Forestland Incentives

What incentives can government offer to encourage private landowners to manage their forestlands for sustainable timber harvest while protecting watershed values over and above the minimums required by regulation?

That was the question put before a task force of about 60 landowners, foresters, environmentalists, and agency representatives that met in February and April of 2000. The task force, convened by the Resources Agency and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), was charged with reviewing the effectiveness of current financial and other incentives programs that encourage sustainable forestry and conservation by landowners. The issues and recommendations that came out of the two meetings are documented in a new report, ³Forestland Incentives.²

One of the challenges for the group was to define the goals and impediments to incentive programs. The task force agreed that the goal of incentive programs should be to achieve exemplary forest stewardship by:

• Maintaining and restoring the private forestland base
• Encouraging conservation of native biodiversity
• Maintaining the capacity of forestland to produce the full range of ecological and economic goods and services in the long-term
• Enhancing landowner profitability for doing the above.

Incentives should:

• Reward excellence in management above the requirements of law
• Reward management for values such as water, scenery, wildlife, etc. that do not have commercial markets
• Help create or augment markets where they don¹t yet exist
• Provide rewards proportional to the public benefit achieved

Be designed for pragmatic implementation

Four categories of incentives were reviewed: cost-share programs, certification, conservation easements, and tax incentives. The discussions resulted in a long list of recommendations which was distilled into a smaller list to be acted upon. The nine-points include:

1. Restore and expand the California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP).
2. Increase funds for restoration activities to protect salmon and steelhead.
3. Assist forest landowners, resource conservation districts, and community groups with watershed assessment and planning.
4. Explore the role of certified forestry in regulation.
5. Develop and implement a California Forest Legacy Program for conservation easements.
6. Support amendments to the Federal Tax Code for critical forest stewardship activities.
7. Increase state tax incentives for forestland stewardship.
8. Encourage market-based approaches to carbon sequestration.
9. Support University Cooperative Extension programs to assist forest landowners.

For copies of the report or to share your thoughts about forestland incentives, contact Mark Hite, CDF, (916) 653-1604.