This afternoon NASF President Randy Dye testified before the House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry regarding the 2012 Farm Bill. Mr. Dye submitted priority recommendations to the Subcommittee and spoke about the importance of Forest Action Plans as a resource providing an analysis of forest conditions and trends for each state and territory.
Mr. Dye also addressed threats to forests that were identified by the Forest Action Plans. Some of the items identified include forest pests and invasive plants, fuel loads and wildland fire, loss of forests to development and the negative impacts these losses pose to clean water, and threats to urban and community forests. He also highlighted the Forest Action Plans as resource to provide long-term strategies for applying state, federal and other resources where they can be most effective. Mr. Dye communicated that the State Foresters would like the 2012 Farm Bill to provide the necessary financial and analytical support to implement and update the Forest Action Plans and outlined other recommendations to the Subcommittee.