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Agroforestry V O L U M E 2 7 I S S U E 2 

Shared Stewardship 

Shared 

Responsibilities, 

Shared 

Solutions 
NAC Director's Corner 

A commentary on the status of agroforestry by Susan Stein, NAC Director 

The USDA Forest Service works 

across land ownerships and uses 

in following its motto of “caring 

for the land and serving people.” 

More recently, the Forest Service has begun taking a 

“shared stewardship” approach to addressing forest 

management challenges, such as catastrophic wildfires, 

increased public demand, degraded watersheds, and 

outbreaks of insects and disease. Shared stewardship 

involves working with land managers, including 

state and federal agencies, Tribes, conservation 

organizations, and private landowners across 

property lines and jurisdictions to accomplish shared 

management goals. Through its shared stewardship 

strategy, the agency is following three key principles: 

working at scale across landscapes, developing cross 

boundary solutions, and jointly setting priorities. 

Agroforestry practices can also be implemented across 

land uses and ownerships to create environmental, 

economic, and social benefits. This is often 

accomplished with partners to achieve shared goals. 

This issue of “Inside Agroforestry” highlights 

resources and examples for those interested in taking a 

shared stewardship approach to achieving agroforestry 

goals. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen has said 

that “shared stewardship is about working together in 

an integrated way to make decisions and take actions 

on the land.” In agroforestry, again and again, we see 

people working together to make decisions and take 

action. This newsletter provides some of these stories. 

Sincerely, 

Susan Stein 

Working Trees Information Sheets 

The National Agroforestry Center has released two new “Working 

Trees Information Sheets” related to agroforestry land access: 

• “How can agreements for long-term land access 

achieve multiple goals?” 

• “Can innovative land access strategies for agroforestry 

provide more land management options?” 

These information sheets are available for download on the 

“Business and Economics” page of the 

National Agroforestry Center website: https://www. 

fs.usda.gov/nac/topics/business-economics.php. 

Shared Stewardship Strategy 

To learn more about the Forest Service’s shared stewardship strategy, 

visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/shared-stewardship. 

2 Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 
 

 

Conservation Through Collaboration:

Rural Action and Wayne National Forest 

Team Up To Protect At-risk Species 

Tanner Filyaw, Rural Action Sustainable Forestry Program 

The mixed mesophytic forests of the Appalachian region are among the most 

biologically diverse temperate forest ecosystems in 

the world. Of particular interest are the dynamic 

herb communities that carpet the forest floor

and thrive in the deeply shaded forest understory. 

Among these herb communities are several 

commercially and culturally important edible and 

medicinal species, including American ginseng 

(Panax quinquefolius), goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), 

and ramps (Allium tricoccum) to name a few. 

Unfortunately, overharvesting of herbs, coupled 

with the loss of forest habitat, wildlife damage, and 

low reproductive rates, have adversely impacted 

herb populations across their native range, creating 

the need for proactive conservation and restoration 

strategies. The forests of southeast Ohio provide ideal 

habitat for these and many other edible and medicinal 

plant species. Plant harvesting is a traditional form 

of recreation in the Appalachian region, and there is 

a strong cultural connection with many valuable and 

useful herb species. Because of this legacy and the 

number of stakeholders involved, it is important to 

develop proactive management strategies that balance 

conservation goals with recreational use to ensure 

the long-term sustainability of botanical resources. 

It is through this lens that Rural Action and the 

Wayne National Forest developed a partnership 

to help support the sustainable management of 

American ginseng on the national forest through 

the establishment of long-term research and 

monitoring plots. This research is one of the 

few long-term data collection projects that have 

been conducted for this species, and it has helped 

forest managers to establish appropriate harvest 

regulations and make better informed management 

Ginseng berries. 

(Photos by Rural Action) 

Measuring goldenseal 

populations. 

decisions. Each population is visited twice per 

season to take measurements (stem height, leaflet 

length, number of compound leaves, number of 

fruit/seeds), as well as locate new seedlings that 

have been recruited into the populations. Since its 

inception in 2008, this project has grown to include 

18 distinct populations across three forest districts. 

In 2014, with support from the National Forest 

Foundation, Rural Action and the Wayne National 

Forest increased their data collection and restoration 

efforts to include two additional commonly harvested 

herb species: ramps and goldenseal. Through these 

efforts, an additional 50 priority populations have 

been identified, inventoried, and monitored to date