National Association of Conservation Districts

Forestry Notes

October 2009
Volume XIV, Issue 11
| PDF version | Archive of Previous Issues |

1. JFT Starting to Sprout
2. Montana Leaders Cooperate on Common Forestry Template
3. Districts in a Number of States Offer 'ReLeaf'
4. Comments Invited on Draft Standard
5. Forestry Fairs Well in '09 National Conservation Innovation Grants

1. JFT Starting to Sprout
National MOU partners are now communicating at the state and regional levels

When the Joint Forestry Team was chartered, its goal was to bring coordinated interagency delivery of forestry and conservation assistance to private landowners. Four of the country’s leading conservation organizations – NACD, NRCS, the U.S. Forest Service and NASF – all pledged to work together to break down existing barriers.

In New Mexico last month, those leaders showed their approval of the working partnership by extending the charter through 2014.
Now, roughly three years since its initial meeting, and only a little more than a year since the signing of a new national MOU, it is clear that the Joint Forestry Team has had an even more profound impact on how those four organizations communicate and work together.

• In Montana, leaders in May formed a state joint forestry team, and in July met to outline goals for the group. And recently, the Montana NRCS office, along with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation – Forestry Division and Montana State University - Extension have started to sketch out a common template for a forest management plan all of the groups could work from (see story in this issue). As the Bureau Chief for the Montana DNRC – Forestry Division pointed out, the cooperative effort in his state has helped to bring one clear message to landowners.
• Earlier in 2009, both Alabama and Florida signed state Joint Forestry MOUs. Said Alabama State Forester Linda Casey in a release, “Although our staffs have worked together for many years at the local level, this joint partnership brings the state and federal agencies together in an unprecedented effort to provide all non-industrial private forest landowners with efficient and effective services. Strengthening the cooperation between them will result in a broader success in achieving conservation goals.” 
• The Western Joint Forestry Team was created to bring representatives from all four groups in western states together to tackle issues those states face. That group met in Lewiston, Idaho to outline its cooperative efforts, and it met again in June in Denver, Colo.

Leaders expect to see more cooperation in the future.

Speaking at the NASF annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., NRCS Director for Ecological Sciences Mike Hubbs said, “Clearly, the Joint Forestry Team model and MOU are catalysts for growing partnerships at the watershed, state, and multi-state levels to address critical resource concerns that, by their very natures, demand our joint action and attention.”

Hubbs went on the praise the work being done by the partners, and offered more examples of how cooperation and the sharing of resources is showing results, such as the sharing of forestry positions in New Mexico and other states, including Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.

The key to the strong relationships is strong communication, said Andree DuVarney, NRCS branch chief for technical assistance.

“Just learning each other’s lingo – learning how to communicate more effectively with each other – has been a big asset,” said DuVarney. “And things that might be obvious to NRCS, things we deal with every day, might not be so obvious to state foresters and Forest Service, or vice versa.”

“By virtue of us talking to each other, landowners will be able to get the whole picture instead of just a piece of it, and more easily get not only planning assistance, but financial assistance to install the conservation practices.”

As NACD president Steve Robinson pointed out during his speech in Albuquerque, conservation districts have the contacts needed to implement projects, and can contribute information needed to complete the statewide forestry assessments as mandated in the Farm Bill.

“NACD is fully committed to the Joint Forestry Team and to implementing the national MOU,” said Robinson. “I encourage conservation districts to establish and expand their partnerships so that we truly deliver the most seamless forestry and conservation assistance possible.”

To learn more about the Joint Forestry Team’s mission, its tools for partners, and for more JFT success stories, visit http://jointforestryteam.org.

2. Montana Leaders Cooperate on Common Forestry Template

Forest management plans come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  As a result, there was an effort in Montana to have a quality plan that all would accept and use to help landowners attain their goals.  Through a cooperative effort between the Montana Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) – Forestry Division, and Montana State University (MSU) – Extension Service a forest management plan template was developed that all parties would accept.

To make this effort work a foundation needed to be laid. A foundation of: interested parties, a willingness to work together, for a common goal that ultimately would benefit the private forest landowner.  New NRCS Chief Dave White, the former Montana state conservationist, was one of the original key players along with Robert Harrington, state forester, with the DNRC – Forestry Division. Now White’s successor, Joyce Swartzendrubber, is continuing that work. The two met with a willingness to work together to help the private forest landowner address their resource concerns.

