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Applying
for federal funding to manage our tree farms continues to be a
personal issue. Some support using taxpayer dollars for
our personal businesses, some do not. In an effort to
offer information to those who are interested, the WFFA passes
on this information. |
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Member's
Opinion
Some
of you have participated in various Forestry cost share
programs such as FIP, SIP, FLEP, or others in the past.
While these programs have disappeared, many of the
same forest activities are now cost sharable under EQIP and it
appears Forestry will become a much bigger part of this
NRCS program in the coming years. Traditionally an Ag
Program, these folks are eager to find ways to help those of
us wanting help. It appears that EQIP is going to
be the only game in town for family forestland owner cost
share programs in the future.
I,
and I know of others who have recently applied for cost
share under the EQIP program and found it to be comparable to
some of our traditional services we got from our
Stewardship Foresters. If you are interested in getting
help with road maintenance issues, culverts, precommercial thinning, pruning, and several other forest
activities, contact your local
NRCS office per the info enclosed.
Ken
Miller |
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This
is the first issue of a newsletter that we plan to issue
at irregular intervals, as the news collects. It
will contain articles and links to information that may
be of interest to WFFA members, but which are not directly related to the
activities of the organization. We hope it will
consolidate some of the duplicate forwarded e-mails that
go around. You may "unsubscribe" if you wish, but
please bear with us for a few months as we try to put
this process in place. Please note
the Table of
Contents at the top of this column which
will allow you to quickly determine if there is anything
that interests you. Also, don't be scared to
print this because the background color
doesn't print!
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Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
Overview
The
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a
voluntary program that provides technical and financial
assistance to agricultural producers (and forestland
owners) who face threats to soil, water, air, and other
natural resources on their land. The USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the
EQIP program with advice from Local Work Groups (LWG).
The EQIP program may vary slightly between Local Work
Groups but generally is focused on protecting water
quality from non-point pollutants; conserving ground
& surface water resources; and reducing soil erosion
and the resulting sedimentation from agricultural and
forest lands. EQIP can also be used to treat resource
concerns in riparian and aquatic areas to increase and
promote at-risk species habitat, and protect or improve
air quality. |
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Application
deadline:
November
2, 2007 |
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For
more information, including:
*eligible
forestland resource concerns
*eligible
forestland practices
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