FLA Asks Agencies to Carefully Consider Approach to Conserving and Defining “Old Growth”
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FLA Asks Agencies to Carefully Consider Approach to Conserving and Defining “Old Growth”

ByMichelle Cain

In response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14072: Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management on July 15, 2022, released a Request for Information to inform their approach to defining and conserving old growth and mature forests. While landowners can appreciate the cultural significance…

Every Day is Earth Day for Private Forest Landowners
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Every Day is Earth Day for Private Forest Landowners

ByMichelle Cain

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEApril 22, 2022 Private forests provide clean air, clean water and essential wildlife habitat Carrolton, GA – It’s Earth Day, which means it’s time to thank a private forest landowner. America’s forest landowners are working behind the scenes managing their forests not only for wood supply but to provide clean drinking water, remove…

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FLA Continues Push for Flexible Forest Management in Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Rule

ByMichelle Cain

In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced its proposal to change the status of the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) from “endangered” to “threatened.” The bird had been listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since its passage in 1973. The 4(d) rule associated with the downlisting included many caveats that…

Best Management Practices Recognized in Alligator Snapping Turtle Proposed Listing
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Best Management Practices Recognized in Alligator Snapping Turtle Proposed Listing

ByAmy Palmer

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) is proposing to list the alligator snapping turtle as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act with a Section 4(d) rule to tailor “take” prohibitions. This proposal is one of many recently proposed species listings that provide exceptions in the 4(d) rule for forest management activities…

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Muddied Waters, as EPA Moves to Revert to Restrictive Pre-2015 WOTUS Definition

ByAmy Palmer

After years of muddied waters, the Trump Administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule, offered clarity and definition of what a “navigable water” is to the issue of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) and the Clean Water Act (CWA), brought relief to forest landowners, farmers, small businesses and others. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and…

FLA Provides Private Forest Owner Perspective for USDA’s Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Program
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FLA Provides Private Forest Owner Perspective for USDA’s Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Program

ByAmy Palmer

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Program, which would serve to expand the use of climate-smart farming and forestry practices and aid markets for forest- or agriculture-sequestered carbon. In our comments to USDA, FLA emphasized, “The climate mitigation benefits of a privately managed forest begin with the…

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FLA Hosts Carbon Market Webinar with SilviaTerra

ByKatie Moss

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”] FLA hosted a webinar April 20 with SilviaTerra to inform our network of private landowners about voluntary carbon market opportunities for working forests of all sizes through SilviaTerra’s Natural Capital Exchange (NCAPX) program. FLA strives to provide…
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FLA Weighs in on Biden Administration’s ‘30 by 30’ Climate Initiative

ByAmy Palmer

In a meeting last month with USDA’s Robert Bonnie, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Senior Adviser for Climate, FLA laid out its position that working lands and working forests can play a critical role in reaching the Biden administration’s goal – detailed in an Executive Order signed in late January – of conserving…