“Both agencies see the same clients when it comes down to forestry,” said Rob Ethridge, bureau chief for the DNRC’s Forestry Division in Missoula, Mont. “We both have our processes and procedures, which can be confusing for landowners. This cooperative effort helped to simplify all of that, while building on, and strengthening, the relationship shared by the participating agencies.”

One goal was to have a forest management plan that would be accepted by both parties.  A key party in this effort was MSU – Extension Service.  Forest Stewardship plans are developed by landowners after they attend a workshop put on by the Extension Service.  The work that Extension Service does with private landowners is exceptional. They created a forest management plan template that with a little additional work was acceptable to all parties.

Now landowners can develop a management plan that meets Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship and EQIP management requirements which will expedite the process to potentially participate in financial assistance programs, such as NRCS’ EQIP and green certification and ecosystem services markets.

Often the conservation district board members work with landowners in their area promoting the benefits of having a forest management plan.  They are the link to getting producers to attend forest stewardship workshops or have plans developed by a Montana DNRC service forester.
Missouri and Alabama have constructed similar mutual recognition plans.

The Montana forest management plan template can be viewed at the national Joint Forestry Team web site at http://jointforerestryteam.org under the resources section.

3. Districts in a Number of States Offer 'ReLeaf'
For more than a decade, conservation districts have served as excellent partners for Global ReLeaf projects across the country. The American Forests’ program helps individuals, organizations, agencies, and corporations improve the local and global environment by planting and caring for trees. According to American Forests program director Margo Dawley, conservation districts have made excellent partners.

“Conservation districts work with a more diverse group of people than American Forests is able to,” said Dawley. “It’s great for us to work with the districts for that reason.”

One recent example of district involvement is the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District’s work in southern California to repair areas that have been devastated by insects and wildfire.

Since 2004, ReLeaf volunteers, partnering with the Mojave Desert RCD staff and the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection have planted more than 300,000 seedlings on several hundred acres of land in the local mountain and valley communities.

Said Cheryl Nagy, the project coordinator for Mountain Communities Wildfire ReLeaf, “The goal of this project is to educate the public and to create a mixed conifer/hardwood forest with all native species spaced in a fashion that provides for a healthy forest.  Erosion control in these areas will protect the waterways and natural resources as well as the neighboring properties from runoff and sediments.  These plantings will also provide different types of food and cover for the variety of wildlife in the forest.”

The project uses seeds previously collected in the burned areas as well as current crops of cones to propagate native tree seedlings for plantings. The seedlings are grown at the CALFIRE Magalia Reforestation Nursery and delivered to the sites for direct plantings as weather and climate conditions permit. American Forest provided the grant funding.

From 2006 to 2009, plantings have been conducted at the Forest Lawn Boy Scout Camp in the Cedar Glen area, where more than 2,000 acres were completely burned during a 2003 wildfire. The Mojave Desert RCD also developed a brochure educating property owners of the benefits of planting native trees and how to properly replant their property.

“We’ve had a great experience working with Cheryl, and have been able to send sponsors to this project,” said Dawley.
More examples of ReLeaf projects where conservation districts have played a role:

• The Ohio DNR-Division of Forestry and the Harrison Soil and Water Conservation District were partners in a project to plant trees on a strip-mined site. The original planting was on more than 150 acres; more projects, including the planting of green ash and red and white oak, have been done in subsequent years.
• The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge planted 305,000 trees on 767 acres in 2001 in the second phase of a three-year project.  The site had been clearcut and was not regenerating due to the massive size of the clearcut area. Several Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Districts partnered on the project.
• American Forests partnered with the Hancock County Commissioners and the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District to reforest an old county farm along US 40 East in Greenfield, Ind.  The purpose of the reforestation was to demonstrate the use and productivity of marginal ground generate interest in forestry management and tree planting, and to facilitate educational opportunities.

Said Dawley, future ReLeaf projects using conservation district assistance are already in the works.

“It can be a challenge for some districts to get participation,” admitted Dawley, “but overall I think these are great projects for both conservation districts and American Forests.”

There are two types of Global ReLeaf projects:

• In urban areas to encourage individuals to plant trees around their homes and businesses or join community groups to plant trees that shade, cool, and beautify their neighborhoods
• In less-developed areas, which in many cases have been damaged by natural or human causes. These trees help clean the air and water, filter polluted runoff, slow global warming and erosion, and provide habitat for wildlife

Global ReLeaf has helped to plant more than 25 million trees in projects across the United States and 21 countries internationally.

