The state of Idaho and Forest Service today renewed an agreement that will continue and expand their joint work to manage forests within the Gem State.
“We have a rare opportunity to shift the trajectory. In a state where two-thirds of our land is federally owned, close collaboration between the state and the feds is not optional. It's necessary,” Governor Brad Little said during a ceremony in the governor’s conference room.
Idaho and the Forest Service have worked closely together since the two inked a “Good Neighbor Authority” agreement in 2016. That allowed Idaho to participate in forest management activities, including timber harvests, on federal land within the state.
Two years later, the two entities signed a “Shared Stewardship” agreement, in which they agreed to take a “no boundaries” approach to managing federal, state and privately-owned land. The document signed today updates that agreement.
“Modern management activities include sustainable timber harvest, prescribed fire, a suite of science-based practices that support resilient ecosystems. This broader approach allows us to reduce fuels at a meaningful scale, protecting communities, improving forest health, strengthening local economies,” Little said.
The new agreement calls for doubling the amount of timber harvested from national forest land in the state.
“The agency has developed and deployed a national active management strategy that projects a 25% increase in the volume of timber outputs sold over the next four years,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz.
“When we talk about selling timber, what that means is it allows us to implement our forest plans. It ensures that we improve wildlife habitat, fish habitat restoration, and all that comes from that. So when we talk about timber outputs, it means different things to different people. But for us at the Forest Service, it really epitomizes the conservation strategies that we're looking to implement,” he said.
Schultz praised Idaho for its receptiveness to federal partnership opportunities. He says his agency has 30 “Good Neighbor Authority” agreements with Idaho counties, tribes and the state.
Dustin Miller, the director of the Idaho Department of Lands, says the state has carried out 64 “Good Neighbor Authority” timber sales since the 2016 agreement was signed. He says crews have harvested more than 200 million board feet of timber, bringing more than $21 million to the state coffers.
Little says Idaho is in a good position to accept the project increase in the supply of timber.
“We still have very modern, viable sawmills, timber families that harvest,” he said. “The Forest Service will be providing the state with some funding as well. We're probably going to have $4 million of upfront funding to help kind of kickstart this process, so that's another contribution.”
Little says the signed agreement with the federal government will give some permanency to land management efforts in Idaho.
“This cannot be a one-time initiative or a glossy plan destined for a shelf. It must be sustainable, landscape-wide efforts that truly moves the needle. Administrations will change. Congress will change. We need long-term certainty and public confidence,” he said.
