ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION STATE AND PRIVATE FORESTRY
Forest Stewardship Program
Purpose
The Forest Stewardship Program was designed to assist private forest landowners meet personal land management goals while providing environmental, economic and social public benefits. Forest stewardship enables the private landowner to maximize individual enjoyment and pride in land ownership while maintaining its value for future generations. Good land stewardship guards against soil erosion, protects water quality, ensures future timber supplies, improves fish and wildlife habitat, enhances natural beauty and provides recreational opportunities. The Forest Stewardship Program provides educational and technical assistance to landowners interested in active management of their forest lands for these multiple resource benefits.
Program Delivery
The Forest Stewardship Program is delivered at the State level through the State Forester's office, in cooperation with state forest stewardship coordinating committees. Local representatives of committee members provide assistance to landowners participating in the program. This service generally takes the form of the preparation of an integrated forest management plan and subsequent help with plan implementation. Each plan contains a description of the landowner's property and recommended practices for achieving individual management goals. It also addresses ways to conserve or improve timber, fish and wildlife, soil and water, recreation, aesthetics and forage resources found on the property. Landowners can be recognized for their stewardship efforts and receive a certificate, sign and local publicity if desired.
Benefits from Program Participation
Any non-industrial, private forest landowner is eligible to participate in the program, unless the State has established minimum acreage requirements. Forest stewards are provided an opportunity to learn more about forest resource management and obtain technical, multiple resource assistance, can be recognized for their stewardship efforts, promoting sustainability and setting an example for other landowners and the public, and receive a management plan which may, depending on the State, reduce tax liability.
How to Participate
Landowners interested in participating in the Forest Stewardship Program should contact the State Forest Stewardship Program Coordinator or their local state forestry agency office for additional information.
Colorado
www.csfs.colostate.edu
Naomi Marcus, Forest Stewardship Program Coordinator
Forest Stewardship Coordinator
CSFS-Forest Management Div.
Colorado State University
5060 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-5060
Office: 970-491-7287
Mobile: 970-980-3184
naomi.marcus@colostate.edu
Kansas
www.kansasforests.org
Bob Atchison, Rural Forestry Coordinator
Kansas Forest Service, KSU
2610 Claflin RD
Manhattan, KS 66502
atchison@ksu.edu
785-532-3310
Nebraska
www.nfs.unl.edu/
Dennis Adams, Rural Forestry Program Leader
Nebraska Forest Service
203E Forestry Hall, UNL
Lincoln, NE 68583-0815
Phone: 402-472-5822
Email: dadams2@unl.edu
Web: www.nfs.unl.edu
South Dakota
http://sdda.sd.gov/Forestry/
Greg Josten, Service Forestry Programs Administrator
SD Dept of Agriculture
Resource Conservation & Forestry Division
3305 ½ West South Street
Rapid City, SD 57702-8160
Greg.Josten@state.sd.us
Phone 605-394-2279
Fax 605-394-2549
Wyoming
http://slf-web.state.wy.us/forestry.aspx
John Crisp, Resource Forester
1100 W. 22nd street
Cheyenne WY 82002\
Office: 307-777-6680
jcrisp@wyo.gov
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) was approved in 1996 by amending the Food Security Act of 1985 (Farm Bill), reauthorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and again reauthorized in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.
EQIP provides a voluntary conservation program for owners of private, non-industrial forest land that promotes agricultural production, forest management and environmental quality as compatible with national goals. EQIP offers financial and technical help to assist eligible producers install or implement conservation practices on eligible agricultural land.
Program Delivery
Through EQIP, State forestry agencies can provide a wide array of educational, technical and financial services that are intended to ensure that the nation’s NIPF and related resources continue to provide sustainable forest products and safeguard the health of our water, air, and wildlife.
EQIP is a voluntary program in each State and participation by landowners is voluntary. This program functions by contracts that provide financial assistance to help develop conservation activity plans and implement conservation practices. Owners of land in agricultural production including harvesting forest products or persons who are engaged in livestock or agricultural production on eligible land may participate in the EQIP program. Program practices and activities are carried out according to an EQIP plan of operations developed in conjunction with the landowner that identifies the appropriate conservation practice or measures needed to address identified natural resource concerns. The practices are subject to NRCS technical standards adapted for local conditions.
