#SharedStewardship

Celebrating Partnerships in the Central Sierra Recovery and Restoration Project

Editor’s note: The USDA Forest Service has committed its efforts to mitigating wildfire risk across 20 million acres of National Forests and up to an additional 30 million acres of other Federal, State, Tribal, and private lands as a part of the agency’s 10- year strategy to confront the wildfire crisis. This article illustrates how working across boundaries will be essential for that…

#Restoration, #FuelReduction, #SharedStewardship, #Mitigation

Racing the clock to stem the spread of the mountain pine beetle

Removing infected, dead, and susceptible trees is key to stemming the spread of mountain pine beetle outbreaks. Logging operators in Gunnison have been turning these trees into usable timber, ensuring that nothing goes to waste and providing an added benefit to the local community. (USDA Forest Service photo)

In the summer of 2019, Forest Service entomologist Amy Lockner made her way along the Taylor Canyon Road toward Gunnison, Colorado, a small mountain town situated in a valley often referred to as the “Gateway to the Rockies.”As she drove down the winding canyon road flanked by pine trees, her gaze caught a subtle inconsistency in the forest canopy…

#WildfireCrisis, #SharedStewardship, #Partnerships, #MountainPineBeetle, #ForestHealth, #WildfireRiskReduction

Working together for clean water, healthy streams

A picture of two women planting a tree in a large grassy area where many other trees have been planted.

Volunteers are key to our efforts to plant trees and improve watersheds. They do the hard work of planting young trees in the ground and affixing plastic tubing that protect saplings from deer that would otherwise eat the trees. (Photo courtesy Chesapeake Bay Program) The earthy smell of…

#SharedStewardship, #Partnerships, #Watershed, #Riparian, #Wildlife, #Trout, #Farming, #Fish, #Freshwater, #Science

Shared Stewardship Case Study: Utah

In May of 2019, Utah signed a Shared Stewardship agreement with USDA. Governor Gary Herbert and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue agreed to focus on protecting at-risk communities and important water resources from the threat of unwanted fire. Shortly thereafter, the state and Forest Service undertook a joint mapping project using a combination of…

#SharedStewardship, #SharedStewardshipStrategy, #Utah

Questions and Answers

What is Shared Stewardship?Shared Stewardship is a collaborative approach to land management that emphasizes partnering with states, tribes, and other groups to identify joint priorities and to develop cross boundary strategies that make an impact at the right scale. To achieve this, the agency will leverage new science and new planning tools to ensure that we are doing the…

Good Neighbor Authority

Our forests give us countless benefits: clean drinking water, millions of jobs, recreation opportunities, and more. Keeping these benefits requires forest management--and no one group can do it alone.Good Neighbor Authority allows the USDA Forest Service to enter into agreements with state forestry agencies to do the critical management work to keep our forests healthy and productive.Since Good…