At a hearing held by the Senate Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources in March 2023, Kansas State Forester and NASF Executive Committee member Jason Hartman testified on behalf of NASF regarding several opportunities to conserve and enhance America’s forests through the next Farm Bill.
State foresters recognize the Farm Bill as a unique opportunity to support rural America’s economic backbone and improve the quality of life for all Americans by enhancing support for America’s trees and forests.
Recent Farm Bills have been instrumental in elevating the role of forestry in conservation title programs. State forestry agencies are proactively involved in working with our federal counterparts to successfully implement these programs, providing invaluable support to small private landowners in their forest management needs. NASF appreciates the ongoing program support and attention in the Farm Bill that translates to tangible, on-the-ground progress through these collective efforts.
State foresters recognize the Farm Bill as a unique opportunity to support rural America’s economic backbone and improve the quality of life for all Americans by enhancing support for America’s trees and forests.The full text of Hartman’s testimony is linked below. It includes recommendations on NASF’s key issues: State Forest Action Plan Implementation Funding, Good Neighbor Authority, the Landscape Scale Restoration Program, an “All-Lands” Approach to Reforestation, the Conservation Reserve Program, Promoting Cross-Boundary Wildfire Mitigation, Source Water Protection and Stormwater Management, Post-Disaster Landowner Assistance and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, and Forestry Support Provided by Conservation Programs. This hearing was recorded and will be archived here.
View the press release for this testimony here.