For the Landowner
A regular feature of ALC's American Landscapes newsletter

Getting a Hand to Protect Your Land

Reprinted from American Landscapes, Fall 2009


landowner tree plantIf you are a landowner who wants to conserve or enhance your property but have found the costs out of reach, you may be eligible for help from two recent bills supporting private land conservation: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, also known as the stimulus bill) and the 2008 Farm Bill.

ARRA funds are administered at both the federal and state level and must be tied to creating jobs in rural communities. Funds can support general forest management or wildfire prevention on private property bordering state or federal lands, such as maintaining road access or reducing hazardous fuels. ARRA can also fund projects to improve water quality, increase water supply, decrease soil erosion, and improve fish and wildlife habitat.

The Farm Bill, administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, provides tax incentives for conservation easement donations and includes a veritable alphabet soup of private land conservation programs:

Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP): supports projects that improve biodiversity, enhance carbon sequestration, or improve forest ecosystems to benefit threatened and endangered species.

Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP): supports standard grazing operations, enhancement of plant and animal biodiversity, and protection of threatened grasslands.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): provides funds to those with land in agricultural production or engaged in such production on eligible land. EQIP provides up to 75% of conservation project costs and income foregone (90% for
historically underserved producers).

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP): provides financial and technical assistance to producers conserving and enhancing soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land.

Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP): provides matching funds (up to 50% of fair market value) for
conservation easements or other interests in productive farm and ranchland.

Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP): provides funds to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands, and provides technical and financial support for wetland restoration projects.

Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP): supports projects on agricultural and nonindustrial forest land that protect, restore, develop, or enhance habitat for at-risk species or reduce the impacts of invasive species on wildlife habitats.

A Word about Weeds

What landowners need to know
Reprinted from American Landscapes, Summer 2008

Dalmatian Toadflax
Dalmatian Toadflax - photo courtesy of Br. Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's College

ALC works with many private landowners to protect important natural resources for people and wildlife. But to achieve the full benefit of land protection, the places we protect must also be ecologically healthy. One challenge many landowners face in ensuring the health of their land is noxious weeds.

The Federal Noxious Weed Act defines noxious weeds as plants of a parasitic nature or of foreign origin that pose a direct or indirect threat to agriculture, wildlife resources, livestock, or public health. Approximately 100 million acres of habitat in North America are covered by noxious weeds, with nearly 3 million additional acres infested annually. Noxious weeds can spread at rates of up to 16 percent per year.

Despite the menacing name, some noxious weeds can be quite beautiful, with many species introduced intentionally for domestic gardens. But the majority of noxious weeds are generally unpalatable to wildlife and livestock. Many species are poisonous and cause skin irritation. Wildlife may entirely avoid areas where the density of noxious weeds is high.

Once noxious weeds take hold, plant diversity decreases, lowering native grass production and negatively impacting habitat and biodiversity. In severe infestations, nesting and forage resources are lost, erosion and soil compaction increase, and water quality and aquatic resources can be imperiled, with economic impacts running into the tens or hundreds of millions. Noxious weeds can spread quickly and aggressively, and can infest new areas via avian and terrestrial wildlife, livestock, vehicles (motorized and non-motorized), humans, wind, and water.

Purple loosestrife
Purple Loosestrife - photo courtesy of Barry A. Rice, Nature Conservancy

While noxious weeds cannot be entirely eradicated, they can be controlled. Landowners have three basic treatment options: mechanical (pulling prior to the flowering stage), chemical (applying herbicides), and biological (introducing insects). Controlling noxious weeds not only helps to restore the landscape, it can drastically increase grass production. In one documented case, noxious weeds had accounted for 56% of the plant biomass before treatment, but only 2% after two years of treatment. At the same time, grass production increased from 350 pounds per acre to nearly 3,000 pounds per acre.

A variety of resources are available to landowners who want to know more about controlling noxious weeds. Your local extension agency, state wildlife agency, county government offices and numerous state and local websites can help. For suggested links and more information for landowners see below.





Weed Information Links for Landowners:


“For the Landowner” is supported in part by a generous grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.