State & Private Forestry
Redesign and Western FY08 Competitive Grant Process
Update June, 2008
In January, 2008, the U.S. Forest Service began implementing a “Redesigned” State and Private Forestry (S&PF) program. The S&PF Redesign effort was conceived in response to the combined impacts of increasing pressures on our nation’s forests and decreasing S&PF resources and funds. Significant threats to forests, such as insect and disease infestations, catastrophic fire, and the loss of critical forested landscapes to development, coupled with the pressure placed on local economies by the increasingly global nature of the forest products industry, point to the need for more progressive strategies for conserving our nation’s forest resources.
Over the past two and a half years, the U.S. Forest Service has been working closely with the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) to:
- Examine the current conditions and trends affecting forest lands,
- Review existing S&PF programs to determine how to best address threats to our forests, and
- Develop a strategy, including guiding principles and components of change, for delivering a relevant and meaningful set of S&PF programs, skills and opportunities.
In the West, grant monies, through the Competitive Grant Process, were granted in FY08 and will be avialable in FY09 to state forestry agencies. If you would like to contact your state agency click here . WFLC Members can obtain information on the western competitive process from our members' website .
For more information on the USFS State and Private Forestry Redesign, please see the US Forest Service Redesign website .
Building Success Through Partnership
The West’s State and Federal forestry leaders work collaboratively through the State and Private Forestry Programs (S&PF) to effectively address the region’s critical forest resource issues across ownerships and jurisdictions. These non-regulatory, incentive-based programs deliver expert advice and financial assistance to landowners and communities for the protection, management, and sustainability of their forest resources. In addition, research applications and forest inventories are critical to the management of forested lands in the West.
This inter-agency partnership maximizes both public and private resources and returns nearly $10 in non-federal contributions for every federal $1 invested. By combining their expertise and resources, the West’s state and federal forestry agencies are able to:
- Focus skills, staff, and financial assistance on large-scale resource challenges.
- Improve delivery of S&PF technical and financial assistance on the ground.
- Form stronger partnerships with localleaders, non-profit organizations, land management agencies, communities, universities, and other beneficiaries.
- Raise the profile and understanding of western natural resource issues.
- Speak with a unified western voice on forestry issues of mutual concern.
What people have to say about State & Private Forestry:
| “The grant funds our community
received through state and private
forestry has assisted us with our
tree inventories, GIS technology,
and training for our staff. This
technology is helping us manage
our urban forests in a more
efficient way, ensuring healthie and safer trees for our city.” – Paul Blumhardt, Bismarck city forester, ND |
“A beetle outbreak on adjacent
federal land was threatening
my five-acre forest. With the
pheromone the Forest Service
supplied and help from Idaho
State Lands in applying it,
I didn’t lose a single tree.”
– Terry Wall, private landowner, ID |
“We’ve been very apprehensive
the last few years that we’d have
to sell our land, and if it did
sell it would be developed.
My parents wanted it to remain
unspoiled and pristine, just as
it was the day we first saw it.
The Forest Legacy program is
helping us achieve that dream.” – Shirley & Grant Macfarlane, private landowners, UT |
For more information on State & Private Forestry please see the links below:
> State Forest Service Websites
> USDA Forest Service State & Private Forestry Main Page
> USDA Forest Service State & Private Forestry Intermountain Reporter, Fall 2006
Programs:
