The report is here. Highlights, from a USFS email:
Forest land area in the U.S. has increased slightly over the past century, but recent forest area decreases in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain Regions have offset gains in other regions.
Natural disturbances like fire and insects help keep forests healthy. However, increasing disturbance extent, severity, and interactions threaten forest sustainability — most notably in the West.
Forests serve as the largest national carbon sink. However, forests in several Western states now emit more carbon than they take in due to natural and human-caused disturbances.
The U.S. forest products industry has rebounded over the past decade, particularly in portions of the South. However, production levels remain below their peak and employment levels have continued their long-term decline.
Nationally, forests grow significantly more wood than they lose to harvest or tree death.
Nearly one-third of U.S. native forest-associated species were listed as at-risk of extinction in 2020 — and 1 percent were already presumed or possibly extinct.
Wildfire, smoke, and other disturbances may increasingly hamper forest recreation, especially when coupled with maintenance backlogs on roads, trails, and facilities.
Steve, I saw this.. do you know why this came up now.. it’s a 2020 report and we’re very close to 2024. There must be some reason.
The date on the citation is 2023, so my guess is that 2020 data used for the report is not available/compiled until at least a year later and then it takes a year to synthesize it?
Thanks, A. That makes sense. I guess this report is needed because of this requirement. This National Report on Sustainable Forests (NRSF) presents a comprehensive assessment of sustainability conditions and trends in forests of the United States. It is produced in response to the United States’ political and institutional commitment to measure, monitor, and report on forest sustainability at national and subnational levels using the Montréal Process Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests (Robertson et al. 2011).
Seems like there would be a great deal of overlap with the RPA Assessment, but maybe not.