Forest and Timber

U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, and John Barrasso (R-WY), Ranking Member of the ENR Committee, introduced the Promoting Effective Forest Management Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation would reduce catastrophic wildfire risk and improve forest health.

Congressman Tom Tiffany’s (WI-07) bill, H.R. 1567, the Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions (ACRES) Act, passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives almost unanimously.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is awarding more than $1 billion in competitive grants to plant and maintain trees, combat extreme heat and climate change, and improve access to nature in cities, towns, and suburbs where more than 84% of Americans live, work, and play.

Forest thinning is improving the robustness of older trees and enhancing native biodiversity on federal lands in eastern Oregon, evidence that collaborative efforts to restore forests are working, research by Oregon State University shows.

The Senate Agriculture Committee once again released a newsletter entitled "Farm Bill 101: Forestry." The one-pager is designed to be easily digestible and explain how the bill helps in forestry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced it will invest $16.2 million to restore forests across tribal, state and private lands.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making $150 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history, available to help underserved and small acreage forest landowners connect to emerging voluntary climate markets.

The Smoke Management Plan regulates prescribed burning on forest land aimed at reducing fuel loading, restoring forest ecosystems, and potentially reducing the risk to communities from catastrophic wildfires, while minimizing air quality impacts from smoke.

The announcement comes after $197 million was awarded to 99 project proposals across 22 states and seven Tribes during the first year of funding.

On Tuesday, central Washington’s Dan Newhouse, Chair of the Western Caucus, and California’s Doug LaMalfa, Vice Chair, introduced the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023.  In addition House Legislation, companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Wyoming's Cynthia Lummis.   Supporters o...