News

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]

WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters has offered its support for the Growing Climate Solutions Act (S. 3894), a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Mike Braun of Indiana and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. "Right now, a lack of reliable information and limited access to qualified technical assistance providers and credit protocol verifiers are hindering landowner [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]

WASHINGTON—The USDA Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council today announced a new public service advertising (PSA) campaign to help Americans recreate safely and responsibly outdoors. The new PSAs include wildfire prevention and safe recreation tips for families and individuals to keep in mind while enjoying public lands or their [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]

Due to COVID-19 constraints, the deadline for state and territorial forestry agencies to submit 10-year Forest Action Plan revisions has been postponed to December 31, 2020. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters' request to extend the deadline for Forest Action Plan revisions  to Dec. 31, 2020 has been adopted by the USDA Forest Service. This [read more]