, wood packaging originating in Canada would become [read more]

NASF and ten other forestry stakeholder sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack on the promotion of the use of wood products as a green building material, and offered three key recommendations to position the agency as a leader in this area. MORE:  To read more recent correspondence from NASF on issues ranging from [read more]

Identifying communities at risk and prioritizing projects to reduce wildfire risk is a national effort. The NASF Forest Fire Protection Committee has prepared a briefing paper, "Identifying Communities at Risk and Prioritizing Risk-Reduction Projects," intended to provide national guidance for identifying communities at risk, conducting planning efforts that are consistent with national initiatives, and to [read more]

State foresters responded to President Obama's February 1st budget proposal for FY2011 with some trepidation, warning that cuts to significant forestry programs will likely not meet national forest conservation goals. Even in a tight budget climate, NASF members believe it is critically important to make solid investments in key federal programs that help realize the [read more]

NASF responded with a letter to the editor of the Washington Times regarding a recent article about the restoration of stimulus funding for green jobs programs in the District of Columbia. "The work of state forestry agencies - including the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration - is an opportune vehicle to deploy federal funds and put [read more]

In a recent letter to U.S Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) applauded the new vision he shared for America's forests during an August 14 address in Seattle. State Foresters have a long history of working cooperatively with the Forest Service and were pleased to see the secretary [read more]

On May 18, NASF signed on with more than forty organizations to a joint letter to U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment leadership urging the inclusion of forestry offsets in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Waxman-Markey). This is part of NASF's ongoing [read more]

State Foresters were pleased with federal support for the nation's forests as demonstrated in President Obama's proposed FY2010 budget released earlier this month. The budget included $306 million for the U.S. Forest Service's State and Private Forestry program, a $40 million increase over the 2009 omnibus. While this show of support is appreciated during austere [read more]

This week NASF joined 68 other organizations and signed on to a letter urging House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee leadership to include renewable forest biomass as an energy source to meet a renewable electricity standard (RES). The RES is a focus in both chambers where efforts to bring [read more]