The State, Private, and Tribal Forestry (SPTF) branch of the USDA Forest Service brings forest management assistance and expertise to a wide spectrum of partners including state forestry agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations, landowners, and tribes. 1
SPTF programs fall under staff areas that include forest health protection, fire and aviation, cooperative forestry, conservation education, and urban and community forestry. These programs help achieve the stewardship and sustainability of the nation’s rural and urban forestland resources by: 1
- Providing cutting-edge technical expertise
- Helping to build strong state and local forestry programs
- Providing financial assistance through a competitive grants process
- Reducing federal expenditures through preventive measures
- Monitoring trends in sustainability on all forest lands
- Providing education about the complexities of ecological issues
There is a SPTF director for each region of the Forest Service; some SPTF directors represent two regions.
While the five Western SPTF directors are not WFLC members, one SPTF director serves on the WFLC Executive Board, and WFLC maintains an extremely close working relationship with all Western SPTF directors.
Fact sheets from State, Private, and Tribal Forestry on each state and island territory are available on the National Association of State Foresters’ website. Access these resources here, and click through to the documents section within each state/territory.
Citations:
1- https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/state-private-forestry