Continuing the discussion from Procurement_Challenges:
Hi, I am new this week to the group.
Here is some information about each state that covers some of the questions/discussion above. We do not need to reinvent the wheel. Not sure what is available for Canada,
State Action plans, Best Management Practices and Legality are key foundational components.
- State Forest Action Plans: Forest Action Plans - National Association of State Foresters
- Timber Assurance: Timber Assurance - National Association of State Foresters (includes Forest Action Plans and BMPs)
- Best Management Practices Best Management Practices - National Association of State Foresters (includes Forest Action Plans)
State Action Plans : With the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress tasked the states and territories with assessing the condition of trees and forests within their boundaries, regardless of ownership, and developing strategies to: conserve working forest landscapes, protect forests from harm, and enhance public benefits from trees and forests.
The resulting state Forest Action Plans—completed in 2010, updated in 2015, and comprehensively revised in 2020 by all 59 states and territories—offer practical and comprehensive roadmaps for investing federal, state, local, and private resources where they can be most effective in achieving national conservation goals.
Timber Assurance: Since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, non-governmental organizations and their governmental counterparts have been developing systems and processes for providing assurances to consumers that the wood products they purchase originate from legal and/or sustainable sources.
The purpose of the timber assurance website is to present U.S. trading partners, governments, corporations, and other interested entities with information pertinent to the legality and sustainability of timber and wood products procured within the bounds of the United States and its territories. This information demonstrates realistic assurances of the low-risks posed from procuring U.S. forest-based products from illegal and/or unsustainable sources.
Best Management Practices: i t is estimated that more than 50 percent of the nation’s drinking water originates from forested landscapes. This means that state forestry agencies play a lead role in providing the United States with clean water. To ensure water quality is protected and soil stays in place, all states have developed BMPS for timber harvesting and forest management operations. Forestry best management practices (BMPs) are used to protect water quality during timber harvests and other forest management activities.
BMPs ensure that the equipment used in timber harvests and silvicultural activities like forest thinnings don’t inadvertently push sediment or brush into nearby waterways or promote erosion of stream banks. Some examples of BMPs include correctly planning and constructing forest roads (on the appropriate slopes, etc.), log landings, stream buffers, and stream crossings.
Most states began developing BMPs in the 1970s to encourage forest managers and loggers to take the necessary steps to protect water quality when undertaking silvicultural activities. Many states have similar BMPs and all states evaluate, test, revise, and adapt their BMPs over time. There is no federal law that requires forestry BMPs; in fact, the Clean Water Act exempts normal silvicultural activities from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements.
To provide a national-level evaluation of the effectiveness of BMPs, NASF conducts periodic surveys of all the state BMP programs. In 2015, NASF released a report, “Protecting Water Quality through State Forestry Best Management Practices,” which aimed to provide justification for greater investments in these state-led programs. Most recently, in 2019, NASF released “Protecting the Nation’s Water: State Forestry Agencies and Best Management Practices,” a national update on the use of BMPs.
All the best,
Pat Layton