how much does the gov pay to remove cull & undesirable trees?

[Rod]

When the Groverment is helping timberland oweners inprove there forest.

[Rod]

for a hardwood forest

[OneWithWood]

It would be helpful if you would elaborate on your question.  Are you asking for total government spending?  Federal? State?
I applied for TSI funds a couple of years ago when we were informied that there was oodles of funding available.  I did not receive any reimbursement of the TSI expense due to the diverting of funds to fight the forest fires in the west.  the work needed to be done regardless and it was.

[Rod]

I called the forester about the progam below and he said my plan calls for removing cull & undesirable trees and he said he had 2 people in front of me and he would call me back in about 4 weeks.


Forest Land Enhancement Program http://www.wvforestry.com/landowner.cfm?menucall=landowner

What is the Forest Land Enhancement Program? FLEP is a federal cost-share assistance program funded by the USDA Forest Service that provides financial assistance for the long-term sustainability of non-industrial private forestlands. In WV, the WV Division of Forestry administers the program.

The objectives of FLEP are to invest in practices to establish, restore, manage, maintain, and enhance the health and productivity of the Non-Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) land for timber, habitat for flora and fauna, soil, water and air quality, wetlands and riparian buffers. The Program targets afforestation, reforestation, improvement of poorly stocked stands, timber stand improvement, practices necessary to improve seedling growth and survival. Growth enhancement practices occur where needed to enhance and sustain the long-term productivity of timber and non-timber forest resources to help meet the future public demand for all forest resources and provide environmental benefits. Other objectives are to reduce the risks and to help restore, recover and mitigate the damage to forests caused by fire, insects, invasive species, disease and weather damage.

FLEP money will be available through the WV Division of Forestry to assist landowners in managing their non-industrial private forestlands and related resources through the following practices:

Forest Stewardship Plans
Afforestation/Reforestation
Forest Stand Improvement
Water Quality Improvement and Watershed Protection
Fish and Wildlife Habitat
Fire and Catastrophic Risk Rehabilitation

How do you signup or apply? To even be considered for this program and the assistance that it provides, you must have a Forest Stewardship plan for the property that you want to enroll in the program. You must have a minimum of ten acres and no more than 1000 acres. Landowners must agree to maintain FLEP practices for a minimum of 10 years, failure to maintain for the length of the agreement will require the landowner to repay the WVDOF cost-share, plus a penalty of 10%. If the property is sold or the practices are not maintained, the original landowner may be libel for the repayment.

A WVDOF service forester can provide applications to interested landowners for practice signups. The WVDOF will confirm that a forest stewardship plan exists and that the landowner agrees to manage according to the plan. The WVDOF will determine the need and the extent of the practice and the cost-share approved, if applicable. The rest will be left up to the landowner to start work in the woods.

For more information please contact your local Service Forester or District office.

[maple flats]

Sounds like it is here in NY. I have an approved Forest Stewardship plan and continue to work according to the plan outline. However to date I have not applied for nor do I plan to apply for funds. If my plan comes to a bigger expense item I may apply. So far I only have my time and some fuel for the chainsaws and tractor. I understand you can't get paid for your time but expendatures may be able to get funds. My tractor runs so cheap I use less than a hundred gal diesel/year and a gallon of saw gas lasts a week or more when I am doing thinning so therefor I don't bother. If I get to some heavy machine hiring which will come later, yes it will be tried to get some $. This week I thinned about 4 acres where there were about 5 or 6 times the desired stem count, but was only cutting and let lay, mostly up to 6" dbh. Some larger stuff was cut for the evaporator for maple season next year. Small stuff just takes too long to get any volumn and let lay it decays and helps future seedlings and the soil in total.

[Tom]

I have a Forest Stewardship Plan here in Florida.  The resources made available through Government offices are tremendous if you aren't intimidated by having the "government" intimately involved with your land and finances.  You can get help or advice on water management, thinning, diseases, planting, ground prep, recreational features, boardwalks, cabins, etc.  Nothing has to be open to the public to take advantage of the consulting.

We have a tax incentive in Florida for Agricultural land called "Green Belt".  It assigns a lower tax rate to you than zoning assigns for housing or commercial.  Some Tax assessors don't like to see Agricultural people get a break and make life miserable for them.  I suspected that I may be in one of those situations years ago and applied for cost-share funds.  I didn't like the idea of having a Government Shadow over me for 10 years, but, on the other hand, it was the primary reason I applied.  I figured, in my twisted and paranoid mind, that having the Federal Governments name associated with my property, I would have less intimidation from the local taxing authorities.  My plan was for longer than ten years anyway and the time element was of no concern. 

What I found out is that there was a flurry of activity in the beginning.  They were trying to get the Stewardship program off of the ground and were making a lot of offers and showing a lot of interest.  As time went on, as most government plans do, they have become complacent and would rather sit in their offices than pay attention to what is going on in the field.   That's OK with me.  I'd just as soon not have government employees walking my land and inspecting my doings unless invited.   

It's been twenty years now since I applied for the cost sharing.  The money was helpful but so little that it wouldn't be the reason I would do it again.  It was provided after I had already footed the bill so you might want to make sure you have the funds available up front. 

If the Government offices in your territory are manned by older, experienced individuals, you will enjoy having them to rely on about information on trees, ponds, etc.  If you happen to have a lot of newly educated, fresh out of college types, you might find that their allegences are to the Government office rather than to you.  It's scary when they show up with cameras and start talking about what you "have" to do or they might have to report you.  The "newbies" seem to be enthralled with the power that they think their position gives them and may make life difficult for you.  Don't lose sight of the fact that it is your land and not theirs.

I think my cost sharing dollars were fifty percent of my expenditure.  They have a maximum so that you don't over-charge.  I spent something like $600 on 15 acres and received around $300 in return.  Not very much to have them being a watchdog for the next ten years.

Applying for the funds doesn't mean that you will get them, even if you are 100 percent legitimate.  The cost sharing funds are proveded to the programs by congress and must be delt out depending on availability.  In the last few years, availability has been almost nil.  The money runs out real quick.  If you have the idea that you want to apply for funds, make sure that you get in on the very first of the years programs.  Get your application in early.  It must be reviewed and passed on by a board of directors.