WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2006—U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service Chief Arlen Lancaster today announced that $2.3 million
will be provided to help forest landowners in Maine, Mississippi and Arkansas
improve wildlife habitat for threatened or endangered species on private
forestlands.
“The newly established Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) will help restore
and enhance forest ecosystems, increase biodiversity, enhance carbon
sequestration and provide assurances to landowners with regard to the recovery
of threatened and endangered species on private forestlands,” Lancaster said.
Landowners enrolled 495,652 acres through 30 and 99-year easements and 10-year
restoration agreements in HFRP, authorized in 2003. Landowners must develop and
carry out a forest management restoration plan that includes conservation
practices necessary to restore and enhance forested habitat for selected species
listed as threatened or endangered, candidate species for listing, or state
species of special concern. In cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to help landowners
develop and implement their HFRP forest management restoration plan.
Eligible private forest landowners in selected counties in Maine, Mississippi
and Arkansas applied for enrollment during the program’s first signup June
19-July 7, 2006. They will carry out conservation practices that will promote
the recovery of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in the Lower Ouachita
River Flatwood region of Arkansas, the Canada Lynx in the northern boreal forest
of Maine, and the gopher tortoise and black pine snake in the longleaf pine
ecosystem along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
Below is the breakdown of approved acres and funding by state:
State |
Acres |
Value |
Arkansas |
1,122 |
$928,125 |
Maine |
493,776 |
$457,394 |
Mississippi |
754 |
$957,500 |
TOTAL |
495,652 |
$2,343,019 |
Additional information about the Healthy Forests Reserve Program
can be found at
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/HFRP/ProgInfo/HFRPProgramInfo.html.
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