NLBMDA urging members to support Root & Stem Act

The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) said it is backing the Root & Stem Project Authorization Act of 2023 (H.R.674/S.188).

The legislation provides the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management with a new statutory tool to treat our forests more efficiently and empower collaborative processes through “Root & Stem” projects. 

The bipartisan legislation accelerates forest management projects to restore federal forests and codifies the authority of the secretaries of the Agriculture and Interior departments to conduct forest restoration projects alongside private landowners and companies, the NLBMDA said. 

While companies and state agencies have worked with federal officials before on forest management projects, there is currently no requirement that federal agencies cooperate with their state level counterparts. The Root and Stem Act codifies these types of collaborations to address the 80 million acre forest-restoration backlog.

Both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management need to accomplish more hazardous fuels reduction work in order to reduce the risk or catastrophic wildfire and promote wildlife habitat, according to the NLBMDA. 

Expanding collaboration and including the preparation of environmental analysis in the collaborative process will help ensure the agencies are able to expand capacity and get more work done on the ground. 

The Root & Stem Project Authorization Act is modeled off a collaboratively developed, forest restoration project piloted in the Colville National Forest. The approach taken in the Colville allowed for project design and development that reflected the desires of the community and allowed for the more timely and efficient treatment of 54,000 acres.