On Thursday Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Crapo (R-ID) introduced the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, aimed at ending the cycle of fire borrowing at the USDA Forest Service and Department of the Interior. Late in federal fiscal year 2013 the USDA Forest Service transferred more than $600 million from non-fire accounts to cover the cost of [read more]
This week's hearing before the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry and Natural Resources came months after the Forest Service for the seventh time in a dozen years ran out of money to fight fires, forcing the agency to draw down accounts for research, capital improvements, reforestation and timber planning. Two Republican and two Democratic [read more]
After years of delays, public negotiations on a new five-year Farm Bill are scheduled to begin next week, lawmakers announced Wednesday. The first public meeting of the Farm Bill conference committee will be held on the Oct. 30, and will be chaired by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). Congress has until Jan. 1 [read more]
This week the House named conferees to participate in Farm Bill negotiations with previously appointed Senate conferees. The appointment clears the way for the two chambers to officially meet and begin work to reconcile differences in the House and Senate Farm Bills. The 2008 Farm Bill expired at the end of federal fiscal year 2013, [read more]
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack largely defended the federal government’s management of national forests amid criticisms that massive buildups of hazardous fuels have added to wildfires’ intensity. The secretary blamed this year’s budget sequestration for cutting the agency’s funding and said he’ll be working with congress this fall to establish “a larger and more significant [read more]
US Sen. Jon Tester’s long-stalled forest bill, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, which would newly designate acreage for both wilderness and logging in three Montana forests, could be finding some new momentum, the senator and bill supporters say. Tester’s bill was introduced in 2009. It designates at least 100,000 acres of national forestland for [read more]
This week both USDA Deputy Secretary nominee Krysta Harden and USDA Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment nominee Robert Bonnie were confirmed by the Senate. NASF congratulates Ms. Harden and Mr. Bonnie on their appointments and is excited to work with both on important forestry issues.
A bipartisan group of Senators (Senators Angus King (I-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)) have introduced the Biomass Thermal Utilization (BTU) Act to include automated, high efficiency pellet stoves and boilers in the category of renewable energy that qualify for tax credits. By adding tax credits for modern wood and pellet stoves, [read more]
Earlier this week, the Senate voted to approve passage of the Farm Bill (S. 954). The bill includes a number of notable forestry-related provisions including: Clarifies authority for the USDA Forest Service to facilitate a national coordinated response to wildland fire by providing states access to resources and mobilization infrastructure (i.e. fixes the wildland fire [read more]
This week the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture both voted to approve and send their versions of a 5-year Farm Bill to their respective floors. Debate on the Farm Bill in the House is expected sometime in June following the Memorial Day recess. The Senate is expected to [read more]
