Program Summary

Woodlands for Wildlife was a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). The goal of this program was to assist forest landowners in 28 towns in northwest Massachusetts to implement conservation practices that benefit wildlife through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). This program was available to forest landowners from September 2015 through September 2018. 

Partnering organizations were the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the Massachusetts Forest Alliance, Mass Audubon, and NRCS. Together these organizations assisted forest landowners in obtaining a DCR forest stewardship plan with a bird habitat assessment, and provided additional technical assistance for landowners who wished to implement their plan. 

Below is a partial list of forestry related conservation practices eligible for EQIP funds: 

(Additional stewardship practices may also be eligible)

  • Erosion control on existing forest roads
  • Early successional habitat
  • Firebreaks
  • Forest stand improvement
  • Invasive species control
  • Mast/apple tree release
  • Riparian forest buffers
  • Tree and shrub planting, pruning and site preparation

More Information

 

The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service works with agricultural and forest producers to protect and conserve natural resource on our nation’s private lands.

NRCS administers conservation programs funded primarily through the current Farm Bill, and offers financial and technical assistance to landowners to address high priority resource concerns through the implementation of conservation practices. 

For more information about NRCS and the Massachusetts Forest Alliance use the links below:

About NRCS

About EQIP

The Massachusetts Forest Alliance

 

NRCS uses conservation practice standards to define specific land management activities that NRCS may approve. The conservation practice standards contain information on why and where a specific practice may be applied, as well as the intent behind each practice. Each conservation practice is assigned a code. Your consulting forester may use the practice code in your forest stewardship plan. 

Click the links below for more information on commonly used habitat improvement practices in Massachusetts:

Practice 106: Forest Management Plan

Practice 314: Brush Management

Practice 315: Herbaceous Weed Control

Practice 472: Access Control

Practice 645: Upland Wildlife Habitat

Practice 647: Early Successional Habitat 

Practice 655: Forest Trails and Landings

Practice 666: Forest Stand Improvement

 

Soils information can be found at the USGS Web Soil Survey site:

       Web Soil Survey

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