For more information on the Mountain Communities Wildfire ReLeaf program, visit http://mountaincommunitieswildfirereleaf.org. To learn more about Global ReLeaf, visit http://www.americanforests.org/global_releaf/.

4. Comments Invited on Draft Standard
The Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP), a multi-stakeholder organization established in 2007 to develop comprehensive voluntary sustainability standards for the production of biomass and its conversion to bioenergy, has opened a public comment period on its Draft Standard. CSBP intends for its standard to serve as the foundation for sustainable production and a certification program, which will set the emerging bioenergy industry on a course of continuous improvement with support from growers, all sectors of the industry, including refineries, and social and environmental interests.

The CSBP standard will apply to biomass produced from non-food sources, including dedicated fuel crops, crop residues, purpose-grown wood, forestry residues, and native vegetation. The standard addresses the full complement of sustainability issues, including climate change, biological diversity, water quality and quantity, soil quality, and socio-economic well-being.

The Council invites comments on the Draft Standard from all stakeholders by November 9, 2009. The complete Draft Standard, and instructions for submitting comments, can be found at http://www.csbp.org.

5. Forestry Fairs Well in '09 National Conservation Innovation Grants

Forest management continues to increase its participation in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) and the NRCS announcement of the national 2009 awardees contains the best representation of forestry to date.

CIG is a voluntary program to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies.  Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds are used to award competitive grants to non-Federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes, or individuals.

This year’s national recipients that highlight forestry include:

In the Natural Resources & Technology Categories ...

• Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, Inc (KY) - $500,000 to demonstrate and grow the role carbon revenue can play as market-based economic incentives that result in sustainable forest practice at scale in private lands.
• American Forest Foundation (ME, NH, VT) - $500,000 to incentivize private forest landowners to restore, enhance, and protect aquatic resources in two critical watersheds in the Northern Forest region.
• Missouri Department of Conservation (MO) - $192,700 to implement a pilot cost share program for implementing best management practices (BMP) in private land timber sales in a partnership of nine public agencies and non-government organizations, private landowners and loggers.
• National Network of Forest Practitioners (MS) - $260,000 to provide enhanced access to and enrollment in conservation incentives for African-American landowners in forest-dependent communities of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
• The Blackfoot Challenge, Inc (MT) - $106,108 to implement land use practices that enhance fire management through partnerships with producers, private landowners, forest managers, and NRCS.
• New River-Highlands RC&D Council (VA) - $111,000 to increase the acres of sustainability managed forest land, via coached implementation of forest management projects in the Appalachian Hardwood Region of Virginia.
• The Nature Conservancy (VT) - $89,308 to increase the number of landowners who incorporate land management practices that improve bat habitat; improve habitat for aquatic and riparian species; and reduce invasive terrestrial plant infestations that affect forest productivity and the quality of wildlife habitats.
• Washington State University (WA) - $165,712 to engage absentee forest owners in face-to-face and online learning to stimulate stewardship behaviors and create a desirable future condition.
• College of Menominee Nation (WI)  - $122,973 to demonstrate the viability of carbon sequestration as a market mechanism tool for promoting environmental preservation, biodiversity, conservation, and sustainable development among tribes and their lands.
• Southwest Mississippi RC&D, Inc (MS) - $194,148  to demonstration of bio-energy heating systems for poultry broiler houses in Mississippi using poultry litter (primary) and wood residues (secondary).

In the Grant Leveraging Category ...

• United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc - $2,000,000 to establish a thematically-targeted, geographically-focused grant program in two to three identified watersheds in the Eastern US for the purpose of advancing water management and conservation through watershed health and forest retention.

In addition to the winners listed above, there are other CIG grants that hold potential for forestry, especially those that explore the concept of developing a model environmental trading programs for nutrient and carbon credits.

CIG enables NRCS to work with other public and private entities to accelerate technology transfer and adoption of promising technologies and approaches to address some of the Nation’s most pressing natural resource concerns. CIG has two competitions available each year--National and State.This article provides highlights for program funding for the National competition.  Each State administering a CIG competition will announce funding availability through separate announcements.

For more on the CIG program, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/index.html.