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Idaho lands officials point to Good Neighbor Authority and county agreements as tools to speed fuels work
Summary
Idaho Department of Lands officials told the Senate agriculture committee the state's Good Neighbor Authority and shared-stewardship efforts have increased cross-boundary fuel treatments and timber sales, and officials urged expanding county agreements and federal collaboration.
Officials from the Idaho Department of Lands told the Senate Agricultural Committee that state-federal partnerships such as Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) and shared stewardship have increased the pace of cross-boundary fuel reduction and timber management and are ready to scale up.
"Good Neighbor Authority... is our foundational work to increase the pace and scale of active forest management and restoration on National Forest System lands," said Dustin Miller, director of the Idaho Department of Lands. Miller described the department's work under Good Neighbor Authority and related shared-stewardship agreements and noted recent legislative support for state administration of federal forest management activities.
Presenters said GNA and cooperative county agreements have produced measurable results: IDL staff reported about 60 GNA timber sales to date that together moved more than 200 million board feet of timber through Idaho purchasers and that in 2024 roughly 46 million board feet were sold through the IDL GNA program. Officials told the committee that GNA sales accounted for approximately 18–27% of annual volume sold from partnering national forests in recent years.
Arah Andria, Idaho shared stewardship coordinator, described county Good Neighbor Authority agreements pioneered with Adams County and other southern counties that channel funding to private-land fuel reductions and local hazard-mitigation projects. Andria said the county agreements obligated almost $1 million in initial funds for Adams County projects; in 2024 the county spent roughly $845,000 treating 565 acres, working with 48 landowners and six subdivisions.
IDL officials said the administration's federal executive order directing expanded timber harvest on National Forest System lands makes the GNA program more consequential. They asked the committee to continue legislative support for shared stewardship, county agreements and targeted funding that helps local projects and promotes cross-boundary resilience.
Committee members asked questions but took no formal action at the hearing.
