USDA Creates Landscape Restoration Advisory Commitee

On March 8, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the formation of a new Collaborative Landscape Restoration Advisory Committee. Established as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11), the committee will serve as a forum for integrating data, experience, and differing perspectives to aid the public land management agencies in crafting a thoughtful, comprehensive, and robust approach to hazardous fuels reduction and other forms of landscape-level land restoration on public lands.

In its policy paper Sustainable Forest Biomass: Promoting Renewable Energy and Forest Stewardship , EESI identified the need for such a collaborative body to move forest restoration projects forward in a climate characterized by divergent and strongly-held perspectives and a great deal of unknown factors. In such a climate, collaborative groups have been shown to be effective in leading to successful solutions with high levels of satisfaction among stakeholder participants.

More information on the committee is available in the Federal Register notice , including information on nominating potential members of the committee.