NASF recently submitted a response to the Vibrant Cities & Urban Forests Task Force regarding their recommendations regarding the future of urban forestry in the United States. NASF's comments intend to (re)emphasize the important roles state forestry agencies have played in building community capacity to plant and maintain urban and community forests and are based [read more]
NASF and several partner organizations recently submitted comments to the Green Building Advisory Committee (GBAC) as it reviews green building certification systems. The groups urged the use of wood as a preferred green building materialand laid out principles for wood in green building certification systems.
Senators, states and conservation groups are urging the Senate to restore funding to programs that help prevent wildfires. The steep funding cuts proposed in a Senate Appropriations Committee draft spending bill would severely hamper agencies' ability to thin and burn forests vulnerable to severe wildfires.
NASF and a coalition of partners recently sent a letter to Congressional leaders on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee regarding funding for the Hazardous Fuels program under the Wildland Fire Management portion of the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and Department of the Interior (DOI) budgets. The Hazardous Fuels program serves as the primary source of funding [read more]
NASF recently signed on to a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction urging members to reject disproportionate cuts to Farm Bill programs as a part of any deficit reduction plan and consider the combined impact of the Farm Bill and the annual agricultural appropriations process. Mandatory farm bill conservation programs have been [read more]
New USDA Forest Service report documents environmental benefits of wood. WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters applauded a new report from the USDA Forest Service showing that wood is superior to other construction materials in terms of environmental benefits. The report, "Science Supporting the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Using Wood and Wood Products in [read more]
WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters elected a new slate of officers to its governing Executive Committee and agreed on several national policy positions at the association's 89th Annual Meeting last week in Baltimore, Maryland. Policy positions passed by resolution include goals for enhancing the U.S. share of global wood production, enhancing collaborative landscape-scale forest [read more]
Group of western senators sends letter Senate appropriators with an ask to maintain support for programs. WASHINGTON—A group of nine western senators is ringing the alarm about a 2012 proposal to cut support from two wildland fire prevention programs, the Hazardous Fuels and State Fire Assistance programs. These critical programs provide funding for work that [read more]
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision declaring stormwater management systems on forest roads as "point sources" subject to an NPDES permit. NASF supports the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act that has been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S 1369) and U.S. House of Representatives (HR 2541), which would amend the Clean Water Act [read more]
NASF joined seven other state health and environmental agencies in submitting comments to the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the scope of jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The comments come in response to a Federal Register notice issued in May on proposed guidance for the Identification of [read more]
