Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a new directive prioritizing land use efficiency when evaluating proposals for power generation projects on National Forest System Lands. The policy strengthens American energy production and reduces reliance on foreign energy sources, like foreign adversary-manufactured solar panels, while protecting our lands for future generations. The Forest Service will develop new screening criteria that measure and prioritize the amount of energy produced per acre of land while ensuring projects are consistent with environmental stewardship, multiple-use principles, and economic benefits for rural communities. Projects demonstrating higher land use efficiency, producing more power with less land disturbance, will be prioritized. “America has the resources and ingenuity to power our future without depending on foreign adversaries,” Rollins said. “For too long, misguided federal policies have pushed unreliable energy projects that waste taxpayer dollars, and those days are over.” She also said every acre of federal land will now be managed “wisely.”
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