Here at MyWoodlot, we try to focus on practical, inexpensive activities landowners like you can actually do.
Some activities, though, do cost money for supplies or professional help. Often those costs will be on you, but there are a few programs out there that can help offset certain woodlot expenses.
Here at MyWoodlot, we try to focus on practical, inexpensive activities landowners like you can actually do.
Some activities, though, do cost money for supplies or professional help. Often those costs will be on you, but there are a few programs out there that can help offset certain woodlot expenses.
One such program is the Management Assistance Program, or MAP, sponsored by the nonprofit Watershed Agricultural Council. MAP provides cost-share funding to landowners to partially cover the costs of some common woodland activities.
Here are some of the MyWoodlot activities eligible for MAP cost-share:
- Establish Wildlife Crop Trees
- Make a Wildlife Food Plot
- Prune my Wild Apple trees
- Do a Woodlot Improvement Cut
- Plant Trees
Since the program’s 2005 start, MAP has made more than $500,000 in payments to over 200 woodland owners. Depending on the practices you do, MAP can provide funding up to $5,400 per year.
MAP is only available in the New York City Watershed region of upstate New York. You can find out if your woodlot is in the NYC Watershed using this map.
Keep in mind that this funding is a cost-share, so it probably won’t cover the full cost of what you want to do. Still, the money can go a long way to helping you carry out a project you really want to see happen on your land.
MAP selects funding applications twice each year, on February 15 and July 15. Regardless of the activity you want to do, you’ll use the same application.
If your project gets funded, you’ll have 6 months to complete the work. Be sure to scale your project to something you feel you’ll be able to do in that time period. It’s better to take on a smaller project than to be overwhelmed biting off more than you can chew.
If your woodlot isn’t in the New York City Watershed, you might not be out of luck when it comes to cost-share funds. The federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program also funds some woodlot activities, though that program is a lot more competitive. You can learn more about that program by visiting the Natural Resources Conservation Service website, and you can find application information for your state here.
