Forest Service, Northeast-Midwest State Forestry Agencies Renew MOU

The U.S. Forest Service and the Northeast-Midwest State Foresters Alliance (NMSFA) have renewed their multi-year agreement and continue to advance three core goals outlined in the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act: Conserving and managing working forests, protecting forests from threats, and enhancing public benefits. It also builds on shared priorities identified in state forest action plans.

“Forests across the Northeast and Midwest support 40% of the nation’s population and contribute more than $203 billion annually through the forest products industry,” says Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “By renewing this agreement, we are building on substantial results of treating 1.6 million acres of hazardous fuels, assisting nearly 920,000 private landowners, conserving 250,000 acres of working forests, and managing over 26,000 acres through Good Neighbor Authority. These accomplishments highlight the strength of our partnerships and our shared responsibility to steward the one-quarter of the nation’s forests found in this region.”

From fuels reduction and wildfire preparedness to forest health, market development, disaster recovery, and science integration, the renewed agreement strengthens coordination between state and federal partners. It accelerates restoration across all forested lands and improves access to data, science, and shared conservation tools.

“Renewing this agreement strengthens state forestry agencies’ partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service and enhances our abilities to support forest products markets, reduce wildfire risk, address forest health threats, and collaborate on disaster assessment and recovery to help ensure the resilience of forests throughout the Northeast and Midwest,” says NMSFA President and New Hampshire State Forester Patrick Hackley. “We look forward to collaborating with the Forest Service, landowners, and partners to advance the objectives highlighted in the Shared Stewardship Agreement.”

The 20 states and one district represented in the NMSFA include Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.