Farm Bill 2012: Improving the Outlook for Forests
Forty Groups Call on Legislators to Streamline Key Conservation Funding Program, Enabling Partnerships with Non-Profits Organizations to Reduce Costs for State Agencies
(For Immediate Release – March 6, 2012) – A diverse network of forest land owners, state officials, environmental groups and land trusts are urging lawmakers to make it easier and more cost-effective for state agencies to conserve land by partnering with land trusts.
The USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program provides money to states to pay for public-private conservation efforts with fees generated by offshore oil and gas leases. It has conserved 2.2 million acres since its creation in the 1990 Farm Bill, but could do more if state agencies responsible for implementing the program could call on qualified land trusts to help hold and maintain conservation easements funded by the program, according to 40 groups from across the country. The groups signed on to a letter (download here) sent to the leaders and ranking members of the Senate and House Agriculture committees, which are holding hearings to reauthorize the next Farm Bill.
While Forest Legacy is a powerful tool for the conservation of working forestlands, the program is constrained by the fact that only governmental entities are allowed to hold the conservation easements it funds. Because easements entail ongoing stewardship and monitoring obligations from entities that hold them, Forest Legacy can require a substantial commitment of resources by state-implementing agencies. In this time of tightening budgets, these administrative costs can represent a considerable burden—and disincentive—for states to conserve land with Forest Legacy funds.
“States already can partner with land trusts to implement other key federal-state conservation programs, including the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program and conservation grants under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act,” said Laurie Wayburn, president of the Pacific Forest Trust, which helped bring the Forest Legacy program to California in 1995. “This approach encourages additional funding partnerships with the charitable sector, as well, given that philanthropies often prefer to give to non-profits rather than undertake what they see as a government obligation. Enabling Forest Legacy to follow suit would make this powerful program even better.”
Those who signed today’s letter have recommended a simple but influential change to the program to allow qualified, non-profit conservation organizations to hold easements funded by Forest Legacy. Such an amendment would significantly improve the program’s flexibility and reach, and would allow qualified groups to help state agencies streamline their role in implementing the program, Wayburn said.
“This limitation in the federal law places administrative burden on the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and can make it difficult for important conservation projects to leverage federal FLP funds with other funds,” CAL-FIRE Director Ken Pimlott wrote in a recent letter of support for the change. “Simply allowing state forestry agencies like CAL-FIRE the option of partnering with qualified nonprofit conservation organizations as easement holders would substantially reduce the state burden of monitoring and administering easements over time, while also providing an incentive for nonprofit organizations to bring their funding resources to a potential project.”
This change would cost nothing, but could represent a considerable cost savings for states and help precious Forest Legacy dollars go farther, Wayburn added. This option only would be exercised at the state’s discretion, and would necessitate no other changes to the Forest Legacy program.
In 2012 the Forest Legacy program will provide $5.2 million to protect more than 90,000 acres of working forestland from development in 17 states across the country. The funds are primarily awarded to state agencies to purchase conservation easements from willing landowners, ensuring their well-managed forests will stay standing in perpetuity. Both cost-effective and practical, conservation easements keep productive forestland intact, privately owned and contributing to local tax rolls. They conserve working landscapes that sustain rural economies while providing clean air and water, climate stabilization and other benefits serving people everywhere.
About the Pacific Forest Trust
The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is dedicated to sustaining America’s vital working forests for all their public benefits – wood, water, wildlife and a well-balanced climate. PFT strives to keep these vast and vital forests working by pursuing a comprehensive strategy to Retain, Sustain and Gain. PFT helps Retain our nation’s infrastructure by directly conserving critical forestlands in the Pacific West. PFT helps Sustain working forests by practicing state-of-the-art forest stewardship practices on the thousands of acres it manages in the Pacific West. And PFT helps landowners and the public Gain from working forests by leading regional and national efforts to develop new eco-system services that yield financial returns from management practices that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, enhance watershed quality and protect fish and wildlife habitat. The Pacific Forest Trust is headquartered in San Francisco, California and has additional offices in Oregon, Washington state, New England and Washington, D.C. To learn more about PFT, please visit: www.PacificForest.org.