Develop your Stewardship Plan

Each piece of land is unique, as is each landowner's vision for his or her property. Most forestland owners want to be good stewards of their land and protect and enhance its resources. Doing this effectively requires careful planning and management. A good way to start is by developing a Stewardship Plan.

Why is a plan important?

Quite simply, your Stewardship Plan is the blueprint to achieving your goals. The plan contains background on the land, its resources and its potential. Goals and objectives are identified. Then a management plan is formulated to reach those goals. This kind of guide is invaluable for the long-term planning necessary for forestland stewardship.

Benefits of a Stewardship Plan

A good Stewardship Plan helps you reach your goals using the best possible techniques to do so. Gathering and organizing the information provides insights into your property and its potential. Defining goals helps identify priorities for the land and management techniques.

Goals should be clear and reasonable. There may be multiple objectives, for example, enhancing wildlife habitat while maintaining a profitable timber stand and decreasing the risk of wildfire.

It takes commitment

This is a not a casual undertaking.

A good Stewardship Plan requires thoughtful reflection, discussion with experts, field work, research and planning in order to be effective. The landowner should be involved in all aspects of creating the plan.

The first step is to develop a resource inventory of the property. One way to do this is through the use of aerial photographs (these may be available through your local CDF or NRCS office). Decide which resources are relevant to your plan and then map them. You may want to include bodies of water, roads and trails, structures, sensitive areas, soil types, etc.

Professionals

Managing forestland requires an understanding of the methods and techniques available. Consulting with experts may be necessary to make the best choices.

Professionals are available to help you. You may need a forester, wildlife biologist, hydrologist, range specialist, or other appropriate expert, depending on the resource emphasis. The professional's job is to work with you, the landowner, to come up with recommendations for management practices that are consistent with your objectives and the needs of the land.

Long-term plan

A Stewardship Plan sets the direction for management of the property for the next ten years and gives at least a general five-year activity schedule.

The following format suggests some elements you might want to include in your plan.