- Mission [1]
- 1. In light of the 50th anniversary of the McIntire-Stennis Act, USDA should undertake an assessment of the effectiveness
of the Cooperative Forestry Research Program and how it could be strengthened or updated to address changes in research and/or
sustainability needs of forestland/watershed lands now and into the future.2.In response to recommendations in the recent
report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, “Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society
and the Economy,” assess the existing research effort on ecosystem services, and invest in social science and decision-support
research to expand understanding of governance, collaboration, and partnerships to improve forest and watershed management
in a context of increasing complexity, conflict and changing climate, rural community economics, and globalization.3. Continue
to invest in the U.S. Forest Service Experimental Forest and Rangelands system to ensure continued long term research capacity,
and increase Forest Service collaborative relationships with non-federal partners to develop efficiencies and enhancements
of shared research infrastructure and capacity.4. Strengthen recognition and impact of USDA’s unique expertise in evaluation
of ecosystem functions and services and ensure that decisions such as the assessment of the carbon neutrality of wood-based
biofuels by the EPA should only be made with full technical and scientific input from the Forest Service and NIFA.5. Expand
the use of U.S. Forest Service synthesis reports and technology transfer programs to enable translation of research findings
and decision tools for use by natural resource professionals, and strengthen linkages between Forest Service and NIFA’s Agriculture
and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and K-16 education programs and those that engage in field-based education that integrate
environmental and working lands education.6. Use the Feedstock Readiness Level Tool (FSRT) model to prioritize both internal
and cooperative research and technology transfer investment plans. FSRT was recently developed for tracking progress of new
feedstocks towards commercial production, and provides an excellent framework for strategic evaluation of USDA technology
development and feedstock programs for bioenergy and advanced biofuels.
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