Wanna Sweeten Your Forest's Taste Buzzz?
Urbanization is a leading cause of pollinator decline, as available habitat continues to dwindle. In recent years, several reports across the country estimated losses higher than 50% in colony numbers. Colony collapse disorder, or the abrupt disappearance of honey bee colonies, threatens the survival of all plants that require pollinators for reproduction--meaning trees!
How can forest owners help save the honey bee? Susan Benedict, a Tree Farmer from State College, Pennsylvania, used to think the very same thing! "Incorporating pollinator habitat into closed forest ecosystems is just not something forest managers usually do," says Susan.
However, Susan used the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) as a helpful tool to expand her thinking and include new practices into her forest management plan---establishing pollinator habitat being a significant addition! Susan worked closely with her local NRCS forester on-the-ground to determine how best to introduce pollinators on her property and leveraged her own investments with funds from CSP to implement the plan.
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is slightly different from other USDA Farm Bill conservation programs. Rather than providing landowners with cost-share funding for individual conservation practices, CSP is a unique tool that works with landowners to improve environmental performance in a holistic manner. Landowners are encouraged to continue good management through annual stewardship payments based on conservation performance points and acreage. Since the program is competitive, landowners are expected to "bundle" multiple improvements (like establishing pollinator habitat) that complement each other.
Unfortunately these helpful and educational USDA Farm Bill programs are not guaranteed in the 2012 Farm Bill. We MUST remind our members of Congress that forest owners benefit tremendously from these programs and they need to remember forest owners when writing the next Farm Bill. If we want to ensure these programs will be available in the future, we must act now---don't let forest owners take disproportionate cuts. Send them a copy of our latest 2012 Farm Bill recommendations that
protect what's important for family forest owners
.
Christine Cadigan is the Manager of Public Affairs for the American Forest Foundation.
Photo Credit: Flickr's Billy'O.
