The NFF is a congressionally chartered foundation that raises private donations to support national forests. Because its official mission is to support the Forest Service, the use of funds from the NFF for anything unrelated to that purpose could subject the foundation to extra scrutiny.
“It has recently come to light that the NFF is seemingly being used to collect and distribute funds for USDA programming, including the 2025 Great American Farmer’s Market and potentially the Great American State Fair,” PEER Executive Director Timothy Whitehouse said in the letter, citing testimony from NFF President and CEO Dieter Fenkart-Froeschl to the House Natural Resources Committee in February.