The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is putting $106 million into keeping private working forests active and productive across eight states, said in a statement shared by the organization. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the funding through the Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program. The money will protect 177,000 acres of state and private forestland in Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, and South Carolina while keeping these forests productive and supporting rural jobs.
Private forests cover 60% of America’s 704 million forested acres and supply 88% of all domestic timber. That makes them key for both local economies and national wood production. The Forest Legacy Program works with states and landowners who want to protect their forests while still using them for timber, recreation, and other community needs.
Secretary Rollins said working forests are part of rural America’s backbone. They provide jobs, timber, clean water, and places for families to hunt, fish, and camp. “For too long our forests have been left idle, only to burn and devastate communities,” she said. President Trump has made proper forest management a priority to help communities grow. The funding backs Trump’s order on expanding American timber production by protecting forests that supply wood products and outdoor recreation.
The program picks projects through competitive state and national processes. It uses conservation easements or land purchases to protect forests. Lands either stay in private hands with long-term protections or become new public lands managed by state or local governments.
This investment shows the administration’s push to make forests more productive while protecting them from wildfire risks and helping rural areas through job creation and economic growth.
