In an effort to combat wildfires and the effects of climate change that have destroyed forests throughout the country, the Biden administration announced on Monday that over the next decade it will plant more than one billion trees across a backlog of four million acres on national forests in the western United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release that through President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Forest Service will be able to address the "reforestation backlog" and "develop the infrastructure, such as nurseries, to keep up with increasing needs."
The Repairing Existing Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act, or REPLANT Act, has allowed the Forest Service to invest more than $100 million this year in reforestation. That's "more than three times the investment in previous years," according to the USDA.
"The Forest Service plans over the next couple years to scale up work from about 60,000 acres (24,000 hectares) replanted last year to about 400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) annually, officials said," according to the Associated Press.
Additionally, the Forest Service is expected to increase their spending going forward to as much as $260 million per year under the infrastructure bill.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that planting trees in areas of need is crucial to fighting against climate change, and will help strengthen the forests against ongoing wildfires and droughts.
"Forests are a powerful tool in the fight against climate change," Vilsack said. "Nurturing their natural regeneration and planting in areas with the most need is critical to mitigating the worst effects of climate change while also making those forests more resilient to the threats they face from catastrophic wildfire, historic drought, disease outbreaks and pest infestation."
Forest Service Chief Randy Moore added that the reforestation project will be successful with the help of their partnerships as they aim to expand nursey capacity and make sure all of the planted trees will help the forests grow back to health.
"Our reforestation efforts on national forests only increase through strong partnerships with other federal agencies, tribes, state and local governments, communities and organizations," Moore said. "We recognize that successfully increasing reforestation on national forests is dependent on these strong partnerships."
Joe Fargione, science director for North America at the Nature Conservancy, told the AP that the Forest Service will face some challenges when addressing the reforestation backlog, such as "finding enough seeds to hiring enough workers to plant them."
"You’ve got to be smart about where you plant," Fargione said. "There are some places that the climate has already changed enough that it makes the probability of successfully reestablishing trees pretty low."
The Forest Service struggled to address post-wildfire reforestation needs before the infrastructure bill and REPLANT Act were passed, as they could only accomplish 6% of the reforestation process. The AP noted that wildfires have destroyed 5.6 million acres in the country this year, and is on pace to break the record 10.1 million acres burned in 2015.
Also under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the USDA announced on Tuesday that it launched a new, five-year, $1 billion Community Wildfire Defense Grant program. The program will "assist at-risk communities, including Tribal communities, non-profit organizations, state forestry agencies and Alaska Native corporations with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks."
"These investments are crucial to tackling the wildfire crisis, climate change and public safety," Vilsack said in a statement. "President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is giving us new resources and tools to invest in communities in the areas where they live and the forests they value."
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