Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Trump Administration urging immediate action to reverse the administration’s cuts to key investments and staff at the USDA that will negatively impact Wisconsin’s forestry industry.
The letter is the second in recent months that Gov. Evers has sent to the Trump Administration raising concerns about the impacts of federal funding and staffing cuts on Wisconsin’s forestry industry.
Monday’s letter comes after Wisconsin officials were recently warned by U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) officials to expect less funding from the Urban and Community Forestry grant program. The move would gut key staff that help support the industry and cut critical funding as well.
Wisconsin’s forestry products industry contributes $42 billion to the state’s economy and 126,000 jobs. In his most recent letter, Evers warned that cuts to federal programs and purging of USDA staff would affect forestry capacity at nearly every level.
The full contents of the governor’s letter are available here.
