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10 different tree planting programs offer financial helpNebraska Various federal, state, local and private organizations offer cost-share funds through 10 programs, each with slightly different goals, to encourage landowners to plant trees and shrubs on their property, according to Dennis Adams of the Nebraska Forest Service. We are trying to make people aware of these programs and reverse a downward trend in tree planting in Nebraska, said Adams. In the mid-'80s, there were about three million trees planted a year, statewide. Lately we have been planting right around a million trees a year, he said. A "Conservation Trees for Nebraska Initiative" has been started with an informal partnership of several organizations uniting with a goal of planting 1.7 million trees per year--one tree per year for every Nebraska citizen--over the next three years. Partners taking part in the initiative include the NE Forest Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, local natural resources districts, the USDA Forest Service, NE Department of Agriculture and the NE Association of Resources Districts. The group believes there are multiple causes for the decline in tree planting including several years of drought, changes in commodity prices and land values, fewer livestock in production, better tree planting designs requiring fewer trees, increased tree planting survival using plastic mulch resulting in less replanting, and generational differences in landowners. Programs offering varying financial cost share rates, and design assistance available to landowners interested in planting windbreaks are: Federal: Environmental Quality Incentives Program; Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program; Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP-limited to appropriate wetland sites); Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP-field windbreaks and buffer strips in cropland and marginal pastureland, tree planting incentive plus rental payment); Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP-in 2008 Farm Bill but not yet available); State and Local: Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation Program (NSWCS-state funded and administered through local NRD's); Individual Natural Resources District offer some type of assistance and tree planting services; Nebraska Buffer Strip Incentives Program (rental incentive); WILD Nebraska (Limited to ecologically appropriate sites like forests, riparian areas, shrub lands); Private Organizations: Corners for Wildlife (plantings in center pivot field corners) Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters offer various programs and rates; Landowners seeking further planning or financial assistance should contact any USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service or Natural Resources District office. NRD's also offer planting services.
Date: 1/8/09 Advertisement
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