Guest post by the USDA Forest Service Eastern Region | This is a cross-post that also appears here on the USDA Forest Service's website Working hand-in-hand with state partners, the Forest Service created a summary report that identifies common themes across 21 state Forest Action Plans, providing a roadmap for collaboration and shared priorities for [read more]
By Marvin Brown | This blog is a cross-post and will appear in the Summer 2021 edition of the National Woodlands Magazine. Landowner assistance programs are a core function of state forestry agencies. States combine their own funds with support from the USDA Forest Service Stewardship Program to provide landowners with information, education, and plans [read more]
By Robyn Whitney Last week before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen provided glowing testimony on the efficacy of state and private forestry programs, including those most important to state foresters and their agencies. Below are a few choice excerpts from the hearing: On Forest [read more]
By Whitney Forman-Cook | This blog is a cross-post and will appear in the Winter 2021 edition of the National Woodlands Magazine. WHAT ARE FOREST ACTION PLANS? Healthy forests in America are critical to public health and well-being and are part of our national infrastructure just like roads and bridges. They filter our air and [read more]
By Tyler Hoguet You generally won't see the Firefighter Property Program (FFP) and the Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program included in NASF's annual appropriations recommendations; however, state foresters know that FEPP and FFP are instrumental in helping their agencies fight wildfire nationwide. Both FEPP and FFP help state and local agencies secure much needed firefighting [read more]
By Tyler Hoguet This week was a busy one for state foresters on Capitol Hill. George Geissler, Laura McCarthy, and Thom Porter all appeared (virtually) before members of Congress this week to discuss the difficulties of fighting wildfire during the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington State Forester George Geissler’s testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources [read more]
The Interagency Fire Occurrence Reporting Modules – or InFORM, for short – drastically streamlines the business of wildland fire reporting. Not only does InFORM eliminate redundant data entry, it also improves the quality, completeness, and usability of that data. InFORM Capabilities Because InFORM is built on top of Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN), it [read more]
Wow! The 2020 Smokey Bear Pocket Planners sold out quick! We won’t be doing a reprint of 2020 planners, but there’s good news for next year: you can guarantee your order of 2021 planners (1) by choosing to customize your planner covers or (2) by placing a pre-order for standard covers. To lock in your [read more]
It was a productive week in Orlando, Florida, for the over 110 attendees of the 2020 NASF CMS-Wildland Fire Committee Meeting! This year's meeting participants weighed in on a diversity of wildfire issues, including the policies, technologies, and procedures used to prevent, mitigate, and fight wildfires nationwide. A long list of national leaders from land [read more]
By Josh Knoll In response to a devastating wildfire year in 2018—and in anticipation of the wildfire year ahead of us—Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas has reintroduced the Resilient Federal Forests Act, bipartisan legislation that would expedite National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review for necessary salvage harvests by expanding the use of “categorical exclusions,” or [read more]
