In 1997, 500 million acres, or 67 percent of total forest land in the United States, was owned by nonfederal public agencies, the forest industry or private individuals. Of that 67 percent, 58 percent is solely in private hands. Because of this, federal, state and local governments have adopted legislation and developed programs to improve the management of these lands.
Local governments, in particular, have been quite active in passing forest-related ordinances. The number of ordinances passed in Southern states more than doubled in the last eight years. Virginia currently has the second highest number of local forest ordinances in the South, increasing from 44 in 1992 to 77 in 2000. (In the 11-state southern region of the United States, forests cover an average of 57 percent of the landscape per state.)
The typical local ordinance restricts timber-harvesting practices. These restrictions can include requiring pre-harvest plans subject to local approval, restrictions on the use of clear-cutting or requirements for buffer zones.
For example, Virginia’s Botetourt County is considering an ordinance that would restrict timber harvesting at elevations above 1,500 feet. Meanwhile, Carbon County, Utah recently passed a Timber Harvest Ordinance, the first of its kind in the state, to protect the county and waterways from poor logging practices.
Other tools used by counties for land use conservation are not as regulatory in nature. These tools include incentives such as value taxation and agricultural-forest districts or investments such as fee-simple land purchase and easement acquisition.
In addition to these tools, another method counties have adopted to preserve their forestlands involves purchase of development right (PDR) programs. PDR programs are essentially publicly sponsored land trusts that employ conservation easements to protect rural landscapes. Because these programs rely heavily on taxes to purchase development rights, they have been most popular in the rapidly growing, so-called “new millennium” communities such as Sonoma County, Calif. and Boulder County, Colo.
Aiding local governments in their efforts to manage their forestlands are several federal programs, many administered by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, designed to support local government efforts. The Forest Health Program maintains healthy productive forest ecosystems by preventing, detecting and suppressing damaging insects and diseases. Cooperative Fire Protection programs provide technical and financial assistance to states and local fire agencies to promote efficient wild land fire protection. The Urban and Community Forestry Program provides technical and financial assistance to local governments, nonprofit organizations, tribes, and individuals in partnership with state forestry agencies through grants and agreements.
Every day, the United States loses about 2,000 acres of forestland. The nation’s private forests are essential for water quality, wildlife protection and recreation. Partnerships such as the Cummings Cover Forest Legacy Project in Tennessee, administered by Hamilton and Marion counties, will turn 2,400 acres of private forested land into a wildlife management area. This tract will provide important open space, protect crucial wildlife habitat, sustain water supplies and allow for recreational use. This is an example of the kind of planning and partnering that forest land counties can look to when designing a comprehensive land use conservation strategy.
For forests to remain intact, they need to be managed well, so that the nation continues to receive the economic, ecological and cultural benefits inherent in its forest heritage.
