The National Deer Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service formally signed a landmark 20-year Master Stewardship Agreement to expand forest and wildlife habitat improvement work on public land across the country.
The National Deer Association (NDA), a non-profit with the mission of ensuring the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting, will work alongside the Forest Service under this new Master Stewardship Agreement (MSA) to identify, plan and implement stewardship actions in a variety of landscapes. An emphasis will be placed on forest management activities that increase federal timber harvest volumes, improve forest health and productivity, reduce wildfire risk, and support rural prosperity in forested communities.
“This agreement provides a strong framework for expanding our active forest management work with the NDA to create healthier forests, better wildlife habitat, and improved access for hunting and recreation.” –Tom Schultz, U.S.D.A. Forest Service Chief
“The National Deer Association has an impressive, nearly four-decade history of restoring forests on public and private lands, including close to $6 million in current work on seven national forests,” Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said. “This agreement provides a strong framework for expanding our active forest management work with the NDA to create healthier forests, better wildlife habitat, and improved access for hunting and recreation.”
The agreement indirectly supports the Forest Service’s recently announced National Active Forest Management Strategy (NAFMS), which aims to ensure a strong domestic timber supply and stable markets, while also building capacity to help meet the multi-use goals described in nearly 130 Forest Plans that cover 193 million acres of National Forest System land. Many of the goals align with those of NDA’s membership and most Americans – healthy, sustainable forests, grasslands and other wild places. To achieve these, we need lands that are managed and cared for with our best ecological, economic and cultural interests in mind. Under this MSA, the NDA and Forest Service will partner to deliver greater value to the public, restore and protect our natural resources, and ensure America’s Forests remain resilient and productive for generations.
The service-wide MSA allows the NDA to put more boots on the ground to directly implement an expansion of ongoing shared stewardship projects across the country, which also support the NDA’s Public Lands Initiative. These include vegetation treatments along the entire silvicultural continuum as well as other land management activities in over 20 states that improve watershed health, wildlife habitat, and boost community engagement.
“Improving wildlife habitat is a cornerstone of our mission,” said NDA President and CEO Nick Pinizzotto. “Deer hunters will certainly benefit from this work, but as importantly so will many other plant and animal species that we cherish as Americans. We are appreciative of our longstanding relationship with the Forest Service that allows us to lead forest health improvements while reducing wildfire risk and supporting rural communities.”
Helping speed the progression of achieving strategic objectives outlined in the NAFMS through local and regional forest restoration projects is mutually beneficial to the NDA and the Forest Service and are top priorities as the twenty-year agreement kicks off.