Forest service

The State and Tribal Watershed Forestry Assistance Programs (WFAPs) promote use of forest and forestry practices to sustain healthy watersheds through collaborative approaches. WFAP is the only program authorizing the Forest Service to work directly with Tribes. It is the only Forest Service program which requires designation of priority watersheds in which to focus resources. The program provides financial, technical, and educational assistance to landowners, communities, local watershed groups, nonprofit organizations and Indian tribes to apply forestry practices to protect, manage, and restore priority watersheds on nonfederal forested and potentially forested land and lands under tribal jurisdiction.

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  Forest Legacy Program protects private forest lands from being converted to nonforest uses.
  
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  Forest Stewardship Programs helps individual private forest landowners develop plans for the sustainable management of their forests.
  
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  Forest Land Enhancement Program provides educational, technical, and financial assistance to help individual private forest landowners implement their sustainable forestry management objectives.
  

While these programs can complement WFAP; they are not substitutes.

While forest lands are eligible for cost-share under some USDA conservation programs, this is primarily where the forest lands are incidental to crop or pasture lands.

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  The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and its subsets, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), and Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP), have become a large tree planting program; however, existing forestlands are not eligible for enrollment. Cropland and some marginal pastureland may be enrolled and riparian forest buffers may be planted. The enrolled acres planted to trees will become lands requiring future management; however, CRP can not provide funds for sustainable forest management.
  

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  Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) eligible practices include riparian forest buffers, forest stand improvements and forest site preparation. Because the primary program focus is agricultural and range lands, only a small percent of the total funds - about 0.23% - have dedicated to activities on existing forest lands.
  

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  The Conservation Security Program (CSP) has a maximum limit of 100 acres of forest lands for any producer and these are lands that are an incidental part of an agricultural operation. This excludes management on any forest lands in excess of 100 acres or any forestlands not in close association with agricultural lands. CSP does not provide funding for management activities but pays the landowner to maintain the environmental values.
  

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  The Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) has the ability to establish forest lands in wetland areas that will be set aside in an easement program. These areas are limited in size and provide a minimum of forest management.
  

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  The Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses. Forestlands that are an incidental part of an agricultural operation as eligible.
  

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  The Grasslands Reserve Program helps landowners restore and protect grassland, rangeland, pastureland, shrubland and certain other lands and provides assistance for rehabilitating grasslands. Forestlands are not listed as an eligible land use.
  

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  The Agriculture Management Assistance (AMA) provides cost share assistance to address issues such as water management, water quality, and erosion control by incorporating conservation into their farming operations. The primary forestry activity is windbreaks and shelterbelts for protection of cropland. Tree and shrub planting on cropland cannot exceed 100 acres per year.