Benefits from Program Participation
The USDA Forest Service and State forestry agencies are guided by the following principles:
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Establish, manage, maintain, protect, enhance, and restore NIPF lands.
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Enhance the productivity of timber, habitat for flora and fauna, soil, water, air quality, wetlands, and riparian buffers of these lands.
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Assist owners and managers to more actively manage NIPF lands to enhance and sustain the long-term productivity of timber and non-timber forest resources.
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Reduce the risk and help restore, recover and mitigate the damage to forests caused by fire, insects, invasive species, disease, and damaging weather.
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Increase and enhance carbon sequestration opportunities.
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Enhance implementation of agroforestry practices.
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Encourage and leverage State, Federal, and local resource management expertise, financial assistance and educational programs that support EQIP.
How to Participate
Private forest landowners who wish to participate in EQIP in those States offering the program, must complete one or more of the sustainable forestry practices available in their State as described in a forest management plan.
In each state, the State forester or their representative will evaluate the management plans submitted by private forest landowners and approve them for participation in EQIP.
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
CSP is a new voluntary conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. CSP provides opportunities to both recognize excellent stewards and deliver valuable new conservation.
Program Delivery
NRCS at the State level, in consultation with the State Technical Committee and local working groups, will focus CSP on natural resources that are of specific concern for a State. Agricultural land and nonindustrial private forest land will be ranked separately.
Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe.
For a pre-approved applicant, NRCS will request the applicant’s conservation activity records and conduct on-site field verification to ensure that information provided by the applicant was accurate prior to contract approval. Once information is verified, NRCS and the applicant proceed to develop the contract.
Benefits from Program Participation
CSP provides participants with two possible types of payments. An annual payment is available for installing new conservation activities and maintaining existing activities. A supplemental payment may be earned by participants receiving an annual payment who also adopt a resource-conserving crop rotation.
How to Participate
Producers interested in CSP are encouraged to begin the application process by completing a producer self-screening checklist. The self-screening checklist helps potential applicants decide for themselves whether CSP is the right program for them. The level of environmental benefit to be achieved will be estimated to determine eligibility, rank applications, and establish payments.
Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI)
The Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) is a voluntary conservation initiative that enables the use of certain conservation programs along with resource of eligible partners to provide financial and technical assistance to owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands.
As allowed by the 2008 Farm Bill (2008 Act), NRCS may make Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) program resources available to owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands who are located in an approved CCPI project area.
As authorized by Congress, this is not a grant program to partners. This is a program whereby partners with approved projects will enter into multi-year agreements with NRCS to help enhance conservation outcomes on agricultural lands and private nonindustrial private forest lands. One purpose of CCPI is to leverage resources of certain Federal government programs along with services and resources of non-Federal partners to implement natural resource conservation practices.
Program Delivery
Only producers who are eligible for EQIP, WHIP or CSP may receive financial assistance through these programs. If funds are available, NRCS will make Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) benefits available to owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands who participate in approved CCPI project areas.
Owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands are eligible to apply for program benefits offered through CCPI. In order for a producer to be considered for financial assistance through a CCPI partner agreement, the land associated with a program application must be located within an approved CCPI project area.
Benefits from Program Participation
For CCPI, the 2008 Act requires that 6 percent of the funds for EQIP and WHIP and 6 percent of the allowed acres for the CSP programs be reserved for support of producer contracts approved under this authority. Information and conditions for the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative and potential funding available can be found in notice of request for proposals (RFP) published in the Federal Register and posted to this web site.
If funds are available, NRCS will make Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) benefits available to owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands who participate in approved CCPI project areas.
How to Participate
Eligible partners may submit proposals per the requirements of the RFP. Through a competitive process, the proposal will be evaluated and ranked with all other current fiscal year proposals. After evaluation, if the partner proposal is selected for funding, NRCS will develop a partnership agreement which will outline the general requirements of NRCS and the partner. Information about the competitive evaluation process is contained in the published RFP.
