Tree farms grow all sorts of trees---even palm trees.
Ever wonder where all the wood pulp for making paper comes from, or the hardwoods and softwoods from which building materials, furniture and other objects are made? Much of these wood materials come from tree farms. The owner of a tree farm is typically a patient person with a well-diversified portfolio of investments and income that does not require work with such a long-deferred payoff. Grants can help to fund the tasks and regulatory compliance necessary while a tree matures until it's ready for market.
U.S. Conservation Stewardship Program
Authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, CSP is a voluntary program that offers payments to producers who exercise good land stewardship and want to improve their conservation performance. Examples of these voluntary activities include forest stand improvement by prescribed burning and crop tree release (selectively cutting or killing less desirable competing trees in younger, overstocked hardwood stands).
According to the USDA, "Eligible lands include cropland, pastureland, rangeland, non-industrial private forest land, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe."
USDA Conservation Stewardship Program
Mr. Dwayne Howard
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
202-720-3524 (voice)
202-720-6382 (TDD)
www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/new_csp/csp.html
U.S. Conservation Innovation Grants
Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. According to the CIG website, it is "designed to leverage federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection, in conjunction with agricultural production. Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds are used to award competitive grants to non-federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, tribes, or individuals." About $25 million was available for fiscal year 2010.
An example of a funded grant in 2009 involved a $500,000 grant awarded through the American Forest Foundation. This grant funded an initiative to utilize market mechanisms to provide incentives for private forest landowners to restore, enhance and protect aquatic resources in two critical watersheds in the Northern Forest region of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine (Reference 3).
Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Conservation Innovation Grants Program
Room 5233 South Building
1400 Independence Avenue, SW.
Washington, D.C. 20250
202-720-2335
www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/cig/index.html
U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), this program offers 50 percent cost-sharing for practices such as planting trees and various non-forestry practices. Annual payments can be as high as $50,000. The treatment area must have been in production at least two years out of the past five years.
The program is administered through your local USDA Service Center. An online locator for your local USDA Service Center is found in the References section of this article.
