LLAWF Newsletter Request
Request: Write a 500 - 1000 word article for the LLAWF newslettersummarizing important points that would be of interest to landowners in this region regarding the North Central Landscape Plan.
Why do we manage forests at landscape levels?
“The threats facing our forests don't recognize property boundaries. So, in developing a shared vision around forests, we must also be willing to look across property boundaries. In other words, we must operate at a landscape-scale by taking an 'all-lands’ approach.”
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
As the impacts of human activity on forest ecosystems occur, and as expectations for forests and the services they provide diversify and grow, people are thinking more comprehensively about forest resources on larger geographic scales. Emerging issues like – declining water quality, forest fragmentation and conversion, loss of wildlife habitat, increasing impacts of invasive species and disease on forest health, escalating wildfire suppression costs, and uncertainties relating to climate change – all need to be addressed with landscape-level solutions.
The Minnesota Sustainable Forest Resources Act (SFRA) laid the foundation for large-scale forest management in Minnesota by establishing the Landscape Program. This pivotal legislation was based on the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) Study on Timber Harvesting and Forest Management in Minnesota (1994), which recommended that to successfully mitigate unacceptable landscape-level impacts from timber harvesting and forest management activities, a statewide program needed to be created. This program would provide a broad, landscape level focus on managing Minnesota's forest resources for a variety of outputs and objectives.
It was envisioned in 1995 by the state legislature in partnership with the forestry community that a new state council, the Minnesota Forest Resources Council (MFRC), would establish a statewide program for the establishment of regional landscape committees to foster landscape-based forest resource planning and coordination. This legislation defined landscape-level planning as “long-term or broad based efforts that may require extensive analysis or planning over large areas that may involve or require extensive coordination across all ownerships.” It charged regional committees to: 1) include representative interests, 2) serve as a forum to discuss issues, 3) identify and implement an open and public process whereby landscape-level strategic planning can occur, 4) identify sustainable forest resource goals for the landscape and strategies to achieve those goals, and 5) provide regional perspectives on forest sustainability to the Council.
The MFRC established the Landscape Program in June 1997 to organize and support the regional landscape committees. Following direction from the SFRA, the MFRC Landscape Program established six regional committees to solicit the input of diverse forest resource interests within particular forested “Landscapes”. These Landscapes are based on broadly defined ecological units, yet recognize existing political and administrative boundaries for delineation. The state has been divided into eight Landscapes as shown in the figure below. The SFRA also directed the MFRC through its regional committees to develop strategic long range plans (aka ‘landscape plans’) for each of the six forested regions in the state. The regional committees provide an opportunity to involve private citizens, natural resources professionals, and members of various interest groups in developing and implementing landscape-level plans that promote forest sustainability.
The North Central Regional Landscape Committee was initially organized in June, 2000 to find agreement on how best to achieve long-term forest sustainability for the region by determining desired future forest conditions. This effort was followed by the development of a framework of goals and strategies to achieve the agreed-upon desired future conditions. The Committee’s work resulted in the first North Central Landscape Plan which was approved by the MFRC in 2003, and amended in 2004. Over the next ten years, partners in the region actively supported the coordination and implementation of the North Central Landscape Plan.
In the spring of 2014, the state legislature revised the SFRA. It required that the Council maintain long-range strategic planning and coordination efforts, to the extent possible, across all forested regions of the state and across all ownerships. It further required that regional committees periodically recommend that the Council undertake revisions of a region's landscape plan (plan maintenance feature).
Starting in the summer of 2014, the North Central Landscape Committee started the process of identifying and discussing issues as well as opportunities that were not adequately addressed in their 1st generation landscape plan. After thorough discussion as well as additional funding from the state legislature, the MFRC assigned the North Central Landscape Committee in March 2016 with the job of revising their landscape plan.
The North Central Landscape Committee is now in the process of revising the North Central Landscape Plan. The Committee has committed to meeting monthly (first meeting held in April) to complete this revision effort in a timely fashion. They have developed a sequence for the process and a detailed meeting schedule to help them complete the planning process over a 12 to 15 month timeframe.
How are landscape plans implemented? The North Central Landscape Committee is one of six volunteer, citizen-based groups supported by the MFRC central to carrying out landscape management processes. Regional landscape committees provide an open public forum for diverse interests to cooperatively promote forest sustainability. By bringing together representative interests from landscape regions, the committees serve as springboards for effective forest management activities that address specific needs and challenges in each region.
After the second generation plan is approved in 2017, the North Central Landscape Committee will meet on a regular basis to guide the implementation of their Landscape Plan and support the coordination of land management activities. The Committee will actively work to:
· Encourage consideration of the landscape-level context by all agencies, organizations, industry, and private landowners when developing their resource management plans and implementation projects.
· Actively support forest policy development and advise the Council.
· Develop and promote regional priorities to guide investments in the region.
· Coordinate and support projects with partnering organizations that promote sustainable forest management practices in the landscape region.
· Develop and implement committee projects that proactively demonstrate effective ways to address the goals and strategies outlined in the Landscape Plan.
· Monitor activities and outcomes of projects implemented by the committees, as well as those by partnering organizations and landowners across the landscape region.
Role of the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation in Landscape Planning and Coordination
Leaders from the LLAWF including Jack Schafer and John Steward served on the original North Central Landscape Committee in the early 2000s. They were instrumental in helping the Committee integrate a suite of water resource concepts into the North Central Landscape Plan. They also encouraged members of the Committee to support conservation efforts being taken by the LLAWF. The following is a summary of the overall vision, goals and strategies that were placed into the Landscape Plan to help protect water resources in the region:
Desired Future Forest Condition Statement: In large blocks of contiguous forestland retain critical natural shoreline on lakes for scenic, wildlife, water quality and other natural resource values.
GOAL 1: Minimize the loss of forestland and timberland.
Strategy: Educate landowners on the value of forests to society, the economy, and
the environment (including wildlife), and the importance of not reducing current acreage and tract sizes.
· Encourage incentives for both forest retention and forest management.
· Provide educational material on the positive benefits of larger parcel sizes on forest values and their management.
Strategy: Encourage use of conservation easements and similar conservation tools.
Strategy: Where appropriate, encourage the establishment of forests in areas previously forested (ie. abandoned cropland) and retain natural openings, brushland, etc.
GOAL 2: Retain contiguous blocks of forestland.
Strategy: Encourage creation and/or retention of “natural resource emphasis areas” which encompass national forests, state forests, county memorial forests, and other large, contiguous blocks of forest land through mutual agreement. Manage “natural resource emphasis areas” in the following way:
· Discourage development of properties within these areas to minimize conflicting land uses.
· Encourage the retention of public lands within “natural resource emphasis areas”, except small tracts needed to provide public services, or isolated tracts too small to manage effectively.
· In cases where a government entity wants to dispose of lands within a “natural resource emphasis area” and those lands are desired by another public agency, encourage exchange of natural resource emphasis areas (NREA) lands for non-NREA lands held by the interested public entity.
· Encourage the State to acquire in-holdings of private lands within “natural resource emphasis areas” as they become available in exchange for disposal of isolated parcels that are better suited for development or private ownership leading to no net loss of public land.
· Encourage the exchange of federal, state, and county tax-forfeited lands lying outside of “natural resource emphasis areas” for private lands lying within “natural resource emphasis areas” where both parties agree.
· Minimize further fragmentation and loss of forest land within “natural resource emphasis areas” by:
· Minimizing cross-country overhead lines.
· Encouraging private landowners to keep their lands in forest use.
· Encouraging interagency cooperation and coordination in road planning and design
· Encouraging road corridors to be the minimum size necessary to provide public service
· Manage roadsides within “natural resource emphasis areas” to retain natural beauty and to reflect the natural variation in forest age and composition.
· Encourage the use of MN Forest Resource Council Site-Level Guidelines and Landscape-Level goals and strategies for forest management.
Strategy: Minimize fragmentation of forests by encouraging innovative development that keep forestland intact.
· Encourage residential and commercial development to occur in areas already fragmented by housing, urban uses and existing road corridors.
· Encourage cluster development.
GOAL 3: Minimize the loss of publicly held shorelines.
Strategy: Discourage the sale and development of publicly held shorelines.
Strategy: Exchange land for critical shoreline when available.
GOAL 4: Increase the natural benefits of developed shorelines
Strategy: Educate lakeshore owners and lake associations on the environmental benefits of natural shorelines and available cost share programs to improve shorelines.
Strategy: Encourage private shoreline owners to practice “lakescaping” (maintaining/ creating natural habitat along shoreline) or retain natural shoreline.
GOAL 5: Protect sensitive and/or undeveloped shoreline
Strategy: Encourage local, grassroots government, and organizations (townships, lake associations, etc.) to identify and promote protection of these shorelines.
Lindsey Ketchel, Executive Director of the LLAWF, is a member of the North Central landscape Committee that is working on revising the North Central Landscape Plan. She is taking a very active role in continuing the tradition of promoting land and water resource conservation that leaders from the LLAWF played on the original North Central Landscape Committee.
Lindsey – please add a quote to helps to build a link to LLAWF and opportunities to enhance conservation efforts through the collaborative partnerships supported by the North Central Landscape Committee as well as the MFRC.
How can I get involved? Private landowners can contribute to the successful implementation of the North Central Landscape Plan in many ways. These contributions can benefit their families as well as the greater public good. Some suggested actions for landowners include:
· Become familiar with the MFRC and the revised North Central Landscape Plan.
· Review the maps and data in your regional landscape plan and supporting documents.
· Volunteer to work on a specific project with the North Central Landscape Committee.
· Consult with a professional forester to develop a forest management plan for your property.
· Plan the management of your private forest to compliment the North Central Landscape Plan.
· Implement the MFRC site level guidelines (best management practices) on your property.
· Encourage public land managers to incorporate the goals and strategies in the landscape plans into their management plans.
· Encourage townships, cities, and counties to refer to the regional landscape plans.
· Advocate forests as viable long term land uses and discourage fragmentation and parcelization of forestland.
· Join MFA and your local Woodland Chapter.
How does my property fit into the larger landscape?
Would you like to learn more about the MFRC and the Landscape Program, as well as other initiatives of the Minnesota Forest Resources Council? Please visit the MFRC website at www.frc.state.mn.us or contact Lindberg Ekola, MFRC Landscape Program Manager at (320) 256-8300.
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