Request for Applications
Forest Legacy Program
Program Year - Fiscal 2013
Application Deadline: Thursday, June 23, 2011.
Pre-Applications, if submitted, should be received by June 2nd at the latest.
Introduction
The Forest Legacy Program assists state governments in identifying and protecting important private forestland across the Commonwealth through conservation easements and fee simple purchases. Conservation easements allow private individuals to retain ownership, while providing for the conservation of working forests. Fee simple purchases provide for additional state forest properties that will be maintained and managed as working forests. Both tools allow the Commonwealth of Virginia’s private landowners the opportunity to help conserve important working forests, in perpetuity, for future generations.
The Department of Forestry (DOF) seeks applications for the Forest Legacy Program for the Federal 2012 fiscal year. Successful applicants may be awarded a grant in an amount up to 75% of the federally approved appraised value.
Background and Purpose
The Forest Legacy program was created to allow private individuals the opportunity to place conservation easements on their land or sell their land to remain as forestland in perpetuity. The USDA Forest Service delivers the program funding and provides guidance to states. Virginia completed all requirements for Forest Legacy in 2000 with the full support of the Governor. The Virginia Department of Forestry administers Virginia’s Forest Legacy Program and is the state lead agency for the program in Virginia.
Virginia’s Forest Legacy Program emphasizes environmentally important working forests. Working forests are forests that provide timber products as well as other forest commodities such as clean air, pure water, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.
Prior History of Forest Legacy in Virginia
Virginia landowners have been awarded Forest Legacy grant funds in the past. Virginia has been very successful in receiving Forest Legacy grant funds. The following listing provides grant information since Virginia became part of the program.
| Year | Amount | Number of Approved Tracts | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | $967,800 | 2 | Fee Simple & Easement |
| 2002 | $1,012,000 | 1 | Fee Simple |
| 2003 | $1,167,000 | 2 | Fee Simple & Easement |
| 2004 | $2,981,000 | 2 | Fee Simple & Easement |
| 2005 | $829,000 | 2 | Fee Simple & Easement |
| 2006 | $229,000 | 1 | Easement |
| 2007 | $2,100,000 | 3 | Easements |
| 2008 | $1,485,000 | 2 | Fee Simple & Easement |
| 2009 | $490,000 | 2 | Easements |
| 2010 | $2,240,000 | 3 | Easements |
| 2012 | Pending FY2012 budget and appropriation | - | - |
Projects and Tracts
Applications for the Forest Legacy Program many times are offered as a project, which is a compilation of several individual tracts (many times with separate ownership) that have some logical connection. This connection might be that the tracts fall within the same minor watershed, are part of a land trust focus area, or are within an area designated by the county/city as a conservation area. Also, an individual landowner may submit an application for one single tract of land that they own, or multiple tracts that they own (may be contiguous or non-contiguous). In this case the tract, or the combination of tracts being offered, become(s) the project.
Tracts normally equate to tax map parcels. If the area being offered for the program is less than a complete tax map parcel, and the tract/project is funded by the Forest Legacy Program, the owner may be required to pay for a survey to define the area before closing can occur.
Forest Legacy Areas
Applications will be considered from areas of the Commonwealth that are located within the Forest Legacy Areas (FLA) for the state. A map of the current FLA is found in the appendix to this document (FLA shown in green). Please examine the map to determine if the tracts within your proposed project appear to be within the FLA. Also, see the section below regarding pre-applications to determine if your tract/project falls within the FLA.
