When properly and actively managed, forests provide a wealth of benefits, including clean drinking water for over 68,000 American communities, millions of recreational and job opportunities, and critical wildlife habitat.
Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) allows the USDA Forest Service to enter into agreements of up to ten years with state forestry agencies to implement this critically important management work on national forests when the Forest Service is unable to do the work alone.
It is simply good government for forest management to be undertaken in the most timely and cost-efficient manner. Good Neighbor Authority helps us do that.
Since GNA was first authorized by Congress with the 2014 Farm Bill, at least 38 states have broken ground on more than 490 GNA projects. Through these GNA projects, states are contributing to the restoration of federal forests on a scale never before realized.
As a result of GNA’s success, Congress expanded Good Neighbor authorities to allow necessary road reconstruction and repairs (with the FY 2018 appropriations omnibus) and to empower tribes and counties to enter into GNA agreements (with the 2018 Farm Bill). Additionally, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) allocates funding through FY 2026 for federal, state, and tribal authorities that enter GNA agreements for ecosystem restoration projects under the Tribal Forest Protection Act.
