TALLAHASSEE – Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has announced that the department’s Division of Forestry is offering the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Restoration Landowner Incentive Program to eligible non-industrial private forest landowners.
The sign-up period will run through November 20, 2009. The goal of the program is to increase the acreage of healthy Longleaf pine ecosystems in Florida by helping non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners to make the long term investment required to establish and maintain this valuable ecosystem.
Longleaf pine forests once covered a vast range from Texas to Virginia, but have been reduced to less than four percent of historical area due to conversion to other land uses and forest types. Longleaf pine forests are highly valued for their resistance to damage by insects, diseases, wildfire, and storms, and for their yield of high quality wood products, biological diversity, and scenic beauty. Research suggests that longleaf pine forests may be highly adaptive to anticipated effects of climate change, as well as being capable of sequestering more carbon than alternative forest types.
Under this program, the Florida Division of Forestry is putting Americans to work restoring these valuable forests. This work is helping to restore a great American ecosystem while creating jobs for contractors and laborers involved in tree planting and forest improvement work, nursery workers, conservation planners and coordinators.
The program offers incentive payments for completion of timber stand improvement, invasive species control, prescribed burning, planting longleaf pine, native plant understory establishment, and mechanical underbrush treatments. The program is offered for NIPF lands in Florida counties located within the historical natural range of Longleaf Pine. Qualified landowners may apply for up to four approved practices per year. The minimum tract size requirement is 10 acres and funding requests may not exceed $10,000.
Application forms and more information on program requirements and procedures can be obtained from a local Division of Forestry office or visit their website to obtain application materials and contact information for county forester offices. All qualifying applications received during the sign-up period will be evaluated and ranked for funding approval. The program is supported through a grant from the USDA Forest Service and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.