Description
Process
Opportunities
Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Forest Service and implemented by State
forestry agencies, the Forest Stewardship Program
encourages private forest landowners to manage their
lands using professionally prepared Forest Stewardship
plans. These plans consider all associated forest-related
resources to meet landowner objectives, including—but
not limited to—timber, wildlife, fish, water, and aesthetics.
• Develop a geodatabase that spatially displays Forest
Stewardship plans and captures associated management activities.
• Identify multi-state and
regional planning opportunities—
Connecticut and Massachusetts
conducted a joint analysis in the
Connecticut River Valley, identifying an
important watershed that crosses State
boundaries.
The Spatial Analysis Project (SAP) is a geographic
information system (GIS)-based strategic management
tool that allows participating State forestry agencies to
identify and spatially display important forest lands
(e.g., rich in natural resources or vulnerable to threat),
tracts currently under Forest Stewardship plans, and
areas where there may be an opportunity to focus future
Forest Stewardship Program efforts.
Objectives
• Promote strategic program delivery over traditional
first-come, first-served basis.
• Address accountability for positive results on the
ground.
• Provide a standard, consistent way to assess the impact
Forest Stewardship plans have on the forest resource in
addressing regionally or nationally important issues.
• Analyze 12 common data layers that address resource
potentials and threats and encourage States to use
additional layers to address State-specific conditions/
issues.
• Exclude areas not eligible for Forest Stewardship Program assistance.
• Overlay
common
and State-specific datalayers to create a composite
that maps areas of highest Forest
Stewardship Program potential.
• Assess existing Forest Stewardship
tracts against the composite to quantify impact and identify
opportunities.
• Solicit State Stewardship Committee
input throughout project
development.
• Focus limited program
resources—Maryland is
now able to focus Forest
Stewardship Program efforts in resource-rich areas
that are currently threatened by development.
• Plan for future staffing
needs—Missouri is using
needs
SAP results to develop a
service forester staffing
plan that will address
highest potential workload areas.
• Provide integrated program delivery
delivery—The State-specific
SAP assessment can include data to indicate where Forest
Stewardship Program assistance can be focused to best
complement other Federal and State programs available
to private forest landowners, such as Forest Legacy, Forest
Health, Fire Assistance, and Economic Action.