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FOREST CONSERVATION
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Free Forest Management Plans/Timber
Harvest Assistance |
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- In order to properly care for the trees on your property,
it is important to develop a plan for achieving your objectives,
whether your goal is wood production, wildlife habitat, recreation,
or a combination of all of these. The Delaware Forest Service
can help you develop a customized management plan for your
woodlot that will outline the activities needed to reach your
goals. In addition to a plan, staff can conduct a forest inventory
(a summary of the timber volumes by tree species), supervise
reforestation and timber stand improvement projects, and help
you with timber sales by providing sample timber sale contracts
and lists of potential timber buyers. While our staff cannot
perform timber appraisals, we do maintain a list of consultant
foresters who can appraise your timber.
Delaware's Forestry Practices Erosion and Sediment Control (E&S) Law and Seed Tree Law Notification Form and Permit
Email: Sam Topper
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| Cost-Share Programs |
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- The Delaware Forest Service, in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), offers a limited amount
of cost shares to private landowners for such activities as
tree planting and timber stand improvement. These cost share
programs include the Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP),
the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), and the
State of Delaware Forestry Cost Share Program. Forest Service
personnel work with interested landowners and the USDA to
ensure the funds are properly spent.
[Cost
Share Application]
Email: Sam Topper
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| Reforestation/Low-Cost
Seedling Program |
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- The Delaware Forest Service offers a variety of tree seedlings
each spring through a cooperative effort with the Maryland
Forest Service nursery in Preston. Landowners order seedlings
in the fall and early winter for delivery in mid-March to
mid-April, depending upon weather conditions. For more information
on the tree species available, visit the nursery's website
at:
[Order Trees]
Email: Sam Topper
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| Property Tax Exemptions (Commercial
Forest Plantation Act) |
- The Commercial Forest Plantation Act (Title 3, Chapter
26) was established to give landowners a property tax
exemption for forests that are managed for timber production.
In order to qualify for this thirty (30) year exemption, landowners
must have at least 10 contiguous forested acres and follow
a forest management plan approved by the Delaware Forest Service.
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| Urban and Community Forestry
Program |
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- The trees in our cities and communities are a vital component
of our forests as they provide a wide array of benefits including
cleaner air and water, wildlife habitat, temperature moderation,
and aesthetics. The Delaware Forest Service's Urban and Community
Forestry Program provides technical assistance to cities,
towns, developers, and homeowners to help manage and improve
this important forest resource.
Need help caring for
trees?
- The Delaware Forest Service has two full-time foresters
who assist cities, towns, and communities with the management
and care of their urban forestry resources. These foresters
can help your community develop a management plan for its
publicly owned forests (such as city or county parks, street
trees, etc.) as well as conduct an inventory of, and a maintenance
schedule for, these trees. Our staff also works with developers,
planners, and engineers to help educate these individuals
on methods to preserve trees during the development process.
We also maintain a list of certified arborists who are available
for tree pruning and other tree care services.
Your trees are a valued resource; don't trust their care to
just anybody. Hire an International Society of Arboriculture
(ISA) certified arborist. An ISA-certified arborist is specially
trained to care for individual trees. Tree work should only
be done by those properly insured, trained, and equipped to
work safely in trees.
Find an ISA-certified arborist
- Through a federal grant, the Delaware Forest Service also
offers approximately $100,000 each year to communities throughout
the state for tree planting, tree care, and tree management
projects on publicly owned lands. The local community must
match these grants with either nonfederal funds or in-kind
services (volunteer time, staff time, etc.). Grant applications
are mailed in April and the grants are awarded in mid-summer.
Please read the following for grant information and workshop dates:
- 2010 Grant Cover Letter
- Tree Management Grant
- Tree Planting Grant
The Delaware Forest Service maintains a list of Delaware's
biggest trees, as well as a list of trees that grow well in
Delaware.
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Urban and Community Forestry Newsletter
"Evergreen Summer 2010"
Winter Issue, 2010-2011
Winter Issue, 2009-2010
February 2009, Volume 15, Issue 2
December 2008, Volume 15, Issue 1
May 2008, Volume 14, Issue 3
January 2008, Volume 14, Issue 2
October 2007, Volume 14, Issue 1
Urban and Community Forestry Annual Report
 Annual Report 2007
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| Wood Utilization and Marketing |
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- The Delaware Forest Service staff works to ensure that
trees harvested from our forests are fully utilized from valuable
saw timber to milling byproducts, such as bark and sawdust.
We work with the forest industry and the U.S. Forest Service
to explore new opportunities for wood products, including
using wood for energy production. As an example, the Delaware
Forest Service is studying the potential for raising fast-growing
hardwood species for energy production.
- Additionally, we maintain a list of primary (sawmills, loggers,
etc.) and secondary wood processors (furniture makers, pallet
manufacturers, etc.) for distribution to landowners and other
interested parties. Please contact your local Delaware Forest
Service office for a copy, or:
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| Forest Legacy Program |
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The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) is funded through the U.S.
Forest Service's State and Private Forestry (S&PF) budget.
It provides funds to states to protect working forestlands
that are threatened by development or other land uses, either
through outright (fee simple) purchase or conservation easements.
A conservation easement allows the landowner to continue
to own the forest; however, the easement prohibits non-forest
uses such as development. Landowners who chose to sell an
easement must also have a forest stewardship plan for their
property that describes the activities needed to help achieve
their objectives for the property; the Delaware Forest Service
can write this plan with the landowner. The intent of FLP
is to ensure forestlands continue to yield the forest products
we use everyday, such as timber, wildlife habitat, and water
quality protection. Landowner participation in FLP is completely
voluntary.
States may only use Forest Legacy funds in areas designated
in their Assessment
of Need (AON) - the AON describes the state's forests,
the threats to the forests, and those areas within the state
that contain the most important forests, which are called
the Forest Legacy Areas. Once the Secretary of the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approves the AON,
the state is eligible to receive Legacy funds to purchase
land and easements within the designated Forest Legacy areas.
Delaware's AON was approved in December 1998, and there
are four Legacy areas in Delaware - White Clay Creek, Blackbird/Blackiston,
Redden/Ellendale, and Cypress Swamp (see maps below). These
areas contain the highest concentrations of forests in Delaware,
including significant acreage already protected through
public and private ownership.
If you own forestland within any of Delaware's Forest Legacy
areas and are interested in protecting your forest, please
contact the Delaware Forest Service for more information.
To learn more about the Forest Legacy program, visit:
http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/programs/loa/flp.shtml
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Forest Legacy Areas
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| Forestland Preservation Program |
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- Delaware’s Forestland Preservation Program protects forestlands through perpetual conservation easements. A conservation easement is a permanent deed restriction whereby the landowner still owns the property but certain activities, such as development, are prohibited. The owner can sell the property, but all future owners must also follow the same restrictions. This program is designed to protect working forests; therefore, the easements allow forest management activities, including timber harvests, to continue. Landowners can harvest timber at any time on their property as long as they follow a forest management plan prepared by a professional forester. The program also does not affect hunting activities on the property.
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