WASHINGTON – House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry Ranking Member Andrea Salinas delivered the following statement at today's hearing “A Review of Title VIII: Forestry Stakeholder Perspectives.”

[As prepared for delivery]

Good morning, I am pleased to join Subcommittee Chairman LaMalfa and our colleagues for our first Forestry Subcommittee hearing in the 118th Congress. It is an honor to be serving as Subcommittee Ranking Member, and I look forward to working with the gentleman from California.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today. I know it takes a good amount of work to pull together testimony, and I appreciate all of you sharing your perspectives on the forestry provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill.

Healthy forests are critical to our nation, both environmentally and economically – and my home state, Oregon, shows how intertwined these two issues are. Farm bill programs and authorities play an important role in both private forestry and management of National Forest System lands.

Today’s hearing is an important opportunity to hear from stakeholders on how those current authorities and programs are used by land managers and forest product users to responsibly build rural prosperity and improve forest health.

I look forward to hearing from today’s witnesses on opportunities for improvement and challenges with current implementation efforts. I want to again thank Ranking Member LaMalfa for arranging this hearing, and I yield back.