Forest Conservation, Projects, and Partnerships

[Rachel Theler]

1. What are your districts’ primary forestry issues?
2. What are your districts’ needs regarding forestry?
3. What are your districts engaged in regarding forestry, such as plans, projects, education, etc.?
4. Who are your districts’ primary partners specific to forestry?

[Jennifer Hinkhouse]

1. Wildfire, forest health (drought, insects and disease).
2. Funding
3. Provide landowners with outreach and education, project design and layout, and cost-share.
4. BLM, State Forestry Division, and NRCS.

[Tom Gordon]

Maine is 89% forested, so all of our Districts have an interest in forestry issues. Much of our forested land is owned by small, non-commercial property owners. A common concern is the lack of woodlot management by small landowners. Our Districts work with NRCS and the Maine Forest Service (a bureau of our Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry) on woodlot management, and have been particularly active on public awareness of invasive forest pests.

Several of our Districts own forest lands and have developed demonstration projects on their woodlots. See:

Forests

http://www.piscataquisswcd.org/demonstrationforest/

Tenmile River Demonstration Forest

https://www.somersetswcd.org/yankee-woodlot

[Laura Johnson]

Hi Rachel! My co-workers can better answer most of your questions, but I’m going to send you an email connecting you with one of our district staff who has done a lot of work in forestry education. She said she’d be happy to share some of her lesson plans and other resources with you to give a sense of what they’ve done.

[Ben Schram]

Rachel, I hope this helps in your efforts!

Michigan:

1. The largest forestry concerns for our districts are the lack of active management on family forests, access to markets for poor quality timber products, and forest health related to invasive plants and insects. The lack of technical expertise is a major concern in districts not receiving an MDARD Forestry Assistance grant.

2. Districts not receiving an MDARD Forestry Assistance grant need training and resources to help constituents with their forestry resource concerns. Enhancing habitat for game species is a primary goal for landowners, statewide. Districts have difficulty offering alternatives and explaining the anticipated outcome of forest management decisions when there is limited, or no, forestry expertise in the office.

3. Conservation District foresters in Michigan are the initial point of contact for nonindustrial private forestland owners. They provide free on-site visits to help the landowner understand their own values and goals for forest ownership. They then help the landowner find the right professional to complete the work (timber harvest, forest management plan development, etc.) in the private sector through a robust referral process. They also provide a variety of educational outreach events. Our agency’s grants are somewhat non-prescriptive, so they are able to take on projects and partnerships that make sense to their area, with input from a local forestry advisory committee. If a district does not have an MDARD Forestry Assistance grant, their offerings are usually pretty limited, relying on a small subset of private sector consulting foresters to help with educational content.

4. Districts partner with private sector consulting foresters, primarily. Districts also engage with traditional sportsmen’s groups (QDMA, Ruffed Grouse Society, etc.). Depending on location, they may have a relationship with their local MDNR forester, who works primarily on state-owned land, or a USFS forester.

[Author]

Posts