For more detail regarding eligibility and application requirements contact your local NRCS field office.
Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP)
The Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) is a voluntary program for conservation-minded landowners who want to develop and improve wildlife habitat on agricultural land, nonindustrial private forest land, and Indian land.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 reauthorized WHIP as a voluntary approach to improving wildlife habitat in our Nation. The Natural Resources Conservation Service administers WHIP to provide both technical assistance and up to 75 percent cost-share assistance to establish and improve fish and wildlife habitat.
Program Delivery
The NRCS State Conservationist, with recommendations from the State Technical Committee and other partners, may identify priorities for enrollment in WHIP that complement the goals and objectives of relevant fish and wildlife conservation initiatives at the State, regional, and national levels. The priorities serve as a guide for the development of WHIP ranking criteria in each State.
Land eligible for WHIP includes:
· Private agricultural land including cropland, grassland, rangeland, pasture, and other land determined by NRCS to be suitable for fish and wildlife habitat development;
· Non-industrial private forest land including rural land that has existing tree cover or is suitable for growing trees; and Tribal land.
Benefits from Program Participation
In order to provide direction to the State and local levels for implementing WHIP to achieve its objective, NRCS has established the following national priorities:
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Promote the restoration of declining or important native fish and wildlife habitats.
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Protect, restore, develop or enhance fish and wildlife habitat to benefit at-risk species
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Reduce the impacts of invasive species on fish and wildlife habitats; and
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Protect, restore, develop or enhance declining or important aquatic wildlife species’ habitats
How to Participate
Applications may be filed at any time. Applicants must own or control land and provide evidence that they will be in control of the land for the duration of the cost-share agreement.
A WHIP plan of operations is required for the area covered in the application and becomes the basis for developing the WHIP cost-share agreement. Cost-share agreements between NRCS and the participant are for a minimum of 1 year after completion of the last conservation practice, up to 10 years. Through reimbursement, NRCS will pay up to 75 percent of the cost to install conservation practices for permanent priority fish and wildlife habitat. Participants are expected to maintain the cost-shared practices for their anticipated life spans.
Up to 25 percent of WHIP funds will be available for long-term cost-share WHIP Fact Sheet page 2
agreements (15 years or longer) to protect and restore essential plant and animal habitat. NRCS can pay up to 90 percent of the cost to install conservation practices in these long-term agreements.
Healthy Forest Restoration Program (HFRP)
The purpose of the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) is to assist landowners, on a voluntary basis, in restoring, enhancing and protecting forestland resources on private lands through easements, 30-year contracts and 10-year cost-share agreements. Not all states have the HFRP operational.
Program Delivery
To be eligible for enrollment, land must be private land or Tribal land which will restore enhance or measureable increase the likelihood of recovery of a threatened or endangered species must improve biological diversity or increase carbon sequestration.
The Program offers three enrollment options:
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A 10-year restoration cost-share agreement; for which the landowner may receive 50 percent of the average cost of the approved conservation practices.
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A 30-year easement, for which the landowner may receive 75 percent of the easement value of the enrolled land plus 75 percent of the average cost of the approved conservation practices.
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A 30-year contract on acreage owned by Indian Tribes, or
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A 99-year easement for which landowners may receive 100 percent of the easement value of the enrolled land plus 100 percent the average cost of the approved conservation practices.
Benefits from Program Participation
Restoring and protecting forests contribute to the economy, provides biodiversity of plants and animal populations, and improves environmental quality.
Landowner Protections will be made available to landowners enrolled in HFRP who agree, for a specified period to restore or improve their land for threatened or endangered species habitat. In exchange they avoid certain regulatory restrictions under the Endangered Species Act on the use of that land.
The HFRP provides financial assistance in the form of easement payments and costs-share for specific conservation action completed by the landowner.
The objectives of HRFP are to:
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Promote the recovery of endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA):
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Improve plant and animal biodiversity; and
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Enhance carbon sequestration.
How to Participate
Visit your NRCS field office to learn if your state has HFRP available to eligible landowners and how you may pursue this opportunity.
Forest Resource Management
Forest resource management promotes the conservation and management of rural forest resources for a variety of desired benefits through the application of sound sustainable and economic resource management principles.
Cooperative Forestry staff members provide technical information and assistance to State agencies and other groups.
Cooperative Forestry staff members monitor, evaluate, and coordinate the latest research information developed by the USDA Forest Service Forest Experiment Stations for dissemination to private landowners, public and private foresters, and other interested groups.
Forest Legacy Program (FLP)
The Forest Legacy Program is entirely voluntary and protects private lands from being converted to non-forest uses through the purchase of conservation easements or fee simple titles from willing private landowners. The program focuses on protecting forests that provide benefits for fish and wildlife habitat; water supply and watershed protection; recreational opportunities; forest products and resource-based jobs; and scenic, historic, and cultural values. As of 2010, the program has protected over 2 million acres of forest land nationwide with 12,000 acres of these acres in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Participating landowners may be compensated up to 75% of the appraised value of the conservation easement or fee simple title of the property. The remaining 25% of the value can come from private, State, or local sources. Projects are selected through a competitive process and can receive up to $7 million in federal funds per year. In 2010, 36 projects were funded nationwide with an average funding of $2 million per project. In addition to gains associated with the sale or donation of property rights, many landowners also benefit from reduced taxes associated with limits placed on land use.
How to Participate
Participation in Forest Legacy is limited to private forest land owners. To qualify, the property must be at least 75% forested and lie within a designated Forest Legacy Area as described in the State’s Forest Resource Assessment and Strategy and/or Forest Legacy Assessment of Need.
Selection of Forest Legacy properties occurs through a two stage competitive process: first each State solicits project proposals each year for evaluation, and then the States can choose to send up to three top ranked project proposals to the U.S. Forest Service for consideration by a national panel. The national panel evaluates projects for environmental and social importance, likelihood of conversion to development, and strategic placement on the landscape. Properties can receive funding in multiple years but have to reapply each year.
Landowners interested in participating in the Forest Stewardship Program should contact the State Forest Legacy Program Coordinator or their local state forestry agency office for additional information.
For more information about the program visit our National Forest Legacy Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/programs/loa/flp.shtml
Forest Taxation
Taxes are a major cost of doing business. Proper tax planning is just as important as the silvicultural techniques used to grow a profitable timber crop. Hence, to increase your revenues be aware of the special income tax provisions available to help you earn optimum income from your forest lands. Congress provides these favorable advantages and elections TO STIMULATE INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY from the nation’s privately owned forest lands.
You should have a general knowledge of these provisions whether you prepare your own tax return or have someone do it for you. Most tax accountants are not familiar with all of the special provisions available for private forest landowners. The tax code is complex, and these special provisions are obscure. Be aware of them so you can inform your tax accountant.
Here are a few special provisions to help you avoid paying unnecessary income taxes:
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Landowners can claim a 10% reforestation tax credit and 7-year amortization for qualified reforestation expenses on the first $10,000 invested in reforestation each year. This special advantage is available only to timber growers -- with only a few specified exceptions.
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You must have a profit motive to claim business or investment expenses, but you do not have to have a profit three out of five consecutive years. An expanded definition for “profit” is particularly relevant to timber. “Profit” also includes appreciation in value of assets. Hence, timber growing meets the profit definition since it appreciates in value through physical growth and enhanced quality over time -- even though it may not be harvested for a period of many years.
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Generally, you get the best tax treatment if you are “an active participant in the trade or business.” The passive rules apply, but it is not difficult for you to meet these requirements if you so choose. However, you must report your business expenses in a consistent manner and dispose of your timber under the provisions of Section 631, i.e., you should not sell your timber “lump sum” (see Web site below).
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You should maintain current tax records IRS Form T (Timber) Forest Activities Schedules. You should also attach Form T schedules to your tax return when specified by the instructions included on this form.
Listed below are several publications and Web sites available on the Internet that cover timber taxation issues for forest landowners. Check them out before you sell your timber, acquire new timberland, or reforest!
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