Opening Statements

House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) delivered the following opening statement at today's subcommittee hearing, “Promoting Forest Health and Resiliency Through Improved Active Management."

Remarks as prepared:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

Coming to Washington is never easy but it is so important for you to be here and share your perspectives today.

For decades, our nation’s forests have seen a decline in forest health due to a lack of management, invasive species outbreaks, overgrowth, and other factors.

I have been proud of the work this Committee has done over the past several farm bill cycles to provide the Forest Service with a number of new tools and authorities intending to encourage more active management, more partnerships, and the use of forest products.

For example, this includes the authorization of Good Neighbor, authorities for crossboundary projects, and expanded categorical exclusions such as the insect and disease CE, just to name a few.

These are commonsense reforms that will help encourage more landscape-scale management of the national forest system and adjacent forest lands. Given the scale of the restoration and fuels reduction needed on millions of acres, we must be thinking about management on a much larger landscape scale.

While I remain encouraged by many of President’s executive orders and management actions proposed by the Forest Service, particularly the efforts to increase harvest above the current targets, this Committee must also do it’s part to support the agency to help get this more work on the ground as quickly and effectively as possible.

Last year, this Committee favorably reported the Farm, Food, and National Security Act to deliver a new farm bill for rural America.

Title 8 expanded on the good work this Committee has done in prior farm bills in a variety of ways to encourage more management, more market opportunities for forest products, and commonsense improvements to environmental processes and Forest Service administration.

We’re now two years past the original expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill and the time to act on a new law is now.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on how we can encourage improved forest health and resiliency, and what this Committee should also be thinking about to further support forest managers and rural communities.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.