BACKGROUND
Most of America's forests are owned by non-industrial private owners, the majority of whom are families and individuals.
While providing economic and other benefits to their owners, these forestlands also provide very important values to the American people including protection of water quality and quantity, wood that sustains our forest products industries, outdoor recreation, and wildlife habitat. Recently we have come to realize that forests are particularly important in the face of climate change. They remove carbon from the atmosphere, moderate temperatures in urban regions, mitigate the impacts of storms and floods, and are potentially the most important source of biofuels.
But forest landowners are under increasing economic pressure to divide up their lands and sell them for non-forest uses. The U.S. Forest Service predicts that we will lose 44 million acres of forest land by 2030. To retain their lands in trees in the years to come, forest landowners need the same kinds of assistance long provided to farmers (many of whom own woodlands themselves). This includes technical assistance, financial support for sound conservation management, restoration help after natural disasters, and reserve programs to retain ecologically important forests.
The attached legislative language would amend the Farm Bill to address these needs. Enactment of this language would help ensure that family forest landowners can afford to keep their land in forest management where they choose to do so, and that millions of acres of forested land would remain forested and would be managed to provide jobs and timber, as well as clean water, opportunities for fishing and hunting, buffers around important military installations, habitat for fish and wildlife and defense against a changing and more unpredictable climate.
I. CONSERVATION PROGRAMS (TITLE II)
Title II promotes conservation on America's working rural landscapes by providing incentives and payments for conservation practices on rural lands, primarily agricultural lands. In addition to our nation's farm and ranchland, hundreds of millions of acres of rural landscape are managed by family and individual forest landowners (many of whom are also farmers). Given the multiple values that these rural working forests provide, increased investments in family forests is a smart and productive investment of federal resources.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program
This Section amends EQIP to acknowledge the public benefits provided by private forest land and to increase opportunities for forest landowners to participate in EQIP's valuable programs. Among other things, the Section adds forests land to references to eligible land and practices, enumerates many of the forest management practices that may be undertaken through the EQIP cost share and incentive programs, and requires State Conservations to report on the outcomes achieved through forest management practices.
Healthy Forest Reserve Program
HFRP was enacted as part of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, to provide assistance to forest landowners in protecting habitat for listed species. HFRP provides for a range of landowner options, allowing for active management and other conservation practices. This section provides mandatory funding of $100 million annually for HFRP, and would allow permanent easements at the option of the landowner.
II. FORESTRY TITLE (TITLE VIII)
Forest Resource Assessment and Planning
Funding and resources for forests should be directed where they can have the greatest impact on forest conservation and management, and should deliver measurable results. Funding should be directed at priorities, should encourage multiple landowner cooperation across landscapes and watersheds, and should address issues on a scale that will make a difference on the ground. To this end, this Section amends Title VIII by adding a requirement for Statewide assessments and planning within two years of enactment. Assessments would identify critical forest resource areas and address threats to those areas. This proposal parallels the highly successful State Wildlife Plans recently completed by state fish and wildlife agencies
Plans should recommend interagency and private forest landowner activities to address issues and threats identified in the assessments. Development of assessments and plans must be undertaken collaboratively, with a range of public and private sector partners. The provision would authorize $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2009 and $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2012, though Interior Appropriations.
Forest Resource Planning Assistance to Local Governments
The fate of forest cover as a land use is significantly influenced by local government planning decisions associated with zoning, distribution of infrastructure, and development protocols. Forest resource information and related analyses are generally not incorporated into such planning. Consequently, community planners are often not adequately equipped to make informed decisions about the impacts of land use on forest resources. Under this Section Forest resource community planning assistance would be made available to local and regional government organizations seeking advice on such matters.
Assistance would be directed at analysis of impacts on forest health, productivity, ecosystem services and other economic and societal values. Technical support would also be provided by State Forestry agencies to assist in the interpretation of forest resource information and its application to land use planning efforts. There is authorized to be appropriated $6,000,000 annually, through Interior Appropriations.
Emergency Forest Restoration Program
Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many forest landowners suffered such economic losses to personal property that it was financially difficult to reinvest in reforestation and other restoration needs. This Section provides an incentive-based program to provide cost-share for forest resources damaged in a natural disaster (i.e., hurricane, wildfire, ice storm). The appropriate state agency would provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners on a voluntary basis to restore forests, fish and wildlife habitat on their property. To be eligible for the program, a property owner must have a restoration plan prepared for the eligible land by a professional forester or professional fish or wildlife biologist.
Community Forest and Open Space Program
This Section provides support for new community efforts to own and manage forests cooperatively, through establishment of a Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program. Community forests emerging across America range from non-profit cooperatives led by local interests to new municipal and county-owned forests. These lands are managed for multiple uses, meeting local needs for timber supplies, watershed protection, private landowner education, wildlife habitat and access for sportsmen, and other outdoor recreation opportunities.
This program catalyzes and supports local leadership through matching grants to municipalities, counties, and non-profits (at state option) to purchase community forests. Ten percent of all program funds would be allocated to state forestry agencies to provide technical assistance to these communities to support outstanding stewardship and effective multiple use management that serves all community needs. Authorized funding would be provided though Interior Appropriations.
ENERGY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Our organizations are supportive of a range of strategies involving woody biomass, cellulose-based fuels and carbon sequestration related to working forest lands. We look forward to reviewing and helping develop proposals as they evolve.
