Press Releases

The National Association of State Foresters congratulates Vicki Christiansen and offers her its full support as she takes on new assignment. The nation's 59 state and territorial foresters offer their hearty congratulations to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's pick for interim Forest Service chief: Vicki Christiansen. Prior to yesterday's appointment, Christiansen had served seven years with the Forest [read more]

A new online resource will help to demonstrate the sustainable and legal nature of timber harvesting in the United States. WASHINGTON—With encouragement from federal trade agencies and support from the USDA Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters has created an open-access clearinghouse for national and state regulations that affect the management of U.S. forests [read more]

The president's budget would make deep, detrimental cuts to state and private forest management, according to the nation's 59 state and territorial foresters. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters is extremely disappointed in President Donald Trump's Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget recommendations, which include deep cuts to the state and private forestry programs that support comprehensive, cost-effective forest management [read more]

The House legislation would prioritize landscape-scale projects across both private and public lands. WASHINGTON—Today the American Forest Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters offered their support for Empowering State Forestry to Improve Forest Health Act of 2018, a bill introduced by Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Glenn Thompson, R-Pa. This bipartisan legislation would direct funding toward [read more]

There is a great deal of good work that can be done administratively on the part of the USDA Forest Service to encourage more active federal forest management. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters has submitted extensive comments on the USDA Forest Service's plan to revise its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and planning procedures. [read more]

Individuals, organizations honored for exemplary commitment to community wildland fire protection. WASHINGTON—The Wildfire Mitigation Awards committee has announced the 2018 Wildfire Mitigation Award winners. Established in 2014, the awards are the highest commendation for innovation and leadership displayed by individuals and organizations committed to wildfire mitigation. The Wildfire Mitigation Awards are sponsored by the National Association [read more]

Nation's top state forester calls on congressional leadership to take action on a wildfire funding fix and federal forest management reform. WASHINGTON—In a letter to Senate and House leadership today, the president of the National Association of State Foresters asked that Congress: (1) address funding for wildfire suppression, which is now subsuming most of the USDA Forest Service budget, and [read more]

WASHINGTON — The National Association of State Foresters was pleased to see bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate yesterday that would allow forest management projects undertaken with Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) to include necessary road repairs and reconstruction. “When properly and actively managed, forests provide a wealth of benefits, including clean drinking water for over 68,000 [read more]

Survey finds state forestry agencies are primary providers of forest management technical assistance to private landowners nationwide. WASHINGTON — According to the National Association of State Foresters’ newly released biennial survey, family forestland owners receive more forest management technical assistance from state forestry agencies than from any other source. In fact, state forestry agencies provided 222,560 technical assists [read more]

Montana senator honored by state foresters for his leadership in promoting federal forest policy. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters today presented Senator Steve Daines of Montana with the 2017 Bernard L. Orell Award, an honor presented periodically to a member of Congress who has made a significant contribution to state and private forestry.  More [read more]