The U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands came to an agreement in early October to work together to manage the forests of Idaho. The collaborative effort between the two agencies is supposed to last approximately 20 years and aims to provide restoration efforts and other management efforts to increase the health of the national forests within the state of Idaho. Federal funding that will come with the agreement is $12.4 million, and that money will go towards reforestation and management efforts between the two agencies.
The management services and restoration efforts include “timber sale preparation, hazardous fuel reduction, road improvement, reforestation, post-wildfire recovery and watershed management.” All of these services aim to “reduce wildfire risk” and make the forests within Idaho healthier, while also providing a “long term management” plan.
Abigal Hale can be reached at [email protected].