[APWG] Homeowners and restoration

[Marc Imlay]

"Loie and I have a nine acre property in central Maryland, US."
"scrubby new woods and a bit of stream-bottom older woods."

Bucky,

Does the woods add up to 5 acres. If so, you may want to try the
following  approach:

Marc
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Some plans, for example, consist entirely of removing
non-native invasive plants.

Forest Stewardship Plans Offer Landowners Tax Breaks-and More
Chesapeake, Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Summer 2003
page 11. By Marc Imlay-

Landowners, do you want to preserve your land
or restore it to its natural state for future generations? For doing this,
you can get financial assistance, including a property tax reduction
on your land (assessed on its value set at $100 per acre).
Here's the catch: Working with a state forester, you must develop a
Forest Stewardship Plan, and the Maryland Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) must approve it.
     After DNR approves the plan, you become part of the Maryland
forest stewardship program. All aspects of forest resource management
are considered by DNR, and-the good news is that you do not have
to harvest trees. Some plans, for example, consist entirely of removing
non-native invasive plants.
     The options offered by DNR for forest resource management
include fish and wildlife, natural heritage and recreation, soil and
water, and forest products. The natural heritage and recreation aspect,
for example, focuses upon restoration of mature old growth with
natural biodiversity and resulting ecosystem services (such as water
retention) to prevent downstream flooding, crown-fire control, and
climate-change mitigation.

Expert Help Required

     The stewardship program has a few eligibility requirements, but the
most critical consideration is to select a forester trained in ecosystem
management and conservation biology to include alien invasive species
control, fragmentation theory, herbaceous plants, endangered species,
and non-game biology. Most foresters who write plans are trained
primarily in forest products. Your forester should be primarily trained
in ecology and be supportive of your values.

     Here's what DNR has to say about the topic
(www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/fcmp.pdf). "Any owner of 5 or more
contiguous acres of forest land may enter the Forest Conservation and
Management Program. .the forester, with assistance from other
natural resource professionals, must match the objectives of the owner
to the biological requirements of the forest. Your acceptance in
the Forest Conservation and Management Program will depend upon
the specific prescription of stewardship practices. You must have your
forest stewardship plan prepared by a registered professional forester
[state, private, consulting, or industrial] and approved by the Director
of the Forest Service. The plan must contain a detailed schedule of
practices to be accomplished and their completion date."

The Tax Break

     Landowners also can obtain a Forest Conservation Management
Agreement (FCMA) through the Maryland Department of Assessments
and Taxation. DNR describes it as "a legal agreement recorded in
land records, binding for fifteen years, and renewable for a minimum
of five years."
     With an FCMA, the landowner can add or delete acreage, add or
delete owners, and sell all or part of the parcel. In return, says DNR,
"the property is assessed at $100/acre regardless of its location in
Maryland. The assessment is frozen at that level for the fifteen
years of the agreement. The FCMA involves fees for developing the
management plan, entering the program, and periodic inspections."

For more information on this topic, go to www.naturalresources.umd.edu.

Marc Imlay-Biodiversity
EndangeredSpecies
301.283.0808 ialm at erols.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bucky Edgett" <bucky at luckypro.com>
To: "List" <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 12:40 PM
Subject: [APWG] Homeowners and restoration


Dear Friends,
    I know this is an intrusion, and appologize for it. I'm about to
unsubscribe, and before I did thought perhaps you good folks could help me
out.
    Please if you know of any, recommend a few lists and sites for
HOMEOWNERS
who are interested in restoration. Loie and I have a nine acre property in
central Maryland, US. It's a mix of plantain-infested "lawn" (hah!), scrubby
new woods and a bit of stream-bottom older woods. All of it is rampant
Canadian thistle, Japanese multiflora rose, Tartarian and Japanese
honeysuckle, Oriental Bittersweet, Autumn Olive and probably lots more
invasive Dirt we haven't yet identified.
    We had hoped, when we moved here a dozen years ago, and are still
trying--agonizingly slowly--to do something (now we realize: anything!) to
"restore" this place to native species. But really, it's turning out to be
beyond us. The time and effort and money needed are immense. To us, at
least.
We've had very pleasant advice and some offers of help from Maryland state
agencies, but we never qualified for any help: our hoped-for projects didn't
fit the available bills.
    I know a few people here in Maryland that work with groups of restorers
on various communal projects: Nature Conservancy, parks and so forth. I've
been searching the web for resources for information. But all I've found is
info for large groups, such as the projects you yourselves run.
    Nowhere do I find information slanted toward do-it-yourself-restoration
homeowners! (Maybe I'm beyond what we can reasonably do).
    Here's an example of the kind of hands-on, practical advice I need. I
have created a huge brushpile of multiflora rose and Tartarian honeysuckle
we
(Loie and I) have pulled out all along the lawn-woods edge. Of course these
huge things were spreading seed all over, and acting nasty, so I poisoned
them, and used a towchain on the old truck to pull them out bodily. We
(unwittingly illegally) burned the first pile. Then I found out what kind of
trouble we could get in by burning.
    I got the local volunteer fire company to come and legally burn the
second pile, but now they are telling me I might not be able to get an EPA
permit to burn the third one. I also have a stand of this stuff many times
bigger than what we've pulled so far. I could create a brushpile the size of
our house.
    So what the heck am I supposed to DO with it?!?! <laughing> We can't
afford a chipper shredder (I'd need to own an industrial size one) and then,
what about the alleopathic chips that would still remain? Jeeze. If I just
leave the current one as a rotting brushpile, of course it will soon grow up
in more Dirt Weeds from seeds dropped in it from other people's Dirt,
defeating the entire purpose.
    Is there anywhere people discuss this kind of thing? My list of
practical
dilemmas goes on: best way to kill Dirt, best way to Pull dead Dirt, best
ways to foster Plants (without their being over run by new Dirt, of which
here is an unending invasion), best way to AFFORD the new Plants, etc, etc.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your good work
I'll wait a week or so and then unsubscribe.
Yours truly,
Bucky Edgett
Dirt Weed Beleaguered Homeowner