Other statutes, the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, and the 1990 Farm Bill Forestry Title, for example, take a cooperative, incentive based approach to non-federal forests. This cooperative approach is vital on issues that cross ownership boundaries, such as watersheds, forest insects and disease, and wildfire. Adequate funding is essential if the program is to reach nonindustrial private landowners, only about 10 percent of whom have written management plans for their land. Even worse, the majority of timber sales on private lands go forward without the benefit of professional forestry advice. While this may seem like merely a problem of poor business practices, we in the forestry profession view it as a serious threat to the long-term sustainability of the nation s forest resources.
Private land has public value.
That is why we actively support programs that increase the amount of forestry advice available to nonindustrial private forest landowners. In addition to private sector consulting and industry efforts, extension programs, and other mechanisms, we believe the State and Private forestry programs can help both public and private sector foresters meet these challenges. The current Forest Inventory and Analysis program provides accurate, comparable data across all forestlands in the United States. Local governments, journalists, environmental groups and private citizens, in addition to forestry professionals in every employer category, need and use this information. Understanding the condition of the nation s forests is critical for appropriate planning and sustainable management.