Each state has a Forest Action Plan that assesses all forested lands – public, private, rural, and urban – and includes strategies to conserve, protect, and manage the resource. The Forest Action Plans provide the basis for state priorities for stewardship funding and technical assistance. Forest Action Plans will provide objectives and actions that will drive forest management in each state for the next 10 years.
Under the 2018 Farm Bill, each state is now in the process of developing/updating their State Forest Action Plan, scheduled to be complete no later than June 2020. The process includes public input. The Forest Action Plan and associated analysis provides a means to assess all forested lands in each state across the rural to urban landscape and identify priority forests for the values they provide, including timber, diversity, habitat, ecosystem services, water quality, and quality of life.
This is a key opportunity to connect source water protection data and information with Forest Action Plans in each state, to advance the conservation of forests for water quality, improve forests through policy and planning for water quality, and support ecosystem connectivity in critical watersheds. The State Forester is the best person to start with but often the task is delegated to a planning member of his or her staff. To learn more and connect with your State Forester, see: https://www.stateforesters.org/forest-action-plans/