MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

* The BLM has begun or completed various actions to implement the Energy Policy Act of 2005, including changes to oil and gas lease acreage limits and lease reinstatement petition procedures, a final EIS on wind energy facilities on BLM lands, .... [expand]  [read report]
Abstract: The 109th Congress is considering issues related to the public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the national forests managed by the Forest Service (FS). The Administration is addressing issues through budgetary, regulatory, and other actions. Several key issues of congr.... [expand]  [read report]
Topics: Forests, Public Lands, Natural Resources

Previous Releases:
/NLE/CRSreports/04mar/RS21544.pdf.... [expand]  [read report]
Abstract: Recent severe fire seasons have prompted a significant rise in funding for wildfire protection; wildfire appropriations in FY2006 were more than $2.5 billion. Most of the funds ($2.4 billion in FY2006) are to protect federal lands, with funds for reducing fuel loads, for equipment and training, f.... [expand]  [read report]
Topics: Forests

MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:
On April 26, 2006, the United States and Canada announced a 7-year agreement to resolve the long-standing dispute over U.S. imports of Canadian lumber. The agreement would establish Can.... [expand]  [read report]
Abstract: U.S. lumber producers have raised concerns about softwood imports from Canada for many years. Alleged Canadian subsidies (a prerequisite for establishing countervailing duties [CVDs]) were investigated in 1982, 1986, and 1992. No subsidies were found in 1983. Subsidy findings led to a 15% Cana.... [expand]  [read report]
Topics: Forests, Economics & Trade, International

Previous Releases:
/NLE/CRSreports/02Feb/RL30755.pdf
http://www.NCSEonline.org/nle/crsreports/forests/for-34.pdf.... [expand]  [read report]
Abstract: Congress continues to face questions about forestry practices, funding levels, and the federal role in wildland fire protection. Several recent fire seasons have been, by most standards, among the worst in the past half century. National attention began to focus on wildfires when a prescribed bur.... [expand]  [read report]
Topics: Forests, Natural Resources, Public Lands

On December 3, 2003, the President signed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, P.L. 108-148. This act contains provisions to expedite authorized fuel reduction projects on FS and BLM lands, as well as several other titles for related programs..... [expand]  [read report]
Abstract: Many argue that the threat of severe wildfires has grown in recent years because of unnaturally high fuel loads (e.g., dense undergrowth and dead trees), raising concerns about damage to property and homes in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) ? forests near or surrounding homes. Debates about fire .... [expand]  [read report]
Topics: Forests