Well, here is another video and this time I want to talk to you about Secretary Vilsack’s speech on his vision for the Forest Service. 

I hope you will view or read the speech.  I cannot tell you how pleased I am that the Secretary not only understands our mission, but understands the importance of that mission, and fully supports where we need to head.

As we move out to implement his vision, we will increase our focus on restoration of our forest and grassland ecosystems – restoration to increase resiliency to ensure these systems are able to adapt to changes in climate.  We will increase our focus on providing sustainable flows of abundant, clean water, the water that so many people depend on – and we will do this through collaboration, working together and with our communities. 

Our Secretary is also asking us to expand our mission and adapt a more “all lands” approach to addressing restoration.  Through our State and Private Forestry programs, we have the responsibility to provide support and assistance to State and private lands, but we need to expand our efforts to ensure that we are using all of the USDA and other federal programs to address restoration issues across broader landscapes.  Forest and grassland health, wildfire, water quality, and wildlife connectivity are issues that have never stopped at the boundaries of the National Forest System.  We now have the support to better address these issues across the landscape – landscapes that are large enough to make a difference.

I also have to share how much I appreciate the Secretary’s support to address fire suppression funding.  As long as we have to be concerned with shutting down the majority of our work every year to shift funds to address fire suppression, we will never be able to focus on our overall mission – on increasing our efforts with restoration.

Secretary Vilsack has also asked us to develop a new planning rule.  Despite our previous attempts to develop a rule that will sustain challenges, I am frustrated that we have not been able to effectively revise our forest plans.  However, we have learned a lot from our past efforts, and I believe that we can develop a rule that follows a collaborative model to address the issues we face today.

If you haven’t seen the Secretary’s speech, please take the time to view it on the web, and take some time to think about his message.  I could not feel better about the alignment we have with Secretary Vilsack, and I am anxious for us to move out with this level of support. 

I will be working with the National Leadership Council to address the actions we need to take and we will be keeping you informed as they develop.

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