A new effort is underway to restore oak‐hickory woodlands in southeastern Ohio.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and its conservation partners created the Collaborative Oak Management project in southeastern Ohio. The project area includes the Wayne National Forest and Ohio State forests, as well as privately held forestland.

About 73% of the land within the Wayne National Forest is privately owned and interspersed within forest boundaries. However, the boundaries of private and public land don’t exist for invasive species and wildlife. The Collaborative Oak Management project provides a mechanism to restore oak‐hickory woodlands seamlessly across both public and private land.

NRCS uses the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help restore oak‐hickory woodlands owned privately. Woodland owners in the project area can receive both technical assistance from professional foresters and financial assistance to implement conservation measures recommended by foresters using EQIP.

Conservation measures that promote oak and hickory growth include the control of invasive plants and undesirable trees like the highly invasive non‐nativetreeofheaven.

Woodland owners in Adams, Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton and Washington counties may apply for the EQIP Oak Management program.

Applications for EQIP submitted by entities, such as agricultural producers applying as a corporation, must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration status when applying. Applications cannot be processed without this information.

Visit your local USDA Service Center if you are interested in applying for the EQIP Oak Management program. A list of county offices is available online.

Source: USDA