Utah Partners for Conservation and Development (UTAHPCD)
A statewide partnership composed of leaders from state and federal agencies, academia, and non-governmental organizations, UtahPCD focuses on multi-stakeholder watershed issues, wildlife habitat improvement, and wildfire rehabilitation. Having initiated 240 restoration projects on 150,000 acres throughout Utah since 2005, this year UtahPCD made a significant contribution towards addressing wildfires in a timely manner. UtahPCD’s rapid response to the State’s historic wildfire season was possible because of in-place infrastructure and relationships. Joint UtahPCD efforts include immediate restoration and long-term rehabilitation planning and support to affected communities.
Kentucky Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Partnership
This federal, state, and private initiative targets significant resources to the geographic area of the upper Green River to address important agriculture-related environmental concerns under a coordinated effort to protect an extremely valuable and biologically diverse ecosystem – the Mammoth Cave System. This partnership is Kentucky’s first designated CREP area and is the single largest conservation program in the state’s history to protect a unique and biologically diverse watershed. In addition, this voluntary incentive-based program has solidified and strengthened intergovernmental and public/private partnerships, and through a ‘locally led’ conservation approach, has now reached two-thirds of its objectives for enrolling land in the CREP.
Clackamas Stewardship Partners (CSP): Restoring the Clackamas River Watershed
The CSP is a group of diverse stakeholders dedicated to restoring ecosystem health and ecological function to the Clackamas River Basin while supporting the economic viability of local communities. Using stewardship contracting authorities, CSP prioritizes, identifies and designs restoration projects to recommend to the Clackamas River Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest. As of the end of 2007, the seven awarded stewardship contracts included 1,350 acres of commercial thinning which then paid for over $1,200,000 of restorative services. An additional $650,000 receipts have been retained to fund additional restoration projects recommended by the CSP. Based upon CSP recommendations, USFS has approved additional restoration projects that will be advertised and awarded in FY08 and FY09.
Outreach to Limited Resource and Minority Forest Landowners in Arkansas
This initiative is composed of partnerships between several agencies working together to assist private landowners in Arkansas in an effort to move conservation to the local level. Through various partnerships, this group of partners has reached out to limited resource and minority forest landowners in the state. Partnering organizations set up several workshops to specifically target minority and limited resource forest landowners, thereby tripling assistance given to this subset of landowners. They also created an Outreach Coordinator staff position to further target minority communities and developed a Revolving Loan Program for the Cost Share portion of the Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) and Southern Pine Beetle Prevention and Restoration Program payment to reduce the financial burden for minority landowners. Partnering organizations also created a Forestry for Women Program to provide forestry education to the ever-growing number of female landowners in the state.
Alder Springs: Forest Health and Carbon Sequestration
This cutting edge intergovernmental and NGO partnership will result in improved forest health, fuel reduction, and comprehensive insight into carbon sequestration methods. The project consists of thinning forest stands and removing biomass to reduce the size and intensity of future wildfires while improving forest health. Biomass removed will be transported to a local co-generation plant for conversion to electricity. Due to current interest in carbon sequestration to help mitigate global warming, Forest Service researchers are collaborating with partners to measure greenhouse gas emission reductions resulting from fuels and forest management treatments; evaluate and quantify potential revenues in current and future carbon markets; and evaluate the potential for renewable energy credits and incentives associated with biomass energy production.
