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Northern Forest Farm Bill Summit #2: Refining Our Forestry Agenda for the 2007 Farm Bill AMC Highland Center Crawford Notch, New Hampshire April 26, 2006 History: This is the second Northern Forest Farm Bill Summit designed to bring together diverse stakeholders to discuss desired forest policy for inclusion in the 2007 Farm Bill. Between our first Summit in September and the efforts of Farm Bill policy working groups that subsequently formed in each of the Northern Forest states, we were able to develop consensus around an original package of basic policy priorities that we communicated to the Northern Forest congressional delegation through a sign-on letter in December. We also were able to use this network to orchestrate coordinated participation and messages for the USDA Farm Bill listening sessions held in each state this fall. The second Summit is designed to keep this powerful regional collaboration moving forward. Summit Goal: The second Summit will bring the Farm Bill policy development efforts in each state back together to further refine a consensus forest policy agenda from the four Northern Forest states for the 2007 Farm Bill. We will gain increased political leverage through this four-state effort if we are able to more precisely outline our areas of consensus for the USDA and our congressional delegation as the next Farm Bill is developed over the coming twelve months. Even if we are not able to identify a fully refined collective Northern Forest agenda in this meeting, we expect the participants to benefit from a better understanding of the full range of priorities and concerns held by other interest groups. This Summit is also not our last opportunity to collaborate: we intend to keep this network and dialogue ongoing until the Farm Bill is complete, including another Summit if needed. Participants: Public officials and representatives from leading organizations with interest in forestry, private land stewardship, private landowner issues, wildlife, and land conservation. Wednesday, April 26 9:00-9:30 AM Coffee and Registration 9:30-9:45 AM Welcome, Introductions, and Meeting Goals Bruce Clendenning, Appalachian Mountain Club 9:45-10:30 AM State Foresters’ Top Priorities for the Next Farm Bill Representation: Alec Giffen, Maine State Forester; Phil Bryce, New Hampshire State Forester; Steve Sinclair, Vermont State Forester; Francis Sheehan, New York State Division of Lands and Forests 10:30-11:00 Consensus Emerging from State Working Groups Representatives TBD 11:00-12:00 Moving Forward from Existing Consensus: Breakout by Interest Area Facilitator: Jad Daley, Northern Forest Alliance o Brief review of existing consensus from December sign-on letter o Have we left major gaps, such as entire interest areas forgotten? o Breakout by interest areas to discuss a refined agenda: state forest stewardship programs; cost-share and incentive programs; forest conservation; forest-based economy; [open for nominations] 12:00-12:45 Lunch 12:45-1:15 Breakout Groups Wrap-up and Prepare Summary for Discussion 1:15-2:45 Facilitated Discussion: Creating a Northern Forest Farm Bill Agenda o Can we identify specific target funding levels for existing programs? o Can and should we prioritize existing programs? o Do we have new programs or other policy innovations we can collectively endorse? Please come prepared to share whatever specifics your organization is ready to endorse! 2:45-3:15 Panel: Connecting to Other Regional Farm Bill Coordinating Efforts Representation: Rusty Pritchard, National Wildlife Federation (GA)– Alliance for the Future of Southern Forests (invited); Tom Gilbert, The Wilderness Society (PA)– Mid-Atlantic Collaboration (invited) 3:15-3:30 PM Wrap-up and Next Steps Bruce Clendenning, Appalachian Mountain Club Costs: The conference fee is $25 to cover food, beverages, and set-up costs. There is lodging available at the Highland Center for $79, which includes a private room and meals. Please contact Bruce Clendenning at the AMC to RSVP for the meeting and to reserve lodging. For more information, please contact: Jad Daley, Campaign DirectorNorthern Forest Alliance 32 Park Street Stowe, VT 05672 802-253-8227 X13 Bruce Clendenning, Policy Department Appalachian
Mountain Club Concord, NH 03301 bclendenning@outdoors.org |
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