Eligibility Criteria
The FLA was defined for the Commonwealth, using Geographic Information System analysis based on the following Eligibility Criteria:
- Threatened by conversion to non-forest use (fragmentation and reduction in linkages)
- Continued production of timber and other forest commodities (local and regional economic base)
- Natural Heritage Resources (e.g. natural communities, habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species, significant geologic features)
- Watershed Values (water quality, wetlands, riparian buffers, groundwater recharge, public water supplies)
Forest Legacy Program Requirements
Each tract approved in the Forest Legacy Program must meet the following stipulations:
- The tract of land must be at least 50 acres in size
- The tract must be at least 75% forested (or the landowner must be willing to plant trees on open fields to meet this percentage)
- The title to the land must be free and clear of any liens and/or adverse encumbrances
Landowner(s) participating in the Forest Legacy Program must:
- be a “willing seller”
- be willing to encumber their property with a perpetual conservation easement, or be willing to sell their property in fee simple
- allow the Forest Legacy Monitoring Team access to the tract annually for evaluation
- be willing to sell the easement or fee simple rights at a bargain price not exceeding 75% of the appraised value according to Federal appraisal standards (Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions)
- be willing, if program administrative funds are not adequate, to pay a portion of the due diligence costs necessary to acquire the conservation easement or land in fee simple by accepting less than the full 75% allowed under the program, or by paying these costs directly
- be willing to sign an option contract or sales contract, prior to national competition, showing commitment and interest in placing a conservation easement on their land, or selling their land, to remain as forest land in perpetuity
- in the case of an easement, provide a Forest Stewardship Plan or multiple-resource forest management plan for the property for review by DOF and the US Forest Service prior to closing on the easement; it may be necessary for the landowner(s) to pay the cost of preparing the plan
Pre-Application for FLA Determination
All potential applicants may submit the Pre-Application sheet and a map, or sketch, of the tracts of land being considered for inclusion in the project for determination as to whether the tracts are located within the current FLA. These maps/sketches will be compared by DOF to GIS shape files of the FLA to make this determination. A tract does not need to fall wholly within the FLA to be eligible; if any portion of a tract falls within the FLA, the tract is eligible.
Potential applicants who submit a Pre-Application will be notified by DOF within two weeks of receipt of the sheet whether or not each individual tract(s) is located within the FLA, and thus is eligible for participation. Potential applicants can then begin preparation of a full application for the program.
There is no deadline for the Pre-Application, however, the sooner the sheet is received, the more time the applicant will have to prepare a full application. It is strongly suggested that Pre-Applications be submitted by Thursday, June 2nd at the very latest. If you are certain (by examining the Forest Legacy Area map) that the tracts in your project fall within the FLA, there is no need to submit a Pre-Application.
You do not need to submit a pre-application in order to apply for the program; the purpose of the pre-application is to let you know beforehand if the tract(s) in your project fall within the FLA and are eligible for the program.
Types of Applications
Individual Application – An individual landowner may submit an application for land that they own. The application may be for one contiguous tax map parcel, several contiguous tax map parcels, or various tax map parcels they own that are non-contiguous.
Compiled Application – A project advocate (usually a land trust or land conserving group) may submit an application packet that includes several tracts owned by two or more landowners. In this case, the individual landowners must sign the documents listed in the Application Requirements section below for the tract(s) they own. The project advocate then compiles and submits the application materials for each tract (ownership) as a compiled packet.
Comprehensive Application – A project advocate may submit an application that includes descriptive material regarding the project as a whole, the individual tract(s) being offered, and information on how the project meets the goals of the Forest Legacy Program and why it should be considered for grant funding. This type of application packet must also include the documents listed in the Application Requirements section for the individual tracts (ownerships) signed by the individual landowners, or a letter from the individual landowners indicating that they understand, and are supportive of, their property being presented for Forest Legacy Program consideration.
Completing the Application / Application Ranking
A completed application for the program, and the associated documents listed in the application, must be submitted by the due date.
The application includes a section where the applicant provides information about how Important, Threatened, and Strategic the project (or tract) is. The Legacy project evaluation sheet is found in the appendix to this document. This sheet is used during the project review and ranking process. By providing information about how the project meets these criteria, the applicant can help to improve the ranking of the project.
