Restoration creates thousands of jobs, protects communities from wildfire
Restoration creates thousands of jobs, protects communities from wildfire
19 December 2012
published by www.fs.fed.us
USA — A Forest Service restoration program created and maintained more than 4,500 jobs in Fiscal Year 2012 and improved the fire-resiliency of 380,000 acres of forestland near communities from 2010-2012, according to a new report.
The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program was created in 2009 to restore priority forested landscapes, promote job stability, create a reliable wood supply, improve forest health and reduce emergency wildfire costs across the United States.All of the projects managed under this program are on track to meet their 10-year goals, which cumulatively include treating more than 4 million acres of forest to make them more resilient to wildfire and producing 670 million cubic feet of timber. The projects will also restore 1.6 million acres of wildlife habitat and 3,000 miles of streams.
The people and communities involved in this program should take great pride in the work they accomplished this year, said USDA Under Secretary Harris Sherman. These projects represent real progress in bolstering rural economies while conserving our forests for future generations of Americans.
In addition to creating jobs and protecting communities from wildfire, the 23 projects managed under the program:
- sold some 94.1 million cubic feet of timber
- produced 1.2 green tons of woody biomass for energy use
- generated $320 million of labor income
- reduced fuel for megafire on 229,000 acres away from communities
- improved 537,000 acres of wildlife habitat
- restored 394 miles of fish habitat
- enhanced clean water supplies by improving or decommissioning 6,000 miles of eroding roads
The Forest Service restored an additional 4 million acres of national forests through other wildfire fuel-reduction and habitat restoration efforts in 2012.
By directly working with communities and local organizations on these projects, we are able to accelerate restoration work on 500,000 forest acres while providing sustainable jobs in rural communities, said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. These projects benefit people, water, wildlife and local economies, and reflect our nations strong legacy of caring for the land and serving people.
Covering a third of the United States, forests store and filter half of the countrys water supply and absorb 20 percent of the countrys carbon emissions. With record wildfires scorching 9 million acres in 2012, and costs of fighting those fires rising, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program is using the best-available science to make strides to reverse this trend.
Ten of the original project sites have received three years of funding. Ten new sites funded under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program and three additional funded as High Priority Restoration Projects were selected in February 2012. The program needs sustained funding through 2019 to achieve its 10-year goals. Since its inception, investment in these projects has steadily increased. In Fiscal Year 2010 Congress appropriated $10 million, $25 million in Fiscal Year 2011, and $40 million in Fiscal Year 2012.
The three High Priority Restoration Projects are:
- Arkansas: Ozark Highlands Ecosystem Collaborative Landscape Restoration
- Missouri: Pine-Oak Woodlands Collaborative Landscape Restoration
- Washington: Northeast WA Forest Vision 2020 Collaborative Landscape Restoration
The 20 Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration projects are:
- Arizona:
Four Forests Restoration Initiative
- Colorado:
Front Range
Uncompaghre Plateau
- Florida:
Accelerating Longleaf Pine Restoration
- Montana:
Southwest Crown of the Continent
- Washington:
Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative - Arkansas and Oklahoma:
Ouachita Shortleaf-Bluestem Community Collaborative Landscape Restoration
- California:
Burney-Hat Creek Basins Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Amador Calaveras Cornerstone Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Dinkey Landscape
- Idaho:
Kootenai Valley Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Weiser-Little Salmon Headwaters Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Selway-Middle Fork Clearwater
- Mississippi:
De Soto Sustainable Forest Collaborative
- New Mexico:
Zuni Mountain Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Southwest Jemez Mountains
- North Carolina:
Grandfather Collaborative Landscape Restoration
- Oregon:
Lakeview Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Southern Blues Restoration Coalition Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Deschutes Skyline
The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Forest Service lands contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nations clean water supply, a value estimated at $27 billion per year.
###
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (toll-free customer service), (800) 877-8339 (local or federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (relay voice users).
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
Two summers of unprecedented rain and unusually cool temperatures have left a large fuel load of grass and unburnt forest areas in and around Canberra.
A network of 500 fire trails and strategic burns along the north-west urban edge, heavy grazing and extra grass slashing will create a fortress for the territory which forecasters say faces a higher than average risk this summer.
After a fire-fuelled tornado in January 2003 killed four Canberrans and frightened thousands more, CSIRO fire expert Phil Cheney told the subsequent inquiry the fire’s penetration into urban areas under extreme conditions did not reflect a failure of fuel management on the urban interface.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmaXNjum
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
