Below is a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is a longtime advocate for active forest management treatments, which enhance wildlife habitat, reduce the risk of high intensity fires and improve overall forest health. 

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz and Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a historic Shared Stewardship Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a new framework between the Forest Service and the State of Idaho to advance forest restoration and reduce wildfire risk across the state. 

The agreement strengthens joint efforts to increase timber production, accelerate restoration and expand the pace and scale of active forest management work in Idaho’s national forest and adjacent forestlands. It builds upon success and extends the commitments made in the original 2018 agreement. 

“Idaho’s forests are some of the most important working lands in America, and this agreement is exactly the kind of partnership we need to keep them healthy and productive,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “For too long, federal red tape and hands-off policies left our forests overgrown and our communities at risk. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are fixing that. By doubling timber production through Good Neighbor Authority and speeding up active management, we’re protecting Idaho families, supporting rural jobs and making our forests stronger for generations to come.” 

“Idaho’s early leadership with the Good Neighbor Authority laid the groundwork for an even more ambitious model – Shared Stewardship. We are building on a foundation of cooperation and resource-sharing and expanding that work across entire landscapes and ownership boundaries. I am confident that our continued efforts and partnerships will deliver lasting benefits for Idaho’s forests and our rural communities. Idaho once again is leading the nation in collaborative, innovative approaches to improving forestlands in Idaho, and we’re just getting started,” Governor Little said. 

“We are excited for the next chapter of shared stewardship with the State of Idaho,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “This agreement will help us double the timber volume on National Forest System lands that is offered by the state through the Good Neighbor Authority, all while reducing wildfire risk across the state. By working hand-in-hand with the Idaho Department of Lands, we will design and implement timber harvest, thinning and restoration projects that actively manage our forests and protect the communities and adjacent lands that depend on them.” 

As part of the agreement, the Forest Service and the State of Idaho commit to increase an annual sustainable timber sale volume of up to 100 million board feet within five years (doubling the current output) through Good Neighbor Authority projects. The work directly supports Executive Order 14225: Immediate Expansion of Timber Production and Forest Service efforts to increase timber harvest on national forests by 25 percent by fiscal year 2028. 

The agencies also agreed to create a new, more comprehensive statewide Good Neighbor Authority agreement that identifies additional funding opportunities and develops targets and outcomes from all GNA agreements with the seven national forests in Idaho. 

The Shared Stewardship model emphasizes outcome-driven, cross-boundary strategies to address wildfire risk, insect and disease outbreaks and other landscape-level challenges, sharing planning, design, implementation and decision-making. 

(Photo credit: Idaho Panhandle National Forests)