Announcement for the
2015 Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) Prevention
Cost-Share Program

For a limited time, help is being offered to fight against the number one killer of pine trees in Alabama. Now through the end of June, technical assistance and financial incentives are available to help forest landowners across the state apply prevention practices to reduce the susceptibility of their pine stands to attack by southern pine beetle (SPB).

Unmanaged and overcrowded stands of southern pines are most susceptible to attack, and the primary objective of this SPB Prevention Cost-Share Program is to help forest landowners implement forest management practices that will ultimately reduce SPB outbreaks and damage in Alabama.

The following prevention practices are available for incentive payments:

• Pre-commercial thinning of a loblolly or shortleaf pine stand
• Borax treatment of a thinned loblolly or shortleaf pine stand
• Understory prescribed burn of a loblolly or shortleaf pine stand
• Chemical or mechanical site preparation for a longleaf pine stand
• Site preparation prescribed burn for a longleaf pine stand
• Longleaf pine planting

Landowners interested in applying for the SPB Prevention Cost-Share Program must contact their local Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) county office. They will receive an application form, as well as a copy of the “Technical Guidelines” which outline in detail the requirements for the landowner and the stand that must be met before a stand is approved to participate in the program. A few of those eligibility requirements include the following:

• This program is open to non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners who own between 10 and 5,000 acres of forest land in Alabama. Landowners can apply for and execute a SPB prevention practice for more than 100 acres, but the incentive payment for completing the practice(s) on 100 acres is the limit for reimbursement. These NIPF owners may include private individuals, joint owners, non-profit organizations, or corporations that are not wood-using industries and do not have publicly-traded stock. Ineligible owners include lands controlled by federal and local governments, wood-using industries or entities that derive more than 50 percent of their gross income from wood-using industries, corporations with publicly-traded stock, or public utility companies.
• The same acreage cannot be enrolled in other incentive or cost-share programs. Pine stands will not qualify for the SPB Prevention Cost-Share Program if enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

Deadline for the SPB Prevention Cost-Share Program landowner application form is Tuesday, June 30, 2015. All applications must be returned to the local AFC county office by that date.

AFC county offices are listed on the agency’s website at www.forestry.alabama.gov. At the top of the webpage, click on ‘Contact Us’ and then select the appropriate county. Local AFC offices are also listed in the phone book under ‘Government Offices: State Government: Alabama State of - Forestry Commission.’ For more information, contact Dana Stone, AFC Forest Health Coordinator, at (334) 240-9363.