Wildfire, pests, and disease are landscape-wide forest threats that must be addressed at the landscape scale. Improvements to Good Neighbor Authority will help state, local, tribal, and federal agencies work together—across boundaries—to tackle these threats with active forest management. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters is proud to support legislation introduced by Idaho lawmakers Senator [read more]
Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, an ailing national economy, and a substantial backlog in federal forest management and rural infrastructure maintenance, the nation's state foresters have put forth a policy platform designed to bolster the forestry supply chain in the United States. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters, composed of the forestry agency directors in the [read more]
Greater support for state forestry agencies and their work to sustain, enhance, and protect America's forests is needed now more than ever. Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, an ailing national economy, and a substantial backlog in federal forest management and rural infrastructure maintenance, the nation's state foresters have put forth a policy platform designed to bolster [read more]
On June 30, the National Association of State Foresters submitted comments on the current Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standards Revision Process: There is one area of the SFI standards – specific to the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program – that we would like to offer revisions to. In the past five years, several forest [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]
At a virtual hearing held by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources today, Washington State Forester George Geissler testified on behalf of NASF as to the status of wildfire suppression operations and policies given current COVID-19 considerations. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges for wildland fire professionals, including, but certainly not limited [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]
State foresters—citing their current contributions to America's forest products supply chain—justify increased funding for the implementation of state Forest Action Plans in future stimulus legislation. WASHINGTON—A dedicated $3 billion in stimulus funding for implementing state Forest Action Plans, as recently suggested by House members, would give state forestry agencies the resources they need to help [read more]
