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Good Neighbor Authority


Our forests give us countless benefits: clean drinking water, millions of jobs, recreation opportunities, and more. Keeping these benefits requires forest management--and no one group can do it alone.

Good Neighbor Authority allows the USDA Forest Service to enter into agreements with state forestry agencies to do the critical management work to keep our forests healthy and productive.

Since Good Neighbor Authority was first authorized, the number of projects and participating states has grown. In 2018, Congress expanded authorities for forest management projects related to the Good Neighbor Authority, setting the stage for more growth in cooperative forest management.

Learn more about some of the Good Neighbor Authority projects on the map below, and how state and federal agencies are working to manage forests on a scale never before realized.

News and Announcements

Press Release: USDA Forest Service invests $20M to restore forests, reduce wildfire risk, and create jobs in 18 states

USDA Forest Service invests $20M in 18 states through Good Neighbor Authority

 

  • Tonto National Forest - The Greater Payson Hazardous Fuels project falls within the Payson high-risk fireshed and the footprint of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, which is one of the initial Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes.  The goal is to restore degraded lands in the Wildland Urban Interface by reducing hazardous fuels, providing critical infrastructure protection, and foster forest and watershed restoration. These funds will be matched with partner funds that are managed by the Arizona Department of Forest and Fire Management and gathered by the Salt River Project.
  • Kaibab National Forest - The South Zone Grassland Restoration Project is aimed at reducing woody species encroachment in historical grassland areas to improve wildlife habitat, reduce fire risk to rural communities and Grand Canyon National Park.  The project falls within the footprint of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative and is one of the initial Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes.

  • Klamath National Forest - Forest-wide Good Neighbor Authority Supplemental Project Agreement with CALFIRE to collaborate on important forest health work, including post-fire recovery across the Klamath National Forest. We currently have a successful collaboration with the Shasta-Trinity Unit of CALFIRE and Shasta Valley Resource Conservation District, for work on the Yreka Craggy project, which will include post-fire restoration work. This forest-wide agreement will maximize our collaborative effort and provide flexibility and opportunities to accomplish shared stewardship goals across the landscape.

  • San Isabel National Forest - Goals are to reduce hazardous fuels around Blue and Bear Lake Campground area.
  • White River National Forest – The primary purpose is to reduce fuel loading adjacent to private/county lands providing defensible space to communities and firefighter safety in the Boulder Creek and Frisco Backyard project areas.
  • White River National Forest - Funds will be used to reduce fuel loading across a landscape affected by mountain pine beetle epidemic. Improve forest resiliency by increasing age class and forest structure diversity at the stand level in the Swan Mountain project area.

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest - Maintenance of timber sale haul roads in Good Neighbor Agreement with the Georgia Forestry Commission.

  • Hoosier National Forest - Indiana Department of Natural Resources will restore 250-300 acres a year over three years of early successional habitat and wetland resource. This work is to improve early succession habitat while improving watershed condition.

  • Kisatchie National Forest - Watershed restoration projects, including vegetation management, wildlife habitat improvement, as well as soil and water improvement projects all part of Good Neighbor Authority agreements with three local Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

  • Hiawatha National Forest - Michigan Department of Natural Resources will conduct cross- boundary stream inventory and assessments of roads, trails, railroads, dams and other types of stream crossings. Work will be conducted within the proclamation boundary and connecting watersheds of the Hiawatha National Forest. Information collected will be used to identify and prioritize future work to improve stream crossing structures.
  • Hiawatha, Huron-Manistee, Ottawa National Forests - Michigan Department of Natural Resources will complete landline support to improve land ownership boundary monumentation on all three Michigan national forests (Hiawatha, Huron-Manistee, Ottawa). The project will establish boundaries for acres to be treated in upcoming restoration treatments.

  • Superior National Forest - Project will provide funding to improve ownership boundary monumentation in areas of mutual interests between the Forest Service and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This effort will support current and future planned forest management activities through Good Neighbor Authority and other partnerships.

