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Application period now open for forest conservation program
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Oregon Department of Forestry Media Release
April 24, 2012
Contact: Jim Cathcart 503-945-7493, or
Cynthia Orlando, 503-945-7421
Project applications are now being accepted for a program that works to protect the future of Oregon’s forests. The Forest Legacy Program helps landowners with the conservation of forests threatened by risk of ownership fragmentation or new development.
Forest Legacy is a national cooperative forestry program of the U.S. Forest Service that seeks to conserve private forest lands when forests may be lost to non-forest uses. The voluntary program provides financial incentives -- using conservation easements, land acquisition or land donation -- for private landowners to protect environmentally important working forest areas threatened by development, fragmentation and other non-forest uses. The Forest Legacy Program is designed to support state and community efforts to keep forestland viable, and keep working forests as forests.
The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) administers the Forest Legacy Program in Oregon. Applications are now being accepted to nominate projects for Forest legacy funding consideration for federal Fiscal Year 2014; letters of interest and property descriptions must be submitted to ODF by May 22, 2012. Letters must be submitted by the applying private forest landowner themselves, or by a third party with written consent from the landowner confirming representation.
Letters of interest should describe the project’s strengths with respect to the three national Forest Legacy Program scoring criteria, which are available on the department's Forest Legacy web page; also see the “FY 2014 Oregon Application Instructions” on that same web page for more information.
Timelines
To be eligible, the private forest lands seeking Forest Legacy Program funding must be within one of six Forest Legacy areas identified by Oregon’s Stewardship Coordinating Committee.
Project nominations consisting of a three-to-four page Letter of Interest, with property description attached, must be submitted to:
Jim Cathcart
Oregon Department of Forestry
2600 State Street
Salem, OR 97310
by close of business Tuesday, May 22, 2012.
Formal applications will be developed by applicants using the national Forest Legacy Information System (FLIS) to ensure uniformity with project submissions from other states. Applicants need to attend a webinar or orientation and training this summer and submit application materials by September 3, 2012.
Invited applicants will be provided the opportunity to present their project to Oregon’s Stewardship Coordinating Committee on September 6, 2012, in Salem.
Then, on September 20, the Committee will review this year’s proposals and prioritize the state's projects for funding consideration. Applicants will be notified of the Committee’s recommendation and ODF approval by October 4, 2012.
About Forest Legacy
Oregon welcomed its first Forest Legacy Program project in September 2007 when the City of Eugene worked with a private landowner to preserve more than 25 acres of oak habitat in Eugene’s Wild Iris Ridge. The Forest Legacy program has also awarded $4,000,000 to Oregon for acquisition of a conservation easement for the Skyline Forest near Bend. The Deschutes Land Trust is the lead conservation partner for this project.
A conservation easement is a legal restriction placed on a piece of property to protect a specific resource, or several resources, such as a working forest. By stripping off certain property rights to the property – such as development rights - conservation easements can be used to keep forestlands for forestry purposes in perpetuity for enjoyment by future generations.
For more information:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/ForestLegacy.shtml
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/docs/legacy/OregonLegacyApplicationInstructions.pdf
Or contact Jim Cathcart, Oregon Department of Forestry
PH: 503-945-7493
E-mail: jcathcart@odf.state.or.us.
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