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Climate

Biden admin pledges to plant 1 billion trees through Infrastructure Law

The USDA Forest Service has already invested more than $100 million in reforestation efforts in 2022

July 26, 2022 12:30pm

Updated: July 26, 2022 2:38pm

The Biden administration plans on using funds from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Law to plant more than one billion trees over the next decade in order to fight climate change, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced.

The plan will "address a reforestation backlog of four million acres on national forests" by planting trees, the USDA wrote in a press release on Monday.

The USDA Forest Service has already invested more than $100 million in reforestation efforts in 2022 through funding from the infrastructure law. This is three times more than previous years.

"Forests are a powerful tool in the fight against climate change," Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "Nurturing their natural regeneration and planting in areas with the most need is critical to mitigating the worst effects of climate change while also making those forests more resilient to the threats they face from catastrophic wildfire, historic drought, disease outbreaks and pest infestation."

The agency will partner with state, local and tribal governments in its reforestation efforts.