WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters elected a new slate of officers to its governing Executive Committee and agreed on a number of national policy positions at the association's 87th Annual Meeting last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Steven W. Koehn, State Forester of Maryland, will lead NASF as president in 2009-2010. Mr. Koehn is the [read more]
Senate action is another step toward solving wildfire suppression drain on forestry programs. WASHINGTON—Senate leaders unanimously approved the creation of a separate source of funding for federal agencies to suppress large-scale wildfires via an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill (passed September 24). The Federal Land Assistance Management and Enhancement Fund ("FLAME" fund) is designed [read more]
WASHINGTON—In a recent letter to U.S Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) applauded the new vision he shared for America's forests during an August 14 address in Seattle. State Foresters have a long history of working cooperatively with the Forest Service and were pleased to see the secretary [read more]
In a recent letter to U.S Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) applauded the new vision he shared for America's forests during an August 14 address in Seattle. State Foresters have a long history of working cooperatively with the Forest Service and were pleased to see the secretary [read more]
NASF president and Kentucky State Forester Leah W. MacSwords testified at a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today on behalf of the Partner Caucus on Fire Suppression Funding Solutions. The members of the Partner Caucus urge passage of the FLAME Act (S. 561) that would create a partitioned wildfire suppression account [read more]
Smokey Bear stars in new CG-animated PSAs and appears on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube in time for July 4th. WASHINGTON—The Advertising Council joined today with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters to launch a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to celebrate Smokey Bear's 65th birthday and provide [read more]
WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters praised the appointment of Tom Tidwell as Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, announced today by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Tidwell was selected to replace Gail Kimbell, who has served as chief of the agency since January 2007. "State Foresters look forward to working with Chief [read more]
Maryland State Forester and NASF Vice President Steven Koehn testified in Washington, DC, this week before the House Ag Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry. The object of the hearing was to discuss the future of forestry policy in the United States. "State Foresters believe it is important to reestablish effective programs that [read more]
On May 18, NASF signed on with more than forty organizations to a joint letter to U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment leadership urging the inclusion of forestry offsets in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Waxman-Markey). This is part of NASF's ongoing [read more]
State Foresters were pleased with federal support for the nation's forests as demonstrated in President Obama's proposed FY2010 budget released earlier this month. The budget included $306 million for the U.S. Forest Service's State and Private Forestry program, a $40 million increase over the 2009 omnibus. While this show of support is appreciated during austere [read more]
