Congress recently approved a disaster relief package allocating $29 billion for agriculture, including targeted support for private forest landowners. This significant measure represents a pivotal step toward recovery for communities and industries devastated by hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other natural disasters over the past two years. Signed into law by President Biden, the package addresses…
In a significant victory for forest management, H.R. 8790, the Fix Our Forests Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support on September 24, 2024. This landmark bill, co-sponsored by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA), marks a crucial advancement in forest management policies that…
Late last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Chevron Doctrine, established in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (1984). The landmark ruling in Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Commerce (2024), authored by Chief Justice Roberts, marks a significant shift in the regulatory landscape. For forty years, the…
This month, several revisions to the Endangered Species Act regulations were finalized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While some of the revisions are beneficial for landowners, others are a step backward in our efforts to achieve flexibility and collaborative conservation. Service Streamlines Conservation Agreements On April 11th, the Service finalized their proposal to…
On October 3, 2023, FLA conducted a Timber Talk that showcased the journey of longleaf pine from the seedling to the stands. The event included a half-day program and tour at the new IFCO nursery in Windsor, South Carolina, followed by a half-day tour of family landowner Ben Christensen’s longleaf pine straw operations. At the…
Last year the Biden administration announced Executive Order 14072: “Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities and Local Economies.”, which tasked the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management with defining and inventorying old growth and mature forests on federal lands. The order cited the importance of old growth’s carbon sequestration and storage for climate mitigation as…
Private forests provide clean air, clean water and essential wildlife habitat This Saturday, April 22 is Earth Day and for private forest landowners, it’s business as usual, as caretakers of our nation’s forests. America’s forest landowners work behind the scenes every day managing their forests not only to supply wood and paper products, but to…
Update On April 10, FLA submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding this proposal. While we are encouraged by the efforts of the Service to streamline permitting and conservation agreements, we urge the Service to consider additional revisions that would further improve the regulations and help landowners better achieve collaborative species conservation…
WASHINGTON, DC –The Forest Landowners Association (FLA) commends the introduction of S. 217: The Disaster Reforestation Act, bipartisan legislation designed to allow private forest landowners to recover from the loss of timber destroyed by natural disasters. The bill, sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), would provide the economic certainty that…
On December 30, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S Department of the Armyreleased a notice of their final rule defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The final rule relies largely on pre-2015 guidance: starting with the 1986 regulations as a baseline and updated to include limitations by the Supreme Court on federal jurisdiction since…