If specific documents are referenced in the application write-up, please include with the application copies of the specific pages in the document that are referenced, but not the entire document. As an example, if you reference the zoning ordinance for the county, only include copies of the pages that you reference, not the entire document
In addition to considering the importance, threat, and strategic nature of a project, the readiness of the projects is also considered. The project’s readiness is improved if one or more of the following items have been accomplished prior to consideration at the national level:
- Information has been documented to support cost estimate, such as a market analysis, preliminary appraisal, or appraisal
- Landowner and easement holder (usually DOF) have agreed to the terms of the easement or fee acquisition
- Cost Share commitment has been obtained from a specified source; the ranking of the project can be increased by: 1) committed cost share that is greater than the required 25%, or 2) a landowner who is willing to accept less than 75% of the appraised value as a bargain sale
- Signed option or purchase and sales agreement with the state has been executed
- Title search is completed
- Minerals determination, to ascertain that the mineral rights have not been severed, is completed
- Stewardship plan or multi-resource management plan is completed
Application Requirements (and number of documents)
Each application packet must include the items listed below:
- One (1) manually signed original Landowner Inspection Consent Agreement for each tract (or ownership) in the project
- One (1) manually signed original Forest Legacy Application for each tract (or ownership) in the project
- Six (6) photocopies of each Forest Legacy Application for the tracts (or ownerships) in the project, and all attached materials (aerial photo, maps, etc)
Process for Applicants to Submit Applications
All applications must be completed in conformance with requirements set out in this Request for Applications. Failure to complete all parts of the requirements found here could result in your application not being accepted for review and ranking for 2013.
All applicants must mail or deliver applications to Virginia Department of Forestry, Attn: Larry Mikkelson, 900 Natural Resources Drive, Suite 800, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903. If hand delivering your application materials, you may deliver them to the receptionist located on the first floor of 900 Natural Resources Drive.
We will not accept facsimile or email documents, as all documents must be clear and legible and appear with original signatures on the application.
Application Due Date – June 23, 2011
To assure that all qualifying applications for the Forest Legacy 2013 program year can be evaluated and considered, the DOF must receive applications by no later than COB on Thursday, June 23, 2011.
Application Review / Ranking Process
All application documents will be reviewed by DOF to assure that they meet the minimum requirements outlined here. Applications that meet minimum requirements will be evaluated in more detail. The information provided in the application materials, and information and photos secured from a field visit to the project site, will be provided to the Virginia Forest Legacy Sub-Committee for review and ranking at their meeting during August or September, 2011. Applicants will be notified of the meeting date and will be asked to make a presentation to the sub-committee at this meeting. The top three (or sometimes fewer) ranked applications will be forwarded to the Virginia Forest Stewardship Committee for review.
The recommendations from the Virginia Forest Stewardship Committee will be forwarded to the State Forester for final review, approval and final ranking. The State Forester’s recommendations will be forwarded to the U. S. Forest Service for consideration by a National Panel from the across the country in January, 2012. The final decisions from the National Panel will be forwarded to the Office of the President for Federal Fiscal Year 2013 budget consideration. The Congress will then consider the President’s Budget and authorize grant award amounts in the Appropriations Act.
Additional Sources of Information and Assistance
U. S. Forest Service Forest Legacy website, http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/programs/loa/flp.shtml – this website provides links to additional information about the Forest Legacy Program.
Department of Forestry; the following link at the VDOF website has complete application documents for downloading; http://www.dof.virginia.gov/mgt/index-flp.htm
United States House District website, http://www.house.gov – this website provides Congressional district information.
Contact Information
Larry Mikkelson – Forest Legacy Manager Debbie Luna – Forest Legacy Support
Phone: 434.220.9091 Phone: 434.220.9021
FAX: 434.296.2369 FAX: 434.220.9140
Email – larry.mikkelson@dof.virginia.gov Email – debbie.luna@dof.virginia.gov
Last modified: Wednesday, 18-Jan-2012 12:38:55 EST
