A Forest Service restoration program created and maintained more than 4,500 jobs in Fiscal Year 2012 and improved the fire-resiliency of 380,000 acres of forestland near communities from 2010-2012, according to a new report. One of the projects included the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project (Deschutes Skyline).
The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program was created in 2009 to restore priority forested landscapes, promote job stability, create a reliable wood supply, improve forest health and reduce emergency wildfire costs across the
All of the projects managed under this program are on track to meet their 10-year goals, which cumulatively include treating more than 4 million acres of forest to make them more resilient to wildfire and producing 670 million cubic feet of timber. The projects will also restore 1.6 million acres of wildlife habitat and 3,000 miles of streams.
“The people and communities involved in this program should take great pride in the work they accomplished this year,” said USDA Under Secretary Harris Sherman. “These projects represent real progress in bolstering rural economies while conserving our forests for future generations of Americans.”
In addition to creating jobs and protecting communities from wildfire, the 23 projects managed under the program:
- sold some 94.1 million cubic feet of timber
- produced 1.2 green tons of woody biomass for energy use
- generated $320 million of labor income
- reduced fuel for megafire on 229,000 acres away from communities
- improved 537,000 acres of wildlife habitat
- restored 394 miles of fish habitat
- enhanced clean water supplies by improving or decommissioning 6,000 miles of eroding roads
The Forest Service restored an additional 4 million acres of national forests through other wildfire fuel-reduction and habitat restoration efforts in 2012.
“By directly working with communities and local organizations on these projects, we are able to accelerate restoration work on 500,000 forest acres while providing sustainable jobs in rural communities,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “These projects benefit people, water, wildlife and local economies, and reflect our nation’s strong legacy of caring for the land and serving people.”
Covering a third of the
Ten of the original project sites have received three years of funding. Ten new sites funded under the
The three High Priority Restoration Projects are:
The 20 Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration projects are:
Uncompaghre Plateau
Amador Calaveras Cornerstone Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Dinkey Landscape
Weiser-Little Salmon Headwaters Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Selway-Middle Fork
Southern Blues Restoration Coalition Collaborative Landscape Restoration
Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project (
The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Forest Service lands contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $27 billion per year.
