Shared Stewardship
Pictured: (Seated L to R): Rick Oates, State Forester, and Linwood Butler, Forest Supervisor, National Forests in Alabama. (Standing L to R): Will Brantley, Ryan Shurette, Scott Layfield, Latoya Soto, Daks Kennedy, and Nina Donley. -- Photos by Dawn Suiter, National Forests in Alabama
Why Shared Stewardship Matters Now
The Forest Service is committed to creating healthier and more productive forests, safer and thriving communities, and a reliable forest products economy. For us, it is not just about how much work we do, but on the long-term vitality of the land. To succeed, we need to work together.
Shared Stewardship turns shared priorities into real work on the ground—saw logs to mills, fuels treated, trails maintained, culverts fixed, and landscapes restored. The work reflects a commitment to shared resources, shared planning, and shared outcomes.
Working Together for Better Results
When we work together, we can share resources and set shared priorities across whole landscapes. This helps us address forest management work more quickly and more predictably. We also want to make better use of the tools we already have, including the Good Neighbor Authority, to help us coordinate work across boundaries.
This shared work produces many benefits, including reducing wildfire risk to communities; strengthening rural economies and supporting healthy forest products markets; and improving recreation and public access. Together, we can achieve a clear, shared vision to jointly develop priorities and strategies that reflect local needs, state goals, tribal sovereignty, and federal responsibilities—a unified roadmap for action.
Shared Stewardship helps us pool funding and capacity, leverage strengths across jurisdictions, use existing authorities and tools more strategically, coordinate investments at the right scale, and respect statutory roles and government-to-government responsibilities.
Shared Ambition in Action
National Forests in Alabama are working with partners in “Shared Stewardship” of Alabama’s forested landscapes.
- Good Neighbor Agreements with Alabama Forestry Commission
- Cooperative Fire Management with Alabama Forestry Commission
- Prescribed burning on private lands under Wyden and Stevens’ Agreements
- Conservation Education – Smokey and Prevention Programs
- Forest Health (SPB) and Sustainability with Alabama Forestry Commission
- State Forestry Action Plan = Forest Land & Resources Management Plan
- Non-native, Invasive Plant and Animal Species Control