State foresters celebrate the completion of 10-year Forest Action Plan revisions with videos depicting their agencies at work in support of forest health, resiliency, and productivity.
WASHINGTON—The National Association of State Foresters has announced the release of a four-part video series that introduces state forestry agencies and illustrates the many benefits of their work with landowners, partner groups, and forest stakeholders at large. The launch of the series coincides with the posting of the latest and greatest state Forest Action Plans—the best strategic guides available for coordinated forest management across all land ownerships.
After many months—and even years—of collecting public comments, hosting peer listening sessions, reviewing online survey submissions, and pouring over thousands of maps, data sets, and reports, each state and territorial forestry agency has completed a comprehensive revision of their Forest Action Plan.
“To celebrate the enormous effort that went into revising all 59 Forest Action Plans, we’ve released a video series all about how they’re put to work,” said Joe Fox, NASF president and Arkansas state forester. “Three of the videos are shorter in length, but packed full with interesting information about forest management, forest partnerships, and forest threats. A fourth, long-form video tells a story of collaboration, determination, and progress that forest stakeholders across the country can relate to.”
“Forest management is a present responsibility and a future gift,” Fox continued. “It takes planning ahead, prioritizing tight budgets, and of course, working together to ensure all the benefits forests provide. Forest Action Plans are the way we do it. In every state and U.S. territory, Forest Action Plans are designed to guide the work of forestry professionals and directly support the health, productivity, and resilience of America’s forests and trees.”
Diverse cultures and forest ecosystems require different forest management strategies: Forest Action Plans take these differences into account. This video series shows the diversity of forested landscapes across the U.S. with scenes of tree plantings in Nevada, forest restoration in Montana, wildland firefighters in California, volunteer trail crews in Vermont, pristine forest streams in Arkansas, and prescribed burning in Texas.
The new videos are available here on NASF’s YouTube channel. Creative assets for social media and strategic promotion of Forest Action Plans are included in a communications toolkit available here on NASF’s website. To learn more about Forest Action Plans, including their ten-year history as guides for forest management, visit www.stateforesters.org/forest-action-plans.