Forest Owners Praise Vilsack Conservation Leadership Through Wood Use

USDA wood preference conserves forests, spurs job growth

WASHINGTON, DC (March 30, 2011) – The National Alliance of Forest owners praised Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, for announcing a new USDA initiative to recognize and promote wood as a green building product. The new policy requires the use of wood over less environmentally beneficial building materials and commits agency resources to increased research and promotion of wood use. NAFO President and CEO, Dave Tenny, made the following statement:

We thank Secretary Vilsack for his leadership in promoting wood as USDA’s environmentally preferred building product. The Secretary understands that for the past century the increased use of wood to build homes and other buildings has been our nation’s most important forest conservation tool. Thanks to growing markets for wood we have 50% more trees today than we had 50 years ago.

These same markets also provide jobs for 2.5 million Americans and $87 billion in paychecks annually for American families, particularly in rural areas. Wood provides a perfect blend of economic and environmental benefits. As we promote the use of building products from wood we help clean our air of excess carbon, keep rivers and streams pure and maintain wildlife habitat while at the same time providing economic security to rural communities and creating jobs and economic growth throughout the country.

We will continue to work closely Secretary Vilsack to help his green building initiative succeed both within USDA and throughout other agencies of government.

The USDA announcement responds to policy recommendations made by NAFO as part of a diverse coalition of organizations responding to President Obama’s Americas Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative. The coalition, which shares the common goal of conserving working forests through markets and incentives, recommended that USDA adopt a green building policy favoring wood as a key approach to forest conservation. The Working Forests Coalition’s recommendations (PDF), many of which are reflected in the AGO report, are available on NAFO’s website.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 79 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Private, working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. View NAFO’s interactive map to see the economic impact of America’s working forests.

Read more at Forestry Journal