Letters

NASF and other members of the Forest-Climate Working Group have joined in support for the Rural Forests Markets Act, introduced by Senators Braun and Stabenow. The bipartisan Rural Forest Markets Act provides a federal loan guarantee to support innovative projects that help small forest owners develop climate solutions and other environmental challenges by adopting sustainable [read more]

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, NASF and a long list of other conservation organizations raised concerns regarding a major change to the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). In short, the new fiscal year (FY) 2020-2021 RCPP Classic Application for Public Funding (APF) includes implementation guidance that could [read more]

In two letters, the National Association of State Foresters has offered its support for the "Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020," a bipartisan bill that sets out to streamline collaborative wildfire risk reduction projects and accelerate forest management near existing roads, trails, and transmission lines. "Forests across the United States need more active [read more]

Today, the National Association of State Foresters expressed its appreciation to Senator John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, for introducing "Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2020," a bill that would accomplish many of the recommendations found in NASF's 2020 policy statement, "Improving the Effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act." NASF [read more]

The National Association of State Foresters signed onto a letter today in support of the bipartisan REPLANT Act (S. 4357 and H.R. 7843). The bill would allow the USDA Forest Service to address the 8 million acres of national forests in need of reforestation by removing an existing cap on the Reforestation Trust Fund. The [read more]

In a letter to the director of the National Economic Council and a senior advisor to the president on Wednesday, the National Association of State Foresters and dozens of other forestry associations requested that H-2B non-immigrant laborers (who perform essential forestry-related work) be excluded from any presidential proclamations or orders restricting immigrant or non-immigrant labor [read more]

In a letter to House and Senate leadership yesterday, the National Association of State Foresters joined with dozens of diverse organizations, businesses, professional societies, state agencies, and tribal nations to request that the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (HR 3742) be included in a future economic recovery package. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will put [read more]

Next week, members of the Senate will meet for a cloture vote on S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), and are set to begin debate on the bill Monday evening. NASF and other members of the Forest Climate Working Group have already sent a letter in support of the GAOA. GAOA would permanently [read more]

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released a $500-billion, five-year surface transportation bill, called the Invest in America Act. If passed, this legislation would substantially increase (by 40%) mandatory funding for USDA Forest Service road maintenance from the current level of $19 million annually to $50 million annually. The legislation would also [read more]

In early April, the National Association of State Foresters sent a letter to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski recommending an increase in funding to two specific federal programs to ensure wildland firefighters have critical access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 tests. Recommendation 2: Provide emergency supplemental funding for the State Fire Assistance (SFA) program [read more]