Statement:
Improve the Health of the Nation's Forests, Grasslands, and Working Lands by Managing our Natural Resources
Description:
Restoring watershed and forest health is central to USDA’s efforts in our national forests and grasslands. USDA will develop and implement National Forest System land management plans and projects to restore and sustain ecosystem function. This includes improving the health of fire-adapted or fire-impaired ecosystems; addressing the spread of insects and diseases that kill trees; restoring wildlife habitat; improving or decommissioning roads; replacing and improving culverts; and rehabilitating streams and wetlands.
On agricultural and grazing lands, USDA will assist private landowners and managers with sustainable land management through conservation programs. USDA provides technical and financial assistance to enable landowners to develop conservation plans and implement effective conservation practices. These efforts restore vegetative cover; implement sustainable agricultural production levels on erosive lands; and improve soil productivity through soil health management. USDA is working to protect forest and agricultural land from conversion to urban and other developed land use through conservation easements and strategic land acquisition. Beyond national forests and agricultural lands, USDA also invests in urban and community forestry programs to improve urban forests and greenspaces.
USDA will work with partners to identify the most environmentally and socially important landscapes, create strategies to protect natural resources, and involve communities in this work. USDA will also prioritize and accelerate research that delivers tools for more effective conservation.
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Statement:
Lead Efforts to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change, Drought, and Extreme Weather in Agriculture and Forestry
Description:
USDA will work through its natural resource conservation and energy programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon, while leading adaptation efforts. This supports the Administration’s goal to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
USDA will encourage voluntary practices to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. These include conservation tillage; manure and nutrient management; fertilizer efficiency; planting trees; minimizing deforestation; increasing energy efficiency in agriculture and rural development; and developing renewable sources of energy. Forest restoration, along with conservation easements and land acquisition, will help maintain forests as a net carbon sink.
The Department will assist rural communities, producers, resource managers, and community planners to develop and implement climate adaptation strategies. Impacts that are already appearing include changing water flow, availability, and quality; fire risk; and extreme weather events. USDA will monitor impacts and help implement adaptations (e.g., measuring changes in water flow and then installing stream buffers or upgrading culverts to handle increased water overflow).
The Department conducts and invests in research to inform climate change policy and mitigation and adaptation strategies, tools and technologies. USDA will evaluate the effects of conservation actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to identify effective and economic approaches. USDA is supporting plant variety and animal breed development that maximize carbon sequestration and can adapt to climate change. Work is also underway to develop methods and technical guidelines to measure and model the effects of climate change on ecosystem services and to conduct greenhouse gas inventories of the urban forest and agriculture sector. The Department and its partners will make research outcomes widely available through outreach and extension networks.
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Statement:
Contribute to Clean and Abundant Water by Protecting and Enhancing Water Resources on National Forests and Working Lands
Description:
Clean and abundant water is essential for healthy ecosystems, sustainable agricultural and forest production, livable communities, and viable industry. Eighty seven percent of America's surface supply of drinking water originates on our Nation’s forests, farms, and range lands. The National Forest System alone is the source of fresh water for more than 60 million people.
USDA helps protect and enhance water quality through its work in national forests and grasslands and by supporting the efforts of private landowners and communities. Assessing water resource vulnerability nationally and investing in high impact watershed improvement projects ensures strategic use of USDA resources. USDA will also increase watershed-based partnerships with Tribes, States, communities, landowners, and other stakeholders to improve watershed management.
To restore and protect head-waters and wetlands in the national forests and grasslands, USDA will implement integrated watershed restoration. This will be based on a national assessment of watershed conditions and restoration needs established in the Watershed Condition Framework.
USDA will deliver financial and technical assistance to land owners to implement conservation measures and management strategies to benefit water quality and availability, conserve water, and improve watershed health. The Department will work with landowners to protect wetlands and implement soil health management systems that mitigate the impacts of extreme weather. Working with Federal and State partners, USDA will assist private landowners who are improving water quality to achieve regulatory certainty.
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Statement:
Reduce Risk of Catastrophic Wildfire
Description:
Many forests, rangelands, and grasslands are dependent on fire for ecological health. Unfortunately, fires that burn too hot and too large are becoming more prevalent due to climate change, development in fire-prone areas, and other factors. These catastrophic fires harm the environment and threaten communities. To reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, USDA works with the Department of the Interior, other Federal agencies, Tribal and State governments and local law enforcement and emergency preparedness staff on prevention, preparedness, and response.
USDA and its partners will work with communities to assess risks, and develop and implement community plans to improve capability to respond to local wildfires. USDA will also collaborate with public and private forest and rangeland owners to develop and implement hazardous fuels reduction and ecosystem restoration projects. In the national forests and grasslands, land management plans will be designed to restore degraded ecosystems and to allow fire to play a healthy role in fire dependent ecosystems. This will reduce fuel loads, improve wildlife habitat, and sustain healthy ecosystems.
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