Biden admin to use infrastructure money to plant 1 billion trees to 'fight against climate change'

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 to fight climate change.

The plan will "address a reforestation backlog of four million acres on national forests" by planting trees, the Agriculture Department said Monday in announcing the plan. 

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

"Forests are a powerful tool in the fight against climate change," Agriculture 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.