USFS invests over $2.88 million to restore forests

PORTLAND, ORE.–The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service invests over $2.88 million to fund five Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) projects in the Pacific Northwest for fiscal year 2024. This funding is part of a larger $12 million national investment in GNA projects for the same period.

These projects aim to enhance watersheds, restore forest health, and reduce wildfire risks in Washington and Oregon.

The funding, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, allows the Forest Service to partner directly with state agencies to support watershed restoration, improve forest health, and reduce wildfire risks through state-implemented projects.

Pacific Northwest Region projects for fiscal year 2024 include:

Oregon

• Oregon Department of Transportation: Received $485,000 to mitigate hazard trees along forest roads and state highways crossing Forest Service lands, improving access and safety.

• Oregon Department of Forestry's Federal Forest Restoration Program: Received $1 million to support forest restoration on federal lands, providing NEPA planning, commercial timber sale implementation, and restoration services.

• Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: Received $200,000 for priority fish passage projects, including the removal of the Pomeroy and Parrott Creek dams on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

Washington

• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: Received $200,000 to implement two aquatic organism passage projects on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

• Washington Department of Natural Resources' Forest Resiliency Division: Received $1 million to support forest restoration on federal lands, providing NEPA support, implementing commercial timber sales, conducting aquatic improvement projects, maintaining, and decommissioning forest roads, and other restoration efforts.

"These projects are important for forest health and resiliency," said Jacque Buchanan, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Regional Forester. "It's also good forest management to leverage the capacity, resources, and expertise across federal, state, Tribal, and local agencies. Using the Good Neighbor Authority strengthens our collective efforts and greatly benefits the local community."

Established by Congress in 2014 and amended in 2018, the Good Neighbor Authority provides federal land managers with a tool for creating management agreements with local governments. Forest health projects are identified and implemented at the local level and managed by states, Tribes, and county agencies.