I’m proud to help introduce the RNGR Support Act - a common-sense, bipartisan effort to strengthen America’s reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including supporting critical facilities like the J.W. Toumey Nursery right here in Michigan’s First District.
Strengthen America’s reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including supporting critical nursery facilities in Michigan’s First District.
Occurrences
Reps. Jack Bergman (MI-01) and Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), introduced the bipartisan Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) Support Act of 2026. This bill would strengthen Washington State’s wildfire resiliency and the national reforestation pipeline by formalizing the United States Forest Service’s RNGR program.
Evidence
Rep. Jack Bergman said the RNGR Support Act is a bipartisan effort to "strengthen America’s reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including supporting critical facilities like the J.W. Toumey Nursery right here in Michigan’s First District." The release says the bill would formalize the Forest Service’s RNGR program and provide it with its own budget line item and funding.
The Forest Service RNGR center describes itself as a center of reforestation, nursery, and tree improvement expertise within the Forest Service.
The Forest Service nursery system supports the agency’s mission to restore and retain ecosystem health throughout its 193-million-acre domain and ensures the future of biological diversity on federal lands.
The page explains that tree nurseries are vital to reforestation and that state and territorial nurseries received financial assistance to improve the operation and efficiency of reforestation nurseries.
Bergman said the RNGR Support Act is a bipartisan effort to strengthen America’s reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including support for the J.W. Toumey Nursery in Michigan’s First District. The release says the bill would formalize the Forest Service RNGR program and give it a budget line item and funding.
The Forest Service says its nursery system provides locally adapted plants and seed for reforestation projects and lists J.W. Toumey Nursery in Watersmeet, Michigan as an active financed nursery. The page describes the existing federal nursery system, but not any new Bergman-driven expansion.
Bergman's office said he and Rep. Kim Schrier introduced the Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) Support Act of 2026. Bergman said the bill was a bipartisan effort to strengthen America's reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including support for J.W. Toumey Nursery in Michigan's First District. The release says the bill would formally authorize the Forest Service RNGR program and provide a budget line item and funding.
A GovInfo search for the exact phrase "RNGR Support Act" returned no matching results in the searched federal publications record.
The Forest Service describes RNGR as a center of reforestation, nursery, and tree-improvement expertise that provides a searchable database of technical articles and technical assistance for native-plant conservation, reforestation, and restoration.
The Forest Service says its nursery system provides locally adapted plants and seed for reforestation projects and lists J.W. Toumey Nursery in Watersmeet, Michigan among six financed nurseries, with both nursery and seed-extractory capacity.
The Ottawa National Forest page says J.W. Toumey Nursery is a Forest Service nursery in Watersmeet, Michigan. It grows approximately 12 million seedlings in the fields during summer, lifts about 4 million annually, and produces about 600,000 greenhouse plants each year.
The Forest Service says state, island territory, and commonwealth nurseries received financial assistance in early 2023 from FY2022 funds. The Michigan listing is $160,000 for red pine seed collection areas, not a 2026 RNGR Support Act authorization or J.W. Toumey Nursery expansion.
Assessments
Bergman materially advanced the promised policy by introducing the bipartisan RNGR Support Act in March 2026, and the bill directly matched the promise to strengthen the reforestation pipeline, expand nursery capacity, and support J.W. Toumey Nursery in Michigan's First District. But the evidence shows only introduction and proposed authorization/funding, not enactment, appropriations, or implemented nursery-capacity expansion. Under the federal campaign/office context, this is a serious same-term legislative attempt but not a delivered outcome.
Bergman publicly advanced the RNGR Support Act to strengthen the reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including support for J.W. Toumey Nursery in his district, but the evidence stops at bill introduction. There is no sign of enactment, appropriations, or implemented nursery expansion, so the promised outcome was not delivered despite a serious legislative attempt.
Bergman clearly made and acted on this promise by introducing the bipartisan RNGR Support Act to strengthen the federal reforestation pipeline and expand nursery capacity, including support for the J.W. Toumey Nursery in Michigan's First District. That is strong evidence of meaningful effort closely matching the claim. However, the provided evidence does not show the bill was enacted, funded, or that the promised expansion/support was actually implemented. Because there is concrete legislative action but no documented completed outcome yet, the best judgment is partial rather than delivered.