NASF joined a coalition of 163 organizations signing on to a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging the agency to correct the final Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule (Tailoring Rule), which would treat greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of biomass the same as such emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels.

The Forest Climate Working group writes to offer perspectives on three climate policy issues of particular importance to U.S. forests: carbon offset markets, supplmental incentives for domestic reductions outside of offset markets, and forest adaptation.

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 work with the Forest Climate Working Group coalition to ensure recognition of forestry in practical and effective federal climate change legislation.

We write today to explain why we believe that a robust domestic offsets program must be a central element of any such policy, and why further adjustments to the draft legislation would help achieve this end. To avoid excessive administrative complexity and cost, the emissions cap in any cap-and-trade program can only cover large sources of emissions. Within the uncapped sectors of the U.S. economy, however, there are cost-effective opportunities to reduce, destroy, avoid, and sequester greenhouse gas emissions. These opportunities can take the form of offset projects. We urge you to ensure that federal climate legislation takes full advantage of the tangible benefits offsets can offer for farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, American consumers, local ecosystems, and the global climate.

The National Association of State Foresters is committed to helping this administration provide the forestry leadership needed for our country.  Our recommended actions reflect the most pressing challenges facing our nation's forests and should be incorporated into an integrated approach to ensure healthy and sustainable forests for us and for future generations.