The role of the New England Society of American Foresters Policy Committee is to advise the NESAF Executive Committee on state society forest policy matters, in adherence to and guided by the Society bylaws and forest policy process.
The NESAF Policy Committee also strives to inform and engage the state society’s membership in policy matters. The Society of American Foresters does not make natural resource policy, but rather participates in the political and administrative processes that generate policy by presenting our views to policymakers. These views are known as position statements.
The process by which NESAF generates policy position statements and overall policy communication is governed by our Operations Manual. In addition, the Executive Committee solicited comments on relevant policy process issues through our membership in the period 2009-2010. The specific outcomes of this process are in practice today; information about these resolutions are available upon request.
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To Request A Position Statement:
Contact the Policy Chair to request a statement (see Leadership under About Us for current contact information). The Position Statement development process is outlined in the Society Bylaws as follows:
- An issue is identified by the Forest Policy Committee (FPC), the NESAF Chair or the Executive Committee (EC).
- The FPC Chair assigns research and development duties to committee member(s) for study. Members with unique expertise or knowledge of the issue are consulted. A draft position is developed.
- The draft position statement is circulated to the FPC for review and edits.
- The edited draft position statement is presented to the EC for review and approval. The EC has two weeks to provide comments to the FPC Chair. If there are major concerns or changes, the statement shall be re-drafted and re-submitted to the EC. No response or minor edits from the EC shall mean approval of the position statement. Approved position statements shall sunset after 5 (five) years from the date of approval unless renewed by the EC. Approval requires a majority of the EC representing a legal quorum.
- The approved position statement shall be sent to the National SAF Policy Director for review. While National SAF approval is not necessary for NESAF position statements, any approved statement shall not be in direct conflict with published positions of the SAF.
- The approved position statement shall be published on the NESAF web site and presented to the public on NESAF letterhead. A formal copy shall be sent to the SAF National Office.
An emergency position statement procedure can be utilized at the discretion of the FPC Chair. This may occur in situations where an issue becomes evident in very short order and requires some action before the normal process can be accomplished. In this case, a draft position statement is drafted by the FPC Chair. The draft is sent to the EC by mail or email for immediate review. The emergency statement must be approved by a majority of EC members responding.
