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August 4, 2005
ODNR NOW ACCEPTING ENROLLMENT APPLICATIONS FOR FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM
Program pays landowners who are seeking to protect their woodlands
 COLUMBUS, OH - Landowners in 31 northeastern and southeastern Ohio counties who are seeking to protect their woodlands can now apply for participation in a federal program of conservation agreements with willing Ohioans who want to preserve their woodlands from development and similar non-forest uses. Applications will be accepted through August 29 for enrollment in the program, which is coordinated nationally by the U.S. Forest Service and administered in Ohio by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
“This is an opportunity to keep property in its forested state, carry the landowner’s work forward, and provide future generations with the environmental and economic benefits of forested lands,” said John Dorka, chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. “Through the Forest Legacy program, landowners can also receive funds to make improvements or purchase additional woodland.”
Landowners who enter the Forest Legacy Program must agree to manage their woodlands according to plans developed in mutual cooperation with the Division of Forestry.
Two regions in Ohio, including six counties in northeast Ohio and 25 counties in eastern and southeast Ohio, have been identified as areas that would best benefit from the Forest Legacy Program due to the relatively large amount of forest cover and the number of housing starts. These counties include: Adams, Athens, Ashtabula, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Gallia, Geauga, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lake, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Portage, Ross, Summit, Scioto, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Vinton and Washington counties. Only forested areas within these counties are eligible for the program.
Applications for Ohio’s Forest Legacy Program are available from the ODNR Division of Forestry at 2045 Morse Road, Building H-1, Columbus, Ohio 43229; or, on the Internet at ohiodnr.com/forestry.
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