USDA Investing $188M to Conserve Working Forestland
WASHINGTON — The Department of Agriculture is investing $188 million in the conservation of what the Biden administration has deemed some of the most economically and ecologically significant forestlands in the nation.
The funding will support 34 projects to conserve more than 245,000 acres of working forests that are critical to rural economies in 22 states and one island territory, as part of the department’s Forest Legacy program.
Of the total funding, $100 million is coming from the Inflation Reduction Act, while $88 million comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
“These forests, identified by state, tribal and nonprofit partners as vital to local communities, are critical to the health of our planet and the livelihoods of millions of Americans,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a written statement.
“As private forest landowners continue to face pressures to convert forests, the Forest Legacy program keeps working forests working,” he said.
The Forest Service shared news about the fiscal year 2023 Forest Legacy investments earlier at an event in Rangeley, Maine, where Gov. Janet Mills, and partners including The Nature Conservancy and Trust for Public Land, celebrated the completion of the Quill Hill to Perham project.
The 14,000-acre project was undertaken to support wildlife habitat and recreation use, while contributing $6 million to the local sustainable timber economy.
Under the program, states, with input and in coordination with tribes and nonprofits, will use land easements and purchases to conserve the most ecologically and economically important forests that are under threat of being converted to non-forest uses.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
