FORESTRY Title Working Group Comments
BIOENERGY
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Recognizing forests as essential components of the Nation’s renewable energy portfolio. Forests are critical to the national and state priorities of energy independence and climate change mitigation. The 2012 Farm Bill should include policies and resources that keep forests as forests, reestablish forests on marginal lands, and encourage sustainable forest management on public and private lands. Wood biomass should include thinning cull wood and be harvested from sustainably-managed public and private forests should be included among the options available to generate electricity, heat, and biofuels.
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Bioenergy programs should reflect a better understanding of the benefits of utilizing forest residues for bioenergy.
EQIP/WHIP/OTHER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
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Expanding opportunities for family forest landowners to participate in EQIP, WHIP, and other
conservation programs. While the 2008 FB resulted in modest increases in participation in these programs by family forest landowners, enrollment opportunities and program success varied greatly by state. The 2012 Farm Bill should encourage family forest landowner participation by increasing the funding available to support forestry projects, encourage state foresters and state conservationists, working together through the state technical committees, to improve opportunities for forestry in the conservation programs and should also ensure that family forest landowners in every state have access to such programs.
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Severe weather events of the last several years have devastated forest in some parts of the
United States. It would be helpful if EQIP provided flexibility to adjust existing EQIP contracts on damaged forest land so that any remaining contract funding (approved for forest conservation
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 on damaged land) could be redirected to address the unexpected weather-related damage.
Emphasis on sustainability of native forest land or restoration of diverse forest suited to the site and provide adequate incentives to achieve this goal.
Allow eligibility of forestry program acres for public access programs such as the Voluntary
Public Access and Habitat Improvement Program.
PRIVATE SECTOR LANDS
 Examining how the federal government could use credits or other economic pathways to encourage the private sector economy to invest in the ecosystem services (clean air, clean water, and carbon sequestration for example) provided by private landowners.
FIRES/BURNINGS
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Farm Bill conservation and forestry program funds should not be redirected to other purposes such as fighting wildfires.
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Increase capacity for prescribed burning on private lands to improve forest health and enhance wildlife habitat – additional positions are needed to provide prescribed burn technical assistance to landowners as well as program support to compensate landowners to engage conservation contractors to perform needed prescribed burns.

 Continuing efforts that ensure forests of all ownerships are protected from the ravages of wildfire and destructive organisms.
STATE FORESTERS/DEPARTMENTS
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Strengthening relationships among USDA agencies and the State Foresters . State forestry agencies provide essential “boots on the ground” infrastructure that includes delivering technical and financial assistance to landowners, administering best management practices (BMP) programs and forest practices regulations, and implementing conservation tools such as easements. State Foresters are uniquely positioned to deliver conservation programs in collaboration with USDA agencies including NRCS, FSA, Rural Development, and the US Forest Service, and local partners such as Conservation Districts. Secretary Vilsack’s vision of an “All-lands” approach to forest management can best be met by strong partnerships among federal, state, and local agencies, and the 2012 Farm Bill should provide meaningful support to that end. States should be held accountable and asked to show performance measures and results
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Capitalizing on the State Forest Resource Assessment and Response Strategies.
The
2008 Farm Bill required state forestry agencies to assess forest resource conditions, trends, and threats, and to develop strategies that focus resources on priority landscapes and issues. In order to capitalize on this effort, the 2012 Farm Bill should enhance state forestry agency capabilities to take action on identified priorities.
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Ensure adequate funding is authorized to increase capacity of state and local agencies to help deliver quality technical assistance to landowners for all forestry programs and practices. Conservation requires resource professionals to meet with landowners on their land and design systems that meet contemporary conservation needs. In addition, adequate staffing and/or funding resources are needed for USDA to monitor Farm Bill conservation program implementation to ensure practices deliver the natural resource benefits intended.
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Forest Stewardship and Forest Legacy programs should utilize the State Wildlife Action
Plans, National Fish Habitat Action Plans and State Forest Resource and Assessment
Strategies to determine state forest priorities during program implementation to maximize taxpayer investment in federal conservation programs.
SPECIFIC FOREST PROGRAMS
HEALTH FOREST RESERVE
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Authorize the Healthy Forest Reserve Program at a minimum of $50 million per year and extend the program to more states than has been the case to date.
WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
 Maintaining initiatives such as the Watershed Forestry Assistance Program, which ties program delivery to selected watersheds, making it one of the most effective methods of ensuring landscape-scale results.
FOREST LEGACY
 Increase authorization for Forest Legacy to $150 million annually because landowner demand and resource progress potential continues to grow.

NATIVE/NON-NATIVE/ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEMS
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Increasing capacity to protect forests from non-native pests, plants, and diseases.
The benefits provided by Midwestern forests are threatened by a host of non-native insects, diseases, and plants. Expanded federal-state partnerships in prevention, early detection, and mitigation are essential to protect our forests.
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Forestry programs and practices must promote healthy native forest ecosystems that are sustainable (i.e. not converted to monoculture plantings) and do not put forests on non-forest sites (i.e. native prairie landscapes).
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The Endangered Species Tax deduction provision as outlined within the 2008 Farm Bill should be continued and eligibility extended to non-industrial private forest land managed to sustain a native plant community consistent with needs of the target species and the ecosystem in which the land is located.
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Forestry programs should include funding authorization for practices that allow landowners to comply with federal and state BMP’s for aquatic resources protection. In these times of economic downturn and suppressed timber markets, it is particularly important that Farm Bill programs are constructed in ways that result in implementation of BMPs that conserve the integrity of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
 Require the use of native and ecologically site appropriate tree species and planting densities for energy or carbon sequestration initiatives, programs or practices.
MISC.
 Focusing USDA efforts on maintaining blocks of working and managed forestlands.
Conservation easements have been an effective tool.
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Support programs that provide timely forest product market information, trend monitoring, surveys, analysis, and reports.
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Authorize a carbon market trading system to stimulate investments in afforestation or reforestation projects, streamside forest buffers, and other tree planting efforts.