Financial Incentives for Private Forestland Owners
Forest Practices Afforestation Incentive
Goal:
Provides some regulatory certainty to encourage landowners to plant and grow merchantable stands of timber on previously nonforested lands where commercial forest production is the main objective.
Qualifications & Specifications:
Parcel has not been used to grow commercial forest since July 1, 1972.
Parcel carries less than 25 square feet of basal area per acre in forest tree stocking.
There are at least five contiguous acres established in timber.
The incentive is the assurance that no state forest practices regulation will prohibit harvesting most of the planted timber established and grown in the first crop rotation. This is an exemption from most tree retention requirements. The only limitation is that trees must be left alongside certain streams. Harvesting is restricted within 20 feet of large or medium steams of Type F, Type D, or Type N and small Type F or Type D streams. Additionally, all Forest Practice rules applying to other than tree retention must be followed as usual. A parcel or portion thereof may qualify for this exemption only one time.
To participate, a forest landowner must request certification between two and five years after establishing a new stand and supply the following information to the Oregon Department of Forestry office responsible for the area:
an accurate plat map locating the parcel or portion thereof that had timber established on it; and
photographs of the area showing that in its pre-establishment condition it was not used for commercial forest production.
