Today, Pinchot Institute President V. Alaric Sample testified before the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry on National Forest management and its impacts on rural economies and communities. Dr. Sample's testimony emphasized the strong symbiosis between forests and communities, noting that when one fails the other cannot long survive:

"Sustainable forest management cannot take place where there is no local capacity, usually in the form of small businesses, to actually carry out the work of forest management—from reforestation, to ecosystem restoration, to maintenance of transportation systems for protection of water quality and aquatic habitat. Likewise, these community-based enterprises cannot survive for long when there is not a reasonably reliable stream of project work to sustain local capacity and expertise."

Dr. Sample's testimony continued by describing the federal stewardship contracting authority and relating the results of the Pinchot Institute-facilitated multiparty monitoring and evaluation of stewardship contracting. This decade-long assessment has found stewardship contracting to be an effective tool for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to address forest management issues while also meeting the needs of rural, forest-based communities.

Dedicated in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, the Pinchot Institute for Conservation provides research and education on emerging conservation concerns, broadens public understanding of the importance of environmental conservation, and provides objective information to policymakers on key conservation issues. The Institute operates at Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, PA, and at the Resources and Conservation Center in Washington, DC, in partnership with the US Forest Service and in collaboration with universities, natural resource agencies, and conservation organizations across the country and around the world. The Institute is a non-lobbying scientific and educational organization; the opinions presented by Dr. Sample do not reflect any policies or positions of the Pinchot Institute.

Dr. Sample's testimony can be downloaded here (PDF). Information about the hearing and the other panelists is available on the House Agriculture Committee's website.