Tennessee Division of Forestry asks lawmakers for $1 million recurring for state forest upkeep after a year of heavy emergency response

John Charles Wilson, chair of the Tennessee Forestry Commission, presented the commissionannual report and told the committee that fiscal 2025 was "a very unique year" for the Tennessee Division of Forestry because the agency balanced emergency support with traditional forestry missions.

Wilson described wildfire-control and reforestation work, then detailed multiple emergency deployments: more than 220 division staff deployed to 16 counties after an ice storm, crews removed more than 10,000 fallen trees and opened over 4,300 miles of road; additional deployments supported hurricane response and tornado cleanup. He said the division helped secure over $38 million in federal relief funding for impacted farmers and forest landowners.

Wilson also outlined the acquisition of the Wolf River State Forest (5,488 acres) and said the State Forest System now totals about 173,269 acres across 16 state forests. The Forestry Commission asked the legislature to include a recurring $1,000,000 increase in the divisionoperating budget for FY2026 and FY2027 to cover roads, signage, infrastructure and maintenance.

Representative members asked how the division protects employee safety during chainsaw and heavy-equipment operations. Heather Slayton, assistant commissioner and state forester, said "Safety is our number 1 priority in [the] division of forestry," described certified S-212 chainsaw training with recertification every 3 to 5 years, the use of on-scene safety officers and After-Action Reviews after incidents to improve procedures.

Committee members praised the division's response capability and discussed opportunities to coordinate forest-management work across state agencies (TDEC, TWRA) to avoid duplicate spending. Wilson and Slayton said the division already partners with those agencies in timber sales, management and law enforcement where missions align.

Wilson closed by re-emphasizing the scale of state-forest use and the long-term maintenance needs that motivated the $1 million recurring request; committee members were encouraged to pick up the published annual report on their way out.