Release No. 0383.09
Contact: USDA Office of Communications (202)
720-4623
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES NEW
DIRECTION AND VISION FOR AMERICA'S FORESTS
SEATTLE,
August 14, 2009 -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today outlined his vision
for the future of our nation's forests.
In his first major speech
regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, Vilsack set forth
a new direction for conservation, management, and restoration of these natural
treasures.
"Our nation's forestlands, both public and private,
are environmental and economic assets that are in critical need of restoration
and conservation," said Vilsack. "By using a collaborative management approach
with a heavy focus on restoring these natural resources, we can make our forests
more resilient to climate change, protect water resources, and improve forest
health while creating jobs and opportunities."
Climate change,
catastrophic fires, disease and pests have all led to declining forest health in
recent decades. The resulting impact on watersheds, the climate, local
economies, wildlife, and recreation, has led the USDA to offer a new vision for
our nation's forests.
By taking forest management in a new direction,
the Department will emphasize the role our national forestlands play in
contributing to the health and prosperity of the country and reverse the trend
of declining forest health.
"Declining forest health and the
effects of our changing climate have resulted in an increasing number of
catastrophic wildfires and insect outbreaks," said Vilsack.
"It is time
for a change in the way we view and manage America's forestlands with an eye
towards the future. This will require a new approach that engages the
American people and stakeholders in conserving and restoring both our National
Forests and our privately-owned forests.
It is essential that we
reconnect Americans across the nation with the natural resources and landscapes
that sustain us."
In addition, the new approach to
managing our forests aims to secure the nation's water supply.
Watersheds with a large proportion of forest cover are more likely to be
associated with good water quality, with forests protecting soil, moderating
streamflow, supporting healthy aquatic systems, and sustaining good water
quality.
President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is one
component of this new direction that USDA has already begun to implement.
Through the Recovery Act, the Obama Administration is funding 512
projects that will create jobs restoring our nation's private, state and
national forests through hazardous fuel reduction, forest health protection,
rehabilitation, and hazard mitigation activities. Nearly 170 of these
projects will help maintain our forests to reduce the potential for fires.
Meanwhile, 30 of these projects, funded at $57 million, will
promote the development of biofuels from woody biomass to help private sector
businesses establish renewable energy infrastructure, create green jobs and
build a new, green economy for the 21st century.
The U.S. Forest
Service manages national forests and grasslands encompassing 193 million acres
of land, which is an area equivalent to the size of Texas. With over 80% of the
forest area in the United States outside of the National Forest System, the new
vision seeks to increase public-private cooperation regarding the conservation
and restoration practices to non-federal forests -- state, tribal and private
forest lands. The Administration's plan calls for the U.S. Forest Service to
play a leading role in the development of new markets to sustain the economic
viability of forest stewardship and provide landowners with economic incentives
to maintain and restore forests.
National forestlands produce economic
benefits from a diverse range of sources including recreation and more than 200
hydroelectric plants operated in national forest watersheds. With more than 192
million visitors to National Forests in 2008, local communities throughout the
country benefit economically from those who recreate on and near forestlands and
high-quality water bodies protected by forested watersheds.
A healthy and
prosperous America relies on the health of our nation's forests:
--
Nearly 87% of all of the country's fresh water supply originates from forests
and agricultural lands and more than 200 million people rely on their drinking
water from public and private forests and grasslands;
-- 53% of the
Nation's total water supply originates from public and private forest
lands;
-- More than 900 cities rely on national forest
watersheds;
-- 3,400 public water systems serving 66 million people in 33
states are supplied by watersheds with Forest Service land;
-- Public and
private forests in the 20 Northeastern and Midwestern States help to protect
more the 1,600 drinking water supplies supplying more than 4 trillion gallons
per day to households of more than 52 million Americans;
-- 80% of the
forest area in the United States is outside of the National Forest
System;
-- The estimated annual value of water from national forests for
in-stream uses is at least $3.7 billion.
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