ASHEVILLE – With a rough estimate of billions of dollars in farm and forest damage across Western North Carolina after Tropical Storm Helene, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Asheville Oct. 25 to reassure farmers that the U.S. Department of Agriculture support would continue long-term.
“We’re here for the long haul,” Vilsack said on a stop at the WNC Farmers Market. He outlined funding programs and resources available to farmers through the Farm Service Agency.
The agency offers 10 disaster assistance programs with funding tailored to different farming and ranching needs.
Vilsack acknowledged the complexity of navigating these programs, especially during a natural disaster, and noted that the USDA has launched a website to simplify the process.
The department has also eased paperwork requirements for those who lost documentation in the storm and expedited payouts.
Farmers are encouraged to visit farmers.gov/hurricane for program information or contact the USDA’s call center at 877-508-8364.
The storm’s damage to the agricultural sector remains unclear, Vilsack said, but preliminary estimates range from $3.5 billion to $4 billion.
More: ‘We just need help’: Henderson County farmers hit hard by Helene
“Now I want to emphasize that we shouldn’t get too wedded to that number, just simply because that is just the damages as we know them,” he said.
Vilsack explained that the economic impact may extend 15 to 20 years as agricultural damage affects future crop yields.
During his regional visit, Vilsack met with U.S. Forest Service officials and praised their efforts to clear debris, reopen roads, and reduce future fire hazards throughout the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.
The combination of recent droughts and storm-downed timber will likely increase long-term wildfire risk, he said.
More: Pisgah National Forest reopens in parts after Helene; cleanup of debris, trees continues
“So it’s important and necessary for us to also be looking at this from a longer view perspective, and understanding that this is not a one or two week or six month or one year proposition, that this is a multi year effort,” he said.
Vilsack also acknowledged losses for those dependent on national forest tourism, saying that USDA needs to assess these losses to help support those affected, including those who rely on tourism income.
“Having an understanding of exactly what that means in real terms, monetary terms, helps to define the level of damage coming out of the storm. Helps us to define what we ask Congress to replenish or to provide,” he said.
Vilsack emphasized that USDA’s role will continue into the future to help alleviate the complex economic, environmental, and public health impacts.
“The loss of lives, the loss of livelihoods, the loss of farms, loss of homes, the loss of everything that matters in life, has been and continues to be incredibly devastating to people,” he said.
“So those of us who work at the Department of Agriculture, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with folks down here, and we will continue to be partners in the extraordinary effort that’s underway in North Carolina.”
Vilsack’s visit is the latest in a string of federal government officials — and First Lady Jill Biden — to visit Asheville and WNC in the wake of Helene. Biden visited Asheville earlier in the day Oct. 25 to thank volunteers at World Central Kitchen and the Veterans Restoration Quarters. Others included former President Donald Trump’s appeared in Swannanoa, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Asheville and Interstate 40 near Tennessee and an aerial tour of the region by President Joe Biden.
More: ‘Drastically different’: How Helene upended ecology and habitat of Western North Carolina
More: After Helene forced its closure and furloughs, Biltmore Estate to reopen in November
Miguel Torres is acriminal justice journalist with the USA TODAY Network reporting for the Asheville Citizen Times in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. Email him at Miguel.Torres@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: US Agriculture Secretary in Asheville supports farmers after Helene
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