Deciding how to manage your land long term can be daunting, but for some families, it’s the key to leaving a legacy.
Fortunately, programs exist that can help secure your land and your family’s legacy for generations.
We dug into one type of conservation program – reforestation programs– and learned how implementers like Ducks Unlimited make the program simple to navigate and easy to reap the benefits from.
Step One – Learn if the Program is Right For You
In the case of Ducks Unlimited’s Forest Flyway Program, landowners can visit a website and learn if your land meets the program eligibility requirements and if the program aligns with your long term goals for your land and legacy.
“We have some older landowners that are thinking about what they’re leaving their families, and if farming or whatever alternative use is no longer the best fit for the property or their family, they look to Flyway Forest as the next best option for them,” says Maddie McFarland, DU regional biologist. “On the other hand, we have landowners who are looking for recreational opportunities where they want to hunt, and Flyway Forest might be a good fit for them.”
Step Two – Partner with DU to Align Long Term Goals
McFarland and the team of DU biologists work with landowners in the Forest Flyway program to determine how the program can benefit the long term goals for the landowner and their family.
Then they make those goals a reality.
“There really should be very little lift for the landowners,” she says. “So when it comes
down to coming up with a site plan, what works for the landowner and their long-term goals,DU and our biologists, we’re the experts and we want to make this very easy for landowners.”
“For landowners that might be looking to take the next step,maybe take their land out of agricultural production and do some more long-term management, Flyway Forest is a good fit in that we handle all of the coordination, the site prep, and the tree planting but we also handle all of the accounting, the contract admin, the carbon accounting and the long-term monitoring.”
Step 3 – Reap the Long Term Benefits
In the DU Flyway Forests Reforestation Program, landowners can be eligible for up to $2,500 per acre of cropland or pastureland enrolled in a permanent conservation easement, with money paid out over 5 years.
But, financial incentives are not all that landowners are left with.
“When we plant the trees, we don’t just set it and leave it,” McFarland says. We come back almost every year to monitor survival and ensure that these trees
are performing the way that we want them to and that we’re hitting our survival metrics.”
“If we find the site is not performing the way that we want it to, we can come back and perform adaptability management or fine-tune our plan for the site, or supplemental plant or just generally do some activities that will help enhance the overall health of the forest and in the overall health of the site.”
Finding the correct partner for your long term conservation and land management goals is key.
McFarland says that landowners she works with are often surprised at the level of partnership that DU has in their programs, including Forest Flyways.
“Ducks Unlimited is very much invested in the success of the program as well as the success of the site itself,” she says. “I do think landowners are surprised that when we get through the whole process from application to getting the trees in the ground to closing the easement how little effort they had to make to get there.”
“All we ask landowners for is your time of day and your effort in discussing with us and working through the program, but otherwise, we do really handle everything and I think that that is the most surprising thing to landowners.”
If you are interested in the Ducks Unlimited Flyway Forest Reforestation Program to see if that program, or another DU program, could work for you,check your eligibility on their website.
