Longleaf Pine Restoration Cost Share Applications Available to Landowners


The Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division (WFF) of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) is currently accepting applications through its Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) to continue longleaf pine restoration efforts in Alabama. The grant was awarded through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and will be made available to qualifying landowners for longleaf pine restoration on private lands.

Landowners are encouraged to submit applications to receive 50/50 cost share assistance for practices such as site preparation, seedlings, planting, native grass restoration and/or exotic control costs. This program is focused on longleaf pine ecosystem restoration for the benefit of wildlife species in greatest conservation need. The deadline for applications is March 3, 2014. For a LIP application or more information, contract Traci Wood at 334-353-0503, or visit www.outdooralabama.com/research-mgmt/Landowner/LIP/.

LIP guidelines require the property to have suitable soils for planting longleaf, be held under private ownership, have a 15-acre minimum for reforestation and fall within the following counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Macon, Mobile, Monroe, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa and Washington.

The LIP funds are administered to complement habitat restoration goals of the longleaf pine ecosystem. This program provides financial and/or technical assistance to qualifying private landowners to conserve, manage or enhance the habitats of species in greatest conservation need associated with Alabama’s longleaf pine ecosystem. All applications will go through a competitive ranking process and will be evaluated after the application deadline of March 3.

Historically, longleaf pine covered millions of acres across several southeastern states. The longleaf pine ecosystem benefits a wide variety of plants and animals.

Announcement produced by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.