Implementing the Recovery Act at the U.S. Forest Service
Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)
In addition to creating and saving private sector jobs, funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or The Act, will help address a wide range of conservation issues, including the impacts of climate change, reduced tree vigor, and increased wildfires.
The focus of Hazardous Fuels Reduction projects will help protect communities from large, unnaturally severe fires and contribute to the restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems, thereby helping to foster fire-adapted communities well into the future. The Hazardous Fuels Reduction funding of The Act will create private sector jobs and retain private sector jobs where they are at risk. The funding will also help create incentives to utilize biomass generated from fuels reduction projects for renewable energy production.
Maintaining and restoring the Nation’s forests and grasslands that serve as a critical source of clean, freshwater for the American public will be a focus of project implementation in the Economic Recovery Act. National Forest System lands contribute about 18% of the country’s freshwater resources, and in the Western U.S., this volume increases to about 53%.
The Economic Recovery package affords the chance to reinvigorate the economy for America, with help by the Forest Service with all mission areas contributing. What does it mean to the R&D mission area? It means the opportunity to contribute so we can maximize the number of jobs; target investments; and, help ensure new investments build on current work. Research has a direct need for facilities improvements that generate jobs. In addition, R & D serves a key support role for other agency activities in our ability to monitor, analyze, provide decision support, and deploy new technology.
The Forest Service is engaged on numerous fronts with partners that can improve overall capacity and ability to respond to the Recovery Act. Efforts will span both internal and external endeavors – contributing to the creation of efficient business processes, improved public accessibility and engagement, and heightened accountability. Our partners are eager to help us implement a recovery framework that generates jobs, supports rural communities and provides environmental benefit.
All of these efforts recognize the close tie that exists between rural communities and other partners and cooperators. Partners joined with public resources will work towards the short-term goal of private sector job creation as well as the longer term triple bottom line: ecological benefit, economic growth and social well-being. Through these efforts we will achieve land management objectives within the context of community need and benefit.
The Recovery Act will provide private sector employment for thousands of people to maintain and enhance the Forest Service’s recreational infrastructure, including trails and developed sites. The agency has the largest network of trails in the world and these funds will enable the agency to work with partners to begin to address the maintenance backlog.
These funds will be used to protect private sector jobs at risk at many existing concessions, outfitter and guides, recreation lodges and related business by addressing the need to repair basic infrastructure and enhancing the quality of the recreation experience on which they depend.
The Biomass Utilization Team would use additional resources contained in the Recovery Act to improve estimates of woody biomass supply under various fuels treatment, insect and disease outbreak and storm damage scenarios. We would develop and help deploy integrated management, production, utilization, and conversion systems and technologies for bio-based products and bioenergy. In addition we would provide economical and environmentally acceptable woody cropping systems at multiple operational scales, and integrated management systems for feedstock production.
