This was a welcome change and we thank the Committee for developing this change in authority. This legislation allows for broader forest ecosystem health and recovery activities as well as monitoring. Since 1981, the BLM Forestry Management program has experienced an inflation-adjusted 65 percent budget decrease, whereas the entire Management of Lands and Resources budget has experienced only a 10 percent decrease over the same time period. Therefore we support an increase in funding for additional forestry personnel to plan and administer forest health improvement activities under the BLM Forestry Management program. I would also like to thank this committee for its role in developing language in last year's appropriations bill that allowed the Forest Service to develop stewardship contracting pilot projects.
Innovation is important in natural resources management.
These pilot projects will give us an opportunity to learn how to accomplish forest management objectives in concert with community objectives, hopefully at a reasonable cost. This committee continues to show leadership in forest management and we hope SAF can continue to be a partner in that leadership. Closing In conclusion, we strongly support the BLM Forestry Management program and the Forest Service research, forest inventory and analysis, state and private, international, and road appropriations we've highlighted. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for the opportunity to share our views with you and the subcommittee today. The Society of American Foresters, with about 18,000 members, is the national organization that represents all segments of the forestry profession in the United States.