ach winter, North Carolina’s landscape is dotted with millions of new tree seedlings as forest landowners take advantage of the dormant season to replant harvested forest lands. The tree planting season is a vital stage in the continuing regeneration and management of the state’s healthy and abundant forest lands, according to Bob Slocum, executive vice president of the North Carolina Forestry Association. North Carolina has some 19.3 million acres of forest land, about 62 percent of the state’s total land mass. In fact, Slocum added, North Carolina has more trees today than it did in 1938 when the first U.S. Forest Service inventory was completed.

On average, some 130,000 acres of forest lands in North Carolina are replanted annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That doesn’t include the thousands of acres that regenerate naturally. Hardwoods, which make up about 53 percent of the state’s forest, regenerate naturally from stumps left after harvest or seeds transported by animals or wind.

Landowners who have planned ahead for reforestation before harvesting will have an advantage during replanting, according to Sam Hughes, senior consultant forester with F&W Forestry Services in New Bern. "There are some things that can be done prior to harvest to improve the regenerating effort," Hughes said. These can include prescribed burning in pine forests to reduce site preparation costs and control competing vegetation, or doing a sheltered wood cut or seed tree cut in hardwood or mixed forests to allow for natural regeneration. A shelterwood cut harvests trees in a specified area in a series of two or more cuttings so that new seedlings can grow from the seeds of older trees. A seed tree cut leaves a few scattered trees in the area to provide seeds for new tree regeneration.

Whether a landowner grows pines or hardwoods he or she needs to have a long-range approach to managing forest lands, according to Al Weller, landowner assistance and educational outreach manager for Weyerhaeuser Company in New Bern. "Developing a management plan based on the landowner’s objectives and following best management practices and sustainable forestry principles is real important."

Best management practices help reduce soil erosion, and prevent or control water pollution in forestry operations. The principles of sustainable forestry ensure that forests are managed so that our present needs for timber and other forest products, as well as recreation and wildlife, are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

"It’s also important that landowners get into the mindset that harvesting is actually the first step in the process of renewing their forests," Weller said. "They need to make sure they get a good harvest and set aside some of the funds from the sale of the timber for the planting process."

Costs for reforestation are an important consideration for landowners. State and federal governments offer several cost-share and financial assistance programs to help landowners defray reforestation costs.

Each assistance program has different requirements, according to Mike Thompson, section chief for Forest Management and Development, North Carolina Division of Forest Resources, and qualifying for each particular program will depend on the landowners’ objectives for their property.

"The Forest Development Program is the primary assistance program here in North Carolina," Thompson said. "This program is funded primarily through assessments received from forest product industries and state appropriations."

Available in all 100 North Carolina counties, the Forest Development Program, or FDP, pays 45 percent of an area’s prevailing rate for reforestation. However, the program limits assistance to a maximum of 100 acres per year per landowner, he added.

In addition to the statewide Forest Development Program and other programs, there is a three-year program of special funding for reforestation and rehabilitation of forest lands damaged during hurricanes Fran and Bertha in 1996. "This program is very similar to FDP, but it has to be used only in those counties declared disaster areas as a result of Fran and Bertha," Thompson said.

Federal programs offer similar cost-share assistance to landowners and have many of the same qualifications. The Forestry Incentives Program is of most interest to forest landowners, according to Robert Lipford, staff forester, N.C. Division of Forest Resources.

"The Forestry Incentives Program, or FIP, will cost-share any kind of forest establishment," Lipford said. "FIP will also pay for forest improvement, including such things as pre-commercial thinning, burning and release work." Landowners who qualify for the Forestry Incentives Program can receive cost assistance of 50 percent of the area’s prevailing rate, up to a limit of $5,000 per landowner per year.

In addition to the cost-share programs provided by state and federal government, landowners can get a variety of assistance services from major forest industries throughout the state. According to Weyerhaeuser’s Weller, these assistance services range from free advice, to free or reduced-cost seedlings, to help with planting. "Some companies will actually do site preparation or planting with their own equipment for the landowner," he said. "Or they’ll help the landowner find a contractor to do the work. And all of us work with the North Carolina Forest Service to make sure the landowners get cost-sharing if they want it."

Information on state and federal cost-share assistance programs is available through district offices of the North Carolina Forest Service, the state Division of Forest Resources, county extension offices, local soil and water conservation district offices, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Consulting foresters, timber company foresters and the North Carolina Forestry Association can also provide information and guidance. Information on landowner assistance services provided by forest industry companies is available through the individual companies.

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