  • Beaver Head- Deer Lodge National Forest - Project to protect the Basin Creek Municipal Watershed by restoring and improving the characteristics of forest composition and structure to help reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire effects. By reducing fuels that could result in severe and extensive wildfire on national forest lands within the municipal watershed, treatments will help maintain a high-quality, long term, water supply for Butte area residents through cooperative efforts with the City of Butte, Montana, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Butte-Silver Bow County.

  • Cibola National Forest - The Zuni Mountains Forest Restoration project is a critical implementation component of this collaborative and is within one of ten shared stewardship priority landscapes in the state of New Mexico. This project will restore structure, composition and function on critical acres within the Zuni Mountains Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project area.

  • National forests in North Carolina, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission - Wildlife monitoring, archaeological clearance for wildlife projects, and fisheries habitat improvement using Good Neighbor Agreements.

  • National forests in the State of Oregon, Oregon Department of Forestry- Funding will support continued growth in capacity for Oregon Department of Forestry to accelerate forest management and hazardous fuels reduction work on multiple national forests in Oregon including the Central Oregon priority landscape in support of the national wildfire crisis strategy. Specific projects include timber presale and contract administration support as well as NEPA support for outyear projects.
  • National forests in the State of Oregon, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife – Funding will support enhanced capacity to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for projects on multiple national forests in Oregon. Project activities include meadow thinning, riparian restoration, juniper removal, invasive weed treatments, road/trail closures, and monitoring and heritage surveys.
  • National forests in the State of Oregon, Oregon Department of Transportation - This funding will initiate a new Good Neighbor Agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation. Projects will include hazard tree mitigation, Aquatic Organism Passage culvert repair and replacement, rock pit development, storm proofing existing infrastructure and road sign replacements.

  • Black Hills National Forest - This funding will support a state forester who can assist with timber sale preparation, as well as resource surveys for upcoming projects. Additionally, it will enable the State of South Dakota to facilitate access to hard-to-reach Forest Service parcels that need vegetation treatment.

  • Cherokee National Forest - Maintenance of timber sale haul roads in Good Neighbor Agreement with the Tennessee Division of Forestry.

  • George Washington-Jefferson National Forest - Increase capacity to prepare timber sales in a Good Neighbor Agreement with Virginia Department of Forestry.

  • National forests in the State of Washington, Washington Department of Natural Resources - Funding will support continued growth in capacity for the Washington Department of Natural Resources to accelerate forest management and hazardous fuels reduction work on multiple national forests in Washington including the Central Washington Initiative wildfire crisis strategy landscape. Specific projects include timber presale and contract administration support, engineering support, NEPA services, and hazardous fuel reduction projects.
  • National forests in the State of Washington, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife - Funding will support enhanced capacity to the Washington Department of Natural Resources for projects on multiple national forests in Washington including the Central Washington Initiative priority landscape. Project activities will include wildlife habitat improvement, riparian restoration and aquatic restoration projects.

  • Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in partnership with local county highway departments will complete culvert replacements on four priority National Forest System Road crossings. This work will provide flood resilience, fish passable stream crossings, as well as continued access.

  • Bighorn National Forest – The project will fund a Wyoming State Forestry Department seasonal forester position to provide the Forest Service assistance from the State of Wyoming. The State of Wyoming will provide forestry personnel to assist with the pre-National Environmental Policy Act silviculture work, implementation of timber sales, and implementation of timber stand improvement activities.
  • Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest - The primary purpose of the Sandstone North project is to reduce hazardous fuels around private property and along Hwy 70, which is a major wildfire suppression fuel break in the Sierra Madre Range. This project also serves to enhance the aspen stands and associated wildlife habitat in the area.

 

Projects Map Viewer

Drag the map or zoom in or out to adjust your view. Click on the pins to see information on specific projects.

Full view Good Neighbor Authority Project Map

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/farm-bill/gna