The Forest Legacy Program

Forest Legacy Program: Questions and Answers.

Forest Legacy Application Materials

A Program from the United States Dept. of Agriculture's Forest Service

The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) assures that both traditional uses of private lands and the public benefits of America's forests are protected for future generations. It provides an incentive based mechanism to protect critical important fish and wildlife habitat, conserve watershed functions, and maintain recreation opportunities. The program emphasizes protection of significant forests of regional and national significance and those that that can be effectively protected and managed are emphasized.

  • The FLP was established in the 1990 Farm Bill to protect environmentally important forest areas that are threatened by conversion to non-forest uses and to promote forestland protection through the use of conservation easements and fee-simple purchase.
  • The FLP involves a partnership between State and Private Forestry and National Forest System mission areas of the U.S Forest Service, State Foresters lead agencies, local governments, land trusts, and interested landowners.
  • Participating States, and Territories, or local governments, in cooperation with States, can use FLP grant funds to acquire land, or interests in land, and hold title. The program operates on the principle of “willing buyer, willing seller.”
  • States and Territories develop an Assessment of Need (AON) to participate in the program. The AON is an implementation plan that demonstrates that the FLP will conserve important forest areas, characteristics, uses, and threats, describes specific forest legacy areas where the FLP will be focused, and outlines program goals and eligibility criteria that guide the selection of forest tracts for conservation.
  • Fifty States and Territories (Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) are active in the FLP.
  • Since its first appropriations in FY 1992, FLP has protected over 1.4 Million acres across 28 States and Territories.

Last modified: Monday, 19-Oct-2009 15:40:53 EDT

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