Virginia Department of Forestry 2014 SWCD Annual Meeting

VDOF Mission: “We protect and develop healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians”

 Protect the Forest Resource from Wildfire, Insect and Disease, and other Natural Disasters  Conserve the Forest Land Base  Protect Water Quality  Improve and Renew Forest Resources DOF has ~250 employees to meet the following goals: Our goals in Virginia:

Protecting Our Forests -Wildfire  Agency relies on a fleet of: –190 – 4X4 Pickup truck-based engines –7 – specially equipped Hummers –5 – Custom designed wildland brush trucks –89 bulldozer/wildland fire plow suppression units –2 – Incident Command Vehicles –1 - Airplane

Protecting Water Quality  Harvest Inspection Program -Notification Law  Law Enforcement -Silvicultural Water Quality Law  Education -Sharp Logger Program

Protecting Water Quality  Assist Federal Agencies with Riparian Forest Buffer Est. -CREP, CRP, EQIP, VABMP  Riparian Buffer Tax Credit

Riparian Buffer Tax Credit

(RBTC) Riparian Buffer Tax Credit  Tax Credit through the Virginia General Assembly  Eligibility includes individuals, & S-Corporations or Family Partnerships.  Leaving existing buffers along waterways during a timber harvesting operation  Requirements include a Forest Stewardship Plan, 35’+ wide buffer, and be retained for 15 years after harvest  Credit is 25% of value of timber up to $17,500  Cost is $150 per application

Improve and Renew Forest Resources – starts with a plan  If you own a tract of timberland (regardless of size), you should have some type of plan for the future.  For small tracts (1-50 acres) - a simple one page letter and a map may be enough.  For larger tracts, ( acres) – landowners should have a detailed Forest Management Plan.

Forest Management Plans should:  List landowner objectives  Divide the tract into parcels based on timber type and age and make recommendations for each one  Should address timber, wildlife, endangered species, invasive species, soil types, water quality, and historical sites

Forest Management Plans should:  Include a timeline that tells you what year certain practices need to be done  Include a detailed map  Include Consulting Forester, Timber Buyer, and Logger lists if timber harvesting was recommended in the plan

Forest Management Plans  VDOF – Forest Stewardship Plans for $1.50 /acre or $200 minimum  Consulting Foresters – Forest Stewardship, Tree Farm, or Conservation Activity Plans (CAP 106 Plan) for a fee  Landowners can receive cost share assistance money from the NRCS for the CAP 106 Plans.

Other Benefits  A current Forest Stewardship is required for the following: -Riparian Buffer Tax Credit -Before harvesting timber on tracts that have a conservation easement

Other Benefits - continued  If you are applying for cost share funding through NRCS’s EQIP program, you will receive extra points for practices that were recommended in the plan.

Sustainable Forestry  Regenerating a forest ASAP following a timber harvest (planting or natural regen)  Minimizing the impact of forest management activities on water quality  Maintaining important habitat elements for wildlife and plant species  Protecting forests with high conservation values

Sustainable Forestry  Maintaining biological diversity  Limiting the spread of exotic (non-native) plant species and pests -tree-of-heaven -kudzu

Foresters biggest challenge: preventing diameter limit cuts

Many landowners think that clear-cutting is bad.

Loggers may tell them that this is “Sustainable Forestry”

Young yellow poplar stand -started from a clear-cut

Both stands started from a clear-cut (20/70 years ago)

Deferment cut

Pine Management – Why are we planting pine trees?  Cheap to establish – $75/acre to plant around 500 trees per acre (seedlings and labor). Cost share programs to assist with costs of establishment and management.  Thin or total harvest in years  Current FIA data shows that more pine is being harvested than we are growing/year.

Loblolly plantation 3 yr old/20 yr old (thinned)

Cost Share Programs: VDOF – RT Program  Program Year -$25/acre - tree establishment – LLP -$48/acre - establishment – SLP, PxL -$70/acre for site prep (chemical) -$22/acre for herbicide release (air) -$45/acre for herbicide release (backpack)

Cost Share Programs: NRCS – EQIP Program  2015 Program Year -$60-70/acre - tree establishment -$70-90/acre for site prep (chemical) -CAP 106 Plans – $625-$5300 -Riparian Buffer Est - $670-$1600

RT vs. EQIP  RT – simple to sign up, approve signups until we run out of $$, individual counties have their own allotment, can be used for only one practice  EQIP – can be used for multiple practices over multiple years, payment rates are higher,

Questions?