WASHINGTON - American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement regarding the five year Farm Bill conference report that House and Senate negotiators released last night.

"I applaud House and Senate Farm bill negotiators, especially Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Chairman Frank Lucas, for their hard work and diligence in developing a bipartisan Farm Bill. Their work to secure language clarifying the inclusion of forest products in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's BioPreferred program is important for the paper, packaging and wood products industry. The final language in the bill helps to preserve the treatment of forest roads as non-point sources and is a significant step towards providing the certainty the forestry community needs."