DO YOU LIVE IN THE FOREST? Your thoughts are important to the DNR
by Kathleen Preece
Public asked to chart path through Forest Stewardship Program
If you own 20 acres or more of Minnesota’s woodlands, there are a lot of people looking at, and studying you. You may not know it, but some of the best of research tools are applied to studying your comings and goings as they relate to the forests in your respective back yards. Your name comes up in professional forestry circles wherever many are gathered!
Traditionally, you have been called “NIPFers.” It stands for “non-industrial private forest landowners. The term distinguishes you from private industry, like the UPM-Kymenne Blandin Paper, the Potlatches, and the Boise Papers who are “private” but are industrial in nature and own and/or manage forests mainly for their commercial values.
In recent years, you NIPFers have been more softly referred to as “family forest landowners.” The change in vernacular was made to better describe the values you so often list as paramount to your woodland ownership: the wildlife who live there, the opportunities those forest provide for hiking and skiing, hunting, or for the aesthetics of that greenery.
There are over 147,000 of you in Minnesota; you own over 40 percent of Minnesota’s woodlands. And that’s the reason so many folks are studying what you are doing and, to be honest, hoping to influence some of that ‘doing.’ And for good reason. The forests under your ownership contribute to habitat for wildlife, help keep our state’s waters clean, provide outdoor amenities found in few other places on the land, and contribute to the economy of the state of Minnesota. That is why ‘everyone’ seems to be studying you (and your offspring). Researchers want to know just ‘what’s up’ for the tomorrows of those forests.
Academia is asking questions like: “Who” are the private forest landowners of the 21st Century? Why do they own land? Are they passing their land on to their children? Do they hunt, hike, and watch birds in their woods? Are they planning to manage their trees so that over half of the forests of the state can be call healthy, vital, and reproducing?
The latest question to arise is: “Are landowners being given the information they need to manage their forests, for the objectives they have for their forests?” This sounds like a simple question, but the answers can be complex. Minnesota has a reputation for reaching out to family forest landowners. Web sites, publications, training courses, landowner organizations, private land management programs – all at both a both public and private scale are offered throughout the state in differing ‘packages’ and with differing enticements to peak your interest.
One of the state’s largest outreach programs, the Forest Stewardship Program conducted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, is now asking your opinion on if the program is on the right path to reach and effectively assist with your woodland property.
Currently, about 1.45 million acres of those 5 million acres owned by private individuals in Minnesota are covered by a stewardship plan.
The DNR has developed the draft of a strategic plan to provide guidance and a framework for the Stewardship Program from 2010 through 2015. It outlines challenges that private landowners face and it provides recommendations for actions that will help the program grow stronger.
The plan does not solve all issue private landowners have with landownership. But it includes a ‘wish” and a “to do” list that its authors hope exemplifies the commitment the state feels toward working with landowners.
Public comment on the five-year strategic plan for the Forest Stewardship Program is being sought, and will be collected through June 12. You can make a direct link to download the draft of the plan by going to this website.
You can also submit comments to Andrew Arends, the Community/Private Lands specialist with the DNR by e-mailing him at andrew.arends@dnr.state.mn.us. You can reach him by mail at: Andrew Arends, DNR – Forestry, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4044.
You are important. The reasons are quite simple. Because of you, the blueberries and June berries are ripening in forests across the state – and therefore the cedar waxwings, robins, northern flickers, and wood thrushes come to feast and can be heard singing. The red berries of wintergreen are bright across landscapes because you have nurtured a pine forest. At the first hint of autumn, because of your hardwood forests, passersby will celebrate the flames of red maple, and sumac.
Input provided to the authors of the draft strategic plan will help build the framework to meet natural resource challenges facing forest landowners across Minnesota.
Public asked to chart path through Forest Stewardship ProgramIf you own 20 acres or more of Minnesota’s woodlands, there are a lot of people looking at, and studying you. You may not know it, but some of the best of research tools are applied to studying your comings and goings as they relate to the forests in your respective back yards. Your name comes up in professional forestry circles wherever many are gathered!
Traditionally, you have been called “NIPFers.” It stands for “non-industrial private forest landowners. The term distinguishes you from private industry, like the UPM-Kymenne Blandin Paper, the Potlatches, and the Boise Papers who are “private” but are industrial in nature and own and/or manage forests mainly for their commercial values.
In recent years, you NIPFers have been more softly referred to as “family forest landowners.” The change in vernacular was made to better describe the values you so often list as paramount to your woodland ownership: the wildlife who live there, the opportunities those forest provide for hiking and skiing, hunting, or for the aesthetics of that greenery.
There are over 147,000 of you in Minnesota; you own over 40 percent of Minnesota’s woodlands. And that’s the reason so many folks are studying what you are doing and, to be honest, hoping to influence some of that ‘doing.’ And for good reason. The forests under your ownership contribute to habitat for wildlife, help keep our state’s waters clean, provide outdoor amenities found in few other places on the land, and contribute to the economy of the state of Minnesota. That is why ‘everyone’ seems to be studying you (and your offspring). Researchers want to know just ‘what’s up’ for the tomorrows of those forests.
Academia is asking questions like: “Who” are the private forest landowners of the 21st Century? Why do they own land? Are they passing their land on to their children? Do they hunt, hike, and watch birds in their woods? Are they planning to manage their trees so that over half of the forests of the state can be call healthy, vital, and reproducing?
The latest question to arise is: “Are landowners being given the information they need to manage their forests, for the objectives they have for their forests?” This sounds like a simple question, but the answers can be complex. Minnesota has a reputation for reaching out to family forest landowners. Web sites, publications, training courses, landowner organizations, private land management programs – all at both a both public and private scale are offered throughout the state in differing ‘packages’ and with differing enticements to peak your interest.
One of the state’s largest outreach programs, the Forest Stewardship Program conducted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, is now asking your opinion on if the program is on the right path to reach and effectively assist with your woodland property.
Currently, about 1.45 million acres of those 5 million acres owned by private individuals in Minnesota are covered by a stewardship plan.
The DNR has developed the draft of a strategic plan to provide guidance and a framework for the Stewardship Program from 2010 through 2015. It outlines challenges that private landowners face and it provides recommendations for actions that will help the program grow stronger.
The plan does not solve all issue private landowners have with landownership. But it includes a ‘wish” and a “to do” list that its authors hope exemplifies the commitment the state feels toward working with landowners.
Public comment on the five-year strategic plan for the Forest Stewardship Program is being sought, and will be collected through June 12. You can make a direct link to download the draft of the plan by going to this website.
You can also submit comments to Andrew Arends, the Community/Private Lands specialist with the DNR by e-mailing him at andrew.arends@dnr.state.mn.us. You can reach him by mail at: Andrew Arends, DNR – Forestry, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4044.You are important. The reasons are quite simple. Because of you, the blueberries and June berries are ripening in forests across the state – and therefore the cedar waxwings, robins, northern flickers, and wood thrushes come to feast and can be heard singing. The red berries of wintergreen are bright across landscapes because you have nurtured a pine forest. At the first hint of autumn, because of your hardwood forests, passersby will celebrate the flames of red maple, and sumac.
Input provided to the authors of the draft strategic plan will help build the framework to meet natural resource challenges facing forest landowners across Minnesota.
posted by Katie Carter at
10:09 AM
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