NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FOREST OWNERS for NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FOREST OWNERS

Immigration IMM

Issues related to the forestry workforce and H-2B visas; advocacy for the release of additional H-2B visas in Section 105 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; general issues related to a returning worker exemption for H-2B workers.

Contacted: SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)

Clean Air and Water (quality) CAW

Policies related to climate change and carbon capture and storage as it relates to working forests; issues related to forestry; issues related to the Clean Water Act; issues related to the FIA Blue Ribbon Bill (S.433); issues related to the Forest Data Modernization Act of 2023 (S.1743 & H.R. 3990); issues related to an online platform that would make forest health and carbon data available to stakeholders; general issues related to prescribed burns, wildfire mitigation, and air quality standards.

Contacted: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA); SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Interior, Dept of (DOI)

Bills named: S. 1743 (118th), H.R. 3990 (118th), S. 433 (118th)

Budget/Appropriations BUD

Issues related to increased funding for the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program in the FY 2024 Department of Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, issues related to increased funding of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service projects conducted collaboratively with private landowners and report language commending these projects in the FY 2024 Department of Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; general issues related to a returning worker exemption for H-2B guest workers, issues related to the carbon neutrality of biomass, issues related to funding to protect the health of working forests from pests and other threats, issues related to the construction of firefighter housing to be constructed out of mass timber.

Contacted: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; SENATE

Agriculture AGR

Issues related to forestry and forest management, issues related to the development and use of mass timber, issues related to funding for forestry programs at USDA; issues related to expanding the scope of the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program to measure forest carbon; issues related to forestry and climate change; issues related to wildfire mitigation; issues related to wildfire suppression (H.R. 1586); issues related to the FIA Blue Ribbon Bill (S.433); issues related to the Forest Data Modernization Act of 2023 (S.1743 & H.R. 3990); general issues related to an online platform that would make forest health and carbon data available to stakeholders; issues related to educational grant programs to help colleges and universities train the next generation of engineers and architects on how to build with wood and mass timber; general issues to expand and strengthen the Wood Innovation Grant (WIG) program; general issues related to a new pilot program to integrate American-grown, innovative wood products into rural infrastructure and building projects; issues related to The Timber Innovation for Building Rural Communities Act (H.R.5044 & S.2662); issues related to codifying the Forest Service's National Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources program; issues related to the Forest Conservation Easement Program Act of 2023 (H.R. 3424); general issues related to the foreign ownership of agricultural land, issues related to the creation of a Forest Conservation Easement Program (H.R.3424 & S.2631); Fix Our Forests Act (H.R.8790)

Contacted: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; SENATE

Bills named: S. 2662 (118th), S. 433 (118th), H.R. 8790 (118th), S. 2631 (118th), H.R. 3990 (118th), S. 1743 (118th), H.R. 1586 (118th), H.R. 5044 (118th), H.R. 3424 (118th)

Energy/Nuclear ENG

Issues related to climate change and carbon capture and storage as it relates to working forests; issues generally related to forest biomass and carbon; issues related to the definition of biomass.

Contacted: SENATE; Agriculture, Dept of (USDA); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Environment/Superfund ENV

Issues related to the environmental impacts of forest management; the Waters of the United States rule; issues related to wildlife conservation, including conservation projects conducted collaboratively with private landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Endangered Species Act; issues related to wildfire mitigation and funding; issues related to forestry and climate change.

Contacted: Interior, Dept of (DOI); U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS); SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Agriculture, Dept of (USDA); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Housing HOU

General issues related to infrastructure and the built environment; issues related to the use of low carbon building materials in the built environment; issues related to the the prioritization of proposals expanding existing technology transfer for use of low carbon building materials; general issues related to a new pilot program to integrate American-grown, innovative wood products into rural infrastructure and building projects issues related to The Timber Innovation for Building Rural Communities Act (H.R.5044 & S.2662), issues related to the use of mass timber for construction of federal buildings.

Contacted: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA); SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Bills named: H.R. 5044 (118th), S. 2662 (118th)

Defense DEF

Issues related to evaluation of the environmental sustainability, infrastructure resilience, cost effectiveness, and construction time of military construction projects built with mass timber in the National Defense Authorization Act 2024; issues related to foreign ownership of agricultural land.

Contacted: SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace LBR

Issues related to the forestry workforce and H-2B visas; advocacy for the release of additional H-2B visas in Section 105 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; general issues related to a returning worker exemption for H-2B workers.

Contacted: Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; SENATE; Agriculture, Dept of (USDA)

Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities FIN

Issues related to foreign ownership of agricultural land including the AFIDA Improvements Act of 2024 (S.3666).

Contacted: SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Bills named: S. 3666 (118th)