• Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC)
• Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR)
• USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
• Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD)
• USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)
• US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
• The Longleaf Alliance (LLA)
• Others occasionally such as Alabama Power Company (APC) and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF)

Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) Programs

• Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) Prevention and Restoration Thinning Program
  • The southern pine beetle (SPB) is the number one killer of pines in Alabama. Unmanaged and overcrowded stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines are susceptible to attack. Epidemic populations of this bark beetle occur virtually every year in Alabama. Expanding populations, if not controlled, may devastate entire forests causing millions of dollars in damage. One long-term goal of the Alabama Forestry Commission is to reduce the susceptibility of Alabama forests to future SPB outbreaks. Thinning of dense, slow-growing pine stands will help accomplish this goal by stimulating growth and vigor in young stands thereby reducing the SPB hazard.

• Landowner Incentive Program (LIP)
  • The Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) is a Federal grant program made available through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The primary objective of this program is to provide technical and/or financial assistance to private landowners for the direct benefit of conserving, managing or enhancing the habitats of species in greatest conservation need.
  •  Primary program emphasis is on longleaf pine habitat restoration within the historical longleaf pine range.

USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Programs
(Contact the local Service Center for further guidelines and details of the program)

• Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI)
  • The Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) is a voluntary conservation initiative that enables the use of certain conservation programs with resources of eligible partners to provide financial and technical assistance to owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands. Eligible producers in a nine county project area of the Black Belt may apply for program assistance
    

• Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
  • The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) encourages agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation activities and adopt additional ones on their operations. CSP is a new voluntary conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. CSP provides opportunities to both recognize excellent stewards and deliver valuable new conservation. To apply for the newly revamped CSP, potential participants are encouraged to use a self-screening checklist to determine whether the new program is suitable for them or their operation.

• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
  • EQIP practices target improving forest health, wildlife habitat, and declining T&E species on agricultural lands.
  • Applications are ranked and selected for funding in order to optimize environmental benefits. Batching dates may be announced as needed to rank and prioritize any new or unfunded application.
• Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP)
  •  The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is a voluntary program that encourages creation of high quality wildlife habitats that support wildlife populations. Through WHIP, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical and financial assistance to landowners and others to develop upland, wetland, riparian, and aquatic habitat areas on their property. This program is designed to enhance and restore Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species as well as rare and declining ecosystems
• Wetland Reserve Program (WRP)
  •  WRP is a voluntary program that provides technical assistance and financial incentives to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring marginal land from agriculture. Landowners that enter into WRP may be paid an easement payment in exchange for enrolling their land. Program emphasis is on restoring wet cropland to bottomland hardwoods.
• Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP)
  • EWP was set up by Congress to respond to emergencies created by natural disasters and assists in relieving hazards to life and property from floods and the products of erosion created by natural disasters that cause a sudden impairment of a watershed.

Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) Programs
(Contact the local SWCC for further guidelines and details of the program)

• Alabama Agricultural & Conservation Development Commission Program (AACDCP)
  • This program is funded through the State of Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committees (SWCC) budget. Program emphasis is established locally. Forestry practices can include firebreak establishment, prescribed burning, site preparation and tree planting.

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Programs
(Contact the local FSA office for further guidelines and details of the program)

