[Washington, DC] Agriculture Under Secretary Mark Rey today announced the availability of $2.3 million for the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) in selected forest ecosystems. “Through cooperative conservation, private landowners can restore and enhance forest ecosystems to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species, improve biodiversity, reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, and enhance carbon sequestration,” said Rey. “The Healthy Forests Reserve Program is an additional tool to advance the goals of the President’s Healthy Forests Initiative and I encourage eligible landowners to participate.” HFRP will focus on habitat recovery for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in the Lower Ouachita River Flatwood region of Arkansas, the Canada lynx in the northern boreal forest of Maine, and the gopher tortoise in the longleaf pine ecosystem along the gulf coast of Mississippi.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org