Page 18 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Second Quarter 2023

Here For You
NC Forest Service Offers Financial Assistance Opportunities to Woodland Owners
By Philip Jackson, Public Information Officer for the NC Forest Service
In North Carolina, 83% of forestland is privately owned, making individual land- owners critical to the health and longevity of forests across the state. One way the NC Forest Service fulfills its mission to protect, promote, and manage forest resources
for North Carolina citizens is by providing financial assistance programs designed to
assist private woodland owners with active and sustainable forest management.
There are five financial assistance programs offered to help landowners achieve a wide
range of management objectives. These include the Forest Development Program (FDP) and the NC Prescribed Burning Cost-Share Program, both of which received recurring legislative funding in 2022. The FDP, North Carolina’s flagship tree-planting program, has helped plant 820 million trees on more than 1.5 million acres since 1977. With support from state appropriations and forest industry taxes, this program is an example of immense collaboration that successfully bolsters our state’s vibrant forest sector.
Cost-share programs available to North Carolina landowners include:
3]Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program
Smaller than a grain of rice, southern pine beetles have caused great destruction to southern pine forests. This program focuses on preventing outbreaks of the insect by reimbursing nonindustrial private forest landowners for portions of the practice cost to manage young pine stands for the prevention of infestations.
1]Forest Development Program (FDP)
The FDP is a reforestation, afforestation, and forest stand improvement cost-sharing program with objectives that include timber production and the creation of benefits associated with active forest management. Private landowners are eligible to receive
up to 100 acres of FDP cost share annually and may be partially reimbursed for the cost of site preparation, seedling purchases,
tree planting, release of desirable seedlings from competing vegetation, or any other work needed to establish a new forest.
2]NC Prescribed Burning Cost-Share Program
Applicants may apply for funding to conduct silvicultural burning, hazard reduction burning, or wildlife habitat burning. The burn must comply with the NC Prescribed Burning Act.
Philip Jackson
16 ncforestry.org / SECOND QUARTER 2023