• Regular Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
  • The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners. CRP was intended to take highly erodible cropland out of production and stabilize soil loss through planting permanent cover crops. Through CRP, you can receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland.
  • To qualify for CRP enrollment, you must have had your land in crops 4 out of 6 years from 1996
    through 2001.
  • Tree planting practices under regular CRP include:
    • CP3 - Longleaf and Other Softwoods Tree Planting
      • This practice is to establish a stand of trees in a timber planting that will enhance environmental benefits
    • CP3A - Hardwood Tree Planting
      • This practice is to establish a stand of predominately hardwood trees in a timber planting that will enhance environmental benefits
    • CP11 – Trees Already Established
      • This practice is to manage trees that have already been established under prior CRP signups
• Continuous CRP (Forestry and Wildlife Programs)
  • Environmentally desirable land devoted to certain conservation practices may be enrolled in CRP at any time under continuous sign-up. Offers are automatically accepted provided the land and producer meet certain eligibility requirements. Offers for continuous sign-up are not subject to competitive bidding.
  • Forestry and wildlife practices available under Continuous CRP include:
    • CP21 - Filter Strips
      • The purpose of this practice is to remove nutrients, sediment, organic matter, pesticides, and other pollutants for the surface runoff and subsurface flow by deposition, absorption, plant uptake, denitrification, and other processes, and thereby reduce pollution and protect surface water and subsurface water quality while enhancing the ecosystem of the water body
    • CP22 - Riparian Forest Buffer
      • The purpose of this practice is to remove nutrients, sediment, organic matter, pesticides, and other pollutants for the surface runoff and subsurface flow by deposition, absorption, plant uptake, denitrification, and other processes, and thereby reduce pollution and protect surface water and subsurface water quality while enhancing the ecosystem of the water body
    • CP31 - Bottomland Timber Establishment on Wetlands
      • This initiative is a new effort under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that works to improve air and water quality as well as increase wildlife habitat along wetland areas. CP31 allows producers to enroll in a CRP practice on lands suitable for growing bottomland hardwood trees or adapted shrubs that will provide multipurpose forest and wildlife benefits.
    • CP33 - Field Borders
      • Northern bobwhite quail habitats are disappearing due to urbanization, increased grassland cultivation, and a transitioning of once grassy fields into woods and forests -- a process called succession. The Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative introduces a conservation practice intended to create 250,000 acres of early successional grass buffers along agricultural field borders.
    • CP36 - Longleaf Pine Initiative
      • Longleaf pine was once the dominant tree species on an estimated 60 million acres and in the mix of species on another 30 million acres along the coastal plain from east Texas, the mountains of Alabama, northwest Georgia and the Virginia piedmont. Longleaf pine stands declined over the past 100 years and today occupy fewer than four million acres of the historic range. Longleaf pine forests provide numerous environmental benefits including wildlife habitat.
    • CP38 - Blackland Prairie Habitat Restoration SAFE
      • The goal of the Alabama Black Belt Prairie Restoration SAFE project is to enroll 3,800 acres in CRP to improve native grassland habitats for rare, threatened, endangered and declining species that are dependent on native prairie communities found within the Black Belt Prairie region of Alabama.

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Programs
(Contact the local Fish & Wildlife Service for further guidelines and details of the program)

• Partners for Fish and Wildlife
  • The Partners for Fish and Wildlife program provides technical and financial assistance to private landowners to restore and enhance fish and wildlife habitat on their property. The program focus is to restore vegetation and hydrology to historic conditions. Habitat is provided for migratory and resident waterfowl, wading birds, songbirds, aquatic species such as snails, mussels, and fish. Focal areas include both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Hundreds of projects have been completed with individual landowners including restoration of wetlands, longleaf pine, caves, and stream habitats.
• Safe Harbor Program
  • The RCW Safe Harbor Program provides guarantees for landowners who manage their pine forests in a manner beneficial to the red-cockaded woodpecker. If woodpeckers increase on a property enrolled in the program as a result of beneficial management practices, obligations under state and federal endangered species laws are not increased. Landowners retain all property rights, and management flexibility is often increased by enrolling in Safe Harbor.
• Private Individual Grants
  • Various grants that promote wetlands conservation and associated habitats for migratory birds and support efforts to restore natural resources and establish or expand wildlife habitat

The Longleaf Alliance Programs
(Contact the Longleaf Alliance further guidelines and details of the program)

• Longleaf Pine Restoration Program
  • Program designed to restore longleaf pine on cutover sites. Funding through the USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
• Longleaf Legacy Program
  • Program designed to restore longleaf pine on cutover site. Funding through the American Forest Foundation grants.