What Happened?
States, counties, and Tribes managing timber on federal land under the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) are operating under unresolved legal questions about how far the program's reach extends.
The GNA lets the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior authorize states, counties, and Tribes to carry out land management projects on certain federal lands, including commercial timber sales. Congress created it in 2001, made it permanent for states in 2014, and expanded it to counties and Tribes in 2018. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) published the findings.
The Forest Service (FS) reported 540 GNA agreements in fiscal 2025, and about 258 million board feet of FS timber, roughly nine percent of the agency's total, was sold under GNAs in fiscal 2024.
Why Does it Matter to Me?
Partners such as states, counties, and Tribes may conduct commercial timber sales and keep the revenue for authorized restoration or recreation services through fiscal 2028, but those revenues are not applied to FS or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) revenue-sharing payments. A 2024 amendment expanded the GNA's definition of federal land to include National Park System and national wildlife refuge lands, but it is unclear whether the Interior Secretary may actually use the GNA there or whether timber harvesting is even permitted on those lands.
Both Sides, Now
The GNA waives some FS timber-sale rules, including the requirement to advertise sales and to have FS staff supervise them, and BLM policy allows appraisal and minimum-pricing requirements to be waived when a partner sells BLM timber. In a documented case, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), reported in May 2018 that a state-federal timber partnership in Tongass National Forest, Alaska, allegedly damaged the forest in a project described as restoration, though that damage is an allegation, not a court finding.
On local revenue, the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition stated in 2021 that counties worry GNA projects could replace traditional timber sales and reduce revenue-sharing payments.
What Happens Next?
Congress still faces open questions about the GNA, including whether the Interior Secretary may use it on National Park System and national wildlife refuge lands, whether timber harvesting is permitted there, and how timber sale revenues may be applied to recreation projects.
Will Congress resolve the GNA's legal boundaries before the program's revenue authority runs out in 2028?
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