releases: http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-sends-letter-to-us-forest-service-seeing-return-of-funds-to-milan
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-sends-letter-to-us-forest-service-seeing-return-of-funds-to-milan | Kuster Sends Letter to U.S. Forest Service Seeing Return of Funds to Milan Community Forest Project | 2015-11-05 | 2015 | 2015-11 | Democrat | House | NH | Ann Kuster | K000382 | kuster.house.gov | legacy | Concord, NH Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) requesting that $400,000 in federal grant funding be restored to the Community Forest Project in Milan, N.H. USFS officials awarded the $400,000 in May to the Community Forest Project, which seeks to develop a long-term management plan for more than 1,300 acres of forest in Milan. But, last month, agency officials announced plans to redirect the grant toward fire suppression activities in other parts of the country. The town of Milan will actively manage the timber resources within the CFP to earn revenue, and in turn will create jobs that support the local forestry economy, Kuster wrote in the letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. The initial grant of $400,000 marked a significant investment for the small town of Milan, and is critically important for moving this conservation project forward. The full text of the Congresswomans letter is printed below: November 5, 2015 Dear Chief Tidwell: I write to request the reinstatement of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) funds totaling $400,000 to the Community Forest Program (CFP) in Milan, New Hampshire. Last week, your agency announced that this grant funding would be rescinded and applied to fire suppression activities in other regions of the country. Since even before federal funding was announced in May 2015 for the development of the Milan Community Forest Project, town officials and stakeholder groups had been working collaboratively to create the towns first community forest. Residents of Milan, New Hampshire, voted in favor of creating the CFP in March 2012 in order to support the local forestry economy, increase recreational opportunities and develop a long-term management plan for over 1,300 acres of land. Projects like the Milan CFP are critical to the forest-based economy in the North Country, and I urge your agency to immediately restore funding for this important project. Community Forest Projects in the surrounding towns of Errol, Gorham and Randolph have exemplified the significant economic and social benefits of developing a municipally owned forest. However, the rescission of federal funding from the Milan CFP has jeopardized private investments that cannot be effectively leveraged without federal support. The Open Space Institute awarded a $50,000 grant to Milan, and the town also applied for state funding through the New Hampshire Land and Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP). These additional revenue streams are now in jeopardy, threatening years of hard work that Milan residents and town officials put into this project. On September 30, 2015, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution that included $700 million in fiscal year 2016 funding for wildfire suppression and repayment for USFS accounts. As your agency works to allocate this funding within the USFS budget, I request that your agency restore funding to the Community Forest Program for the Milan CFP. The town of Milan will actively manage the timber resources within the CFP to earn revenue, and in turn will create jobs that support the local forestry economy. The initial grant of $400,000 marked a significant investment for the small town of Milan, and is critically important for moving this conservation project forward. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to working with your agency to address this funding issue. Sincerely, Ann McLane Kuster Member of Congress | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |