Jun 05, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget would boost U.S. Forest Service funding by 8.9 percent, as reported by Bemidji Pioneer. While setting national priorities that “acts to save and create new jobs, and lay a new foundation for growth,” it also anticipates a slight decrease in timber harvested from national forests. Obama’s budget proposal boosts USFS funding to $5.23 billion, and eliminates $71.3 million in congressional earmarks from the request. It also projects timber harvest at 1,984,000 million board feet, down from 2,049,000 mmbf actually harvested in 2008 but up from 1.9 million mmbf enacted for 2009. “What I want to do personally is to make sure that the budget that comes to the Chippewa (National) Forest is at least as much as we’ve had in the past” for timber harvest preparations, Kent Connaughton, USFS regional forester from Milwaukee, Wis., said earlier this week in an interview. The Obama budget would focus on responsible budgeting for wildfires, protecting the national forests and conserving new lands, as well as consideration for climate change. The federal economic stimulus package also provides $1.15 billion to USFS for hazardous fuels reduction, forest health protection, rehabilitation and hazardous mitigation activities on federal, state and private lands. Some 20,000 new private sector jobs could be created through shovel-ready projects in urban forestry, restoration, fire prevention, roads, bridges, buildings and recreation facilities, states the budget narrative.