Transcript Items to Know in the Field: Collaborating with DOF

Virginia Department of Forestry
2014 SWCD Annual Meeting
VDOF Mission:
“We protect and develop
healthy, sustainable
forest resources for
Virginians”
Our goals in Virginia:
DOF has ~250 employees to meet the
following goals:
 Protect the Forest Resource from Wildfire, Insect
and Disease, and other Natural Disasters
 Conserve the Forest Land Base
 Protect Water Quality
 Improve and Renew Forest Resources
Protecting Our Forests -Wildfire
 Agency relies on a fleet of:
– 190 – 4X4 Pickup truck-based
engines
– 7 – specially equipped Hummers
– 5 – Custom designed wildland
brush trucks
– 89 bulldozer/wildland fire plow
suppression units
– 2 – Incident Command Vehicles
– 1 - Airplane
Protecting Water Quality
 Harvest Inspection
Program
-Notification Law
 Law Enforcement
-Silvicultural Water
Quality Law
 Education
-Sharp Logger
Program
Protecting Water Quality
 Assist Federal Agencies with
Riparian Forest Buffer Est.
-CREP, CRP, EQIP, VABMP
 Riparian Buffer Tax Credit
Riparian Buffer Tax Credit
(RBTC) Riparian Buffer
Tax Credit
 Tax Credit through the Virginia General Assembly
 Eligibility includes individuals, & S-Corporations
or Family Partnerships.
 Leaving existing buffers along waterways during
a timber harvesting operation
 Requirements include a Forest Stewardship Plan,
35’+ wide buffer, and be retained for 15 years
after harvest
 Credit is 25% of value of timber up to $17,500
 Cost is $150 per application
Improve and Renew Forest
Resources – starts with a plan
 If you own a tract of timberland (regardless
of size), you should have some type of plan
for the future.
 For small tracts (1-50 acres) - a simple one
page letter and a map may be enough.
 For larger tracts, (50-1000+ acres) –
landowners should have a detailed Forest
Management Plan.
Forest Management Plans
should:
 List landowner objectives
 Divide the tract into parcels based on
timber type and age and make
recommendations for each one
 Should address timber, wildlife,
endangered species, invasive species, soil
types, water quality, and historical sites
Forest Management Plans
should:
 Include a timeline that tells you what year
certain practices need to be done
 Include a detailed map
 Include Consulting Forester, Timber Buyer,
and Logger lists if timber harvesting was
recommended in the plan
Forest Management Plans
 VDOF – Forest Stewardship Plans for $1.50
/acre or $200 minimum
 Consulting Foresters – Forest Stewardship,
Tree Farm, or Conservation Activity Plans
(CAP 106 Plan) for a fee
 Landowners can receive cost share
assistance money from the NRCS for the
CAP 106 Plans.
Other Benefits
 A current Forest Stewardship is required for
the following:
-Riparian Buffer Tax Credit
-Before harvesting timber on tracts that
have a conservation easement
Other Benefits - continued
 If you are applying for cost share funding
through NRCS’s EQIP program, you will
receive extra points for practices that were
recommended in the plan.
Sustainable Forestry
 Regenerating a forest ASAP following a
timber harvest (planting or natural regen)
 Minimizing the impact of forest
management activities on water quality
 Maintaining important habitat elements for
wildlife and plant species
 Protecting forests with high conservation
values
Sustainable Forestry
 Maintaining biological diversity
 Limiting the spread of exotic (non-native)
plant species and pests
-tree-of-heaven
-kudzu
Foresters biggest challenge:
preventing diameter limit cuts
Many landowners think that
clear-cutting is bad.
Loggers may tell them that
this is “Sustainable Forestry”
Young yellow poplar stand
-started from a clear-cut
Both stands started from a
clear-cut (20/70 years ago)
Deferment cut
Pine Management – Why are
we planting pine trees?
 Cheap to establish – $75/acre to plant
around 500 trees per acre (seedlings and
labor). Cost share programs to assist with
costs of establishment and management.
 Thin or total harvest in 20-30 years
 Current FIA data shows that more pine is
being harvested than we are growing/year.
Loblolly plantation
3 yr old/20 yr old (thinned)
Cost Share Programs:
VDOF – RT Program
 2014-2015 Program Year
-$25/acre - tree establishment – LLP
-$48/acre - establishment – SLP, PxL
-$70/acre for site prep (chemical)
-$22/acre for herbicide release (air)
-$45/acre for herbicide release (backpack)
Cost Share Programs:
NRCS – EQIP Program
 2015 Program Year
-$60-70/acre - tree establishment
-$70-90/acre for site prep (chemical)
-CAP 106 Plans – $625-$5300
-Riparian Buffer Est - $670-$1600
RT vs. EQIP
 RT – simple to sign up, approve signups
until we run out of $$, individual counties
have their own allotment, can be used for
only one practice
 EQIP – can be used for multiple practices
over multiple years, payment rates are
higher,
Questions?