Joint Forestry Team Meeting with Executives  

On July 28th, the four executives of the Joint Forestry Team (JFT) and other team members met at the United States Department of Agriculture. U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, NRCS Chief Dave White, NACD President Gene Schmidt and NASF President Jeff Jahnke led the meeting.

The JFT meeting included discussion on the 2010 Two Chiefs’ Partnership Awards, an update on Statewide Forest Resource Assessment and Strategies, the upcoming Farm Bill, recent RC&D’s decreased funding and the future of the JFT.

The Joint Forestry Team’s purpose is to make recommendations that result in coordinated interagency delivery of forestry and conservation assistance for working forests, farms, and ranches. Team participants seek to improve the sustainability of the nation’s forests in order to provide optimum levels of public benefits and ecosystem services.

The Joint Forestry Team encourages partnerships at the state, multi-state, watershed and local levels.  To foster these partnerships, the Team has compiled a growing list of resources for leaders to use to enhance their cooperative activities.