Existing and Potential Incentives for Practicing Sustainable Forestry on Non-industrial Private Forest Lands

The purpose of this study is to identify existing and potential incentives for practicing sustainable forestry on non-industrial private forest lands in the U.S. The study findings and conclusions yielded nine recommendations:

1- Increase funding and availability of one-on-one technical assistance from both extension foresters and state service foresters.
2- Use technical assistance rather than certification to convey sustainability ideas; approach sustainability through owners. long-term stewardship and family legacy objectives.
3- Make a written forest management plan a requirement for all incentive programs.
4- Design incentive programs to put forest owners in direct contact with a forester or other natural resource professional.
5- Design some incentive programs to address regional differences in forest characteristics and forest owner objectives.
6- Link incentives directly to stewardship practices instead of general forest management practices.
7- Fund cost-share applications according to their expected environmental benefit instead of first-come-first- served.
8- Make the requirements for owners to participate in incentive programs more uniform and deliver the programs from a single source in each state.
9- Maintain adequate funding and stable program requirements for financial incentives over the long term.

Financial Incentive Programs for Non-Industrial Private Forest Owners Website

The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station has created a series of web pages that contain information on financial incentive programs for non-industrial private forest owners. Visitors to the site can search for programs by state, or view listings of federal, state or private programs nationwide. Timber tax fact sheets are also provided for each state.

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