Though the COVID-19 pandemic, catastrophic wildfires and damaging hurricanes, have put a strain on family landowners and rural communities, state and federal lawmakers have amplified the importance of our nation’s forests in fighting these natural disasters and recovering from pandemic induced economic damage. This work could not have been done without your outreach and advocacy. Your work has helped ensure our family forests will stay healthy and sustainable.

We've detailed some of our great accomplishments from 2020. 

Forest as a Key Natural Climate Solution

Forests' role in the fight against the climate crisis has attracted more attention in Congress as forest management has been increasingly recognized as a vital aspect to climate resilience and adaptation. Congressman Westerman’s Trillion Trees Act, the White House’s Trillion Trees Initiative, and various climate reports published by Congress, all include natural climate solutions as an important piece of our country’s climate action and key to growing rural economies.

Lawmakers are not only seeing forestry as a vital natural climate solution, but also an opportunity to bring billions of dollars to rural America through carbon markets. Recognizing this potential to increase landowner involvement in carbon markets, Senators Stabenow (D-MI) and Braun (R-IN) introduced the Rural Forests Markets Act (RFMA), S. 4451. This bipartisan bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide loan or bond guarantees to organizations, like AFF, working with family landowners to tap into any market, including carbon or water.

Currently, carbon markets are off limits to landowners with less than 3,000 acres due to high upfront cost of implementing management practices and developing carbon project. The bond guarantee in the RFMA is one of the financing mechanisms AFF needs to successfully implement the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP). A guarantee from USDA will unlock money from private investors for the upfront capital needed for landowners to implement FFCP practices. Investors need this added assurance provided by a guarantee to confidently invest in innovative programs. This capital is then used to pay forest owners for practices that are turned into carbon credits sold on the voluntary carbon market to interested, corporate buyers. The revenue from carbon sales is then used to pay back the investors with interest.

Along with advancing Congressional action for forests and climate, AFF has effectively gained the support of the Forest Climate Working Group (FCWG) on various policy recommendations that will complement the FFCP and provide additional revenue streams alongside carbon market resources, to make carbon practices more affordable for landowners. These recommendations include a private lands carbon tax incentive and a conservation easement program. Alongside the FCWG, we look forward to gaining support for these recommendations and the Rural Forests Markets Act in the new 117th Congress.

AFF’S Engagement with the Trilling Trees Initiative

During this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and again at the State of the Union Address, President Trump committed the United States to the Trillion Trees Initiative, an effort to plant and conserve one trillion trees to sequester carbon. To fulfill this commitment, the White House is leading discussions amongst the federal agencies about what contributions the federal government can make to this initiative, while also engaging with organizations like AFF to bring private sector resources to the table. In our discussions, AFF has emphasized the need for this Initiative to focus not just on tree planting but on restoration, management, long-term forest protection, and forest products markets—because all are essential to the conservation and restoration of one trillion trees.  As part of the Initiative, AFF has put forward our own commitment to this effort pledging to conserve, improve and grow 84,000,000 trees, which will sequester an estimated 25,878,086 MT CO2e.

Support for Family Landowners Increasing In California Legislature

AFF has increased our advocacy presence in California given the significant wildfire issues and potential for AFF to secure increased funding and policy support to help family forest owners. Our initial focus was on influencing the 2020 budget to dedicate $50M to the California Forest Improvement Program, the state’s only cost share assistance program for private landowners and influencing a potential $5 billion bond measure. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Newsom removed the bond measure and made cuts to various programs which address an estimated $54 billion budget deficit. Newsom points to wildfire as one of his biggest issues of concern, and recently signed an executive order calling for more forest management to reduce wildfires.

With the support of California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and state lawmakers such as Assembly member Friedman, and Senator Dahle, we will pursue a strong 2021 agenda tackling wildfire challenges on family forests, advocating for increased funding for programs which provides financial assistance to family forest owners for wildfire mitigation among other actions.

Thank you again for all your efforts in 2020. With your advocacy support, we are looking forward to another exciting year! If you’re interested in learning more about AFF’s advocacy goals or would like to become an active Advocacy Leader, contact us at info@forestfoundation.org.