Forest Legacy Program

Criteria for Selecting Forest Legacy Projects in Wisconsin

Forest Legacy Project

Forest Legacy Projects refer to the actual property(ies) being considered for a conservation easement. Only lands within a Forest Legacy Area may be considered for an easement. Thus, all proposed projects must meet the criteria established for Forest Legacy lands at the national and state level. In addition, the process is very competitive and it is important that the application be complete and thorough.

Criteria for Selecting Forest Legacy Projects

The following criteria will be applied to projects being considered for purchase. The more of the criteria that applies to a tract, the higher it will rank in priority. The Forest Stewardship Committee will evaluate the projects and determine the state's ranking.

All proposed parcels must meet three or more of the following criteria:

• It is part of a large tract or block of environmentally important forest land and could add to the continuity of the forest area.
• Tracts have the ability, or potential, to produce forest products.
• Tracts contribute to maintaining or improving the water quality of the area.
• Tracts provide a variety of natural resource benefits such as fish, wildlife, and recreation opportunities.
• Tracts contain significant attributes such as public access that are at risk of being closed or lost if not protected.
• Tracts that connect existing protected areas.
• Tracts contain rare forest communities.
• Tracts that are at risk of being converted to non-forest uses.
• Landowners are willing to donate all or some of the property or property rights to the program.

All Forest Legacy Properties will be required to have a long-range, multiple resource, or forest stewardship, management plan prepared that is updated throughout the life of the easement. The plan must meet the current Forest Stewardship Program standards for management plans. Easements will require landowners to maintain the health of the forest through utilizing principles of sustainable forestry. Any harvesting that occurs on Forest Legacy Properties must follow an approved cutting plan and will apply water quality BMP's.The State Forester, or his designee, will be responsible for approving all management plans.

Application and Ranking of Requests

Once a year there will be a call for projects. Those applications will be reviewed and ranked by the Forest Stewardship Committee.

Site visits and inspection of the property may be necessary. Therefore an inspection consent agreement is part of the landowner application.

The Forest Stewardship Committee notifies applicants of their ranking then submits ranked applications to the DNR. The DNR submits the top ranked projects to the US Forest Service. Typically two projects or less are funded each year by the US Forest Service.

Monitoring

The conservation easement is the cornerstone for protecting these Forest Legacy tracts. Forest Stewardship or multi-resource management plans will be required on the easement to guide forest management activities. Monitoring will be conducted by the DNR at a minimum of once a year. The DNR will ensure that the management plan and easement requirements are being met.

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis or race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA Director, Office if Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity employer.