Landowner Resources
Do you have a forest?
The Family Forest Research Center, a partnership of the Forest Service, says that whether you have “just trees” that shelter native plants and animals, a bit of “woods” behind your house where the kids play and you cut firewood, or a “tree farm” that earns your family income, you are a forest owner. If you have an acre or more of land with trees on at least 10 percent of it, you have a forest. If you own that forest as an individual, a couple, a family partnership, or some other grouping of unincorporated individuals, you are a family forest owner.
What landowner assistance information and tools are available?
- Community Forest Program can help tribes, local government and nonprofit organizations to protect forest land to benefit the community.
- Forest Stewardship Program can help landowners develop a plan to care for your land.
- Forest Legacy Program helps you protect your private forest lands from conversion to non-forest uses.
- Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program helps you address water quality, soil erosion, and wildlife habitat issues related to agricultural uses.
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program helps you plan and implement practices that improve natural resources on your land.
- National Agroforestry Center helps you put trees and other vegetation to work on your land.
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance provides detailed information about federal assistance programs.
- Forest Resource Coordinating Committee
How can I find out more?
- Forests on the Edge helps you understand how you are affected by loss of open space.
- Backyard Woods helps woodland owners with 1 to 10 acres of land.
- Profitable Farms and Woodlands is a practical guide in agroforestry for farmers, ranchers and landowners
- Family Forest Research Center conducts research to help you understand the social and economic dimensions of family forestry.
- Forest Taxation has information about your land and federal taxes.
- 2014 Tax Tips for Forest Landowners has information about your land and federal taxes.
- Estate Planning for Forest Landowners: What Will Become of Your Timberland? provides a working knowledge of the Federal estate and gift tax law as it relates to estate planning for forest properties.
- Tree Owner's Manual provides instructions for installation, tips for trouble shooting common issues and recommended service.
- USDA Plant Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.
- National Woodland Owners Survey is aimed at increasing our understanding of woodland owners.