Northeast Oklahoma Healthy Forests Reserve Program Announced

STILLWATER, OK - The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced the availability of up to $2.5 million in the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) in northeastern Oklahoma. HFRP protects and enhances forested wildlife habitat for threatened and endangered species and other declining wildlife populations. The Ozark Plateau Karst Dependent Species Conservation Initiative HFRP project falls within five counties in northeastern Oklahoma: Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, and parts of Ottawa and Sequoyah. The federally listed species for habitat and population recovery activities include the Gray Bat, the Ozark Big-eared Bat, and the Ozark Cavefish. The primary emphasis of the HFRP project will be forest management and forest restoration activities in areas surrounding bat caves and associated foraging areas of the bat populations within the project area.

Applications will be accepted from landowners of eligible lands within the HFRP area of the five designated counties. Application may be made at your local NRCS Field Service Centers. Applications received by May 22, 2009, will be prioritized according to ranking criteria used for protecting or enhancing the habitat of the targeted species. Eligible lands include privately owned lands or lands owned by Indian tribes. Privately owned lands are lands that are not owned by a government entity and may include lands owned by individuals as well as entities and non governmental organizations.

Three enrollment options will be available to eligible landowners: a 10-year cost-share agreement where the landowner may receive up to 50 percent of the average cost for applying approved conservation practices; a 30-year easement where the landowner may receive 75 percent of the easement value of the enrolled land and up to 75 percent of the average cost of approved conservation practices; or a permanent easement where the landowner may receive 100 percent of the easement value of the enrolled land and up to 100 percent of the average cost of approved conservation practices.

HFRP is being implemented in coordination between NRCS, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Oklahoma Forestry Services (OFS). NRCS and OFS will provide technical assistance to help program participants develop and implement their HFRP forest management restoration plans. Landowner protections will be made available to HFRP participants who agree, for a specified period, to restore or improve their land for threatened or endangered species habitat so that there is a net conservation benefit to the species. In exchange, the program participant will avoid future regulatory restrictions on the use of that land protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Visit the Oklahoma HFRP website for additional information. NRCS is an equal opportunity provider and employer. All programs and services of the Natural Resources Conservation Service are provided in a nondiscriminatory manner.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

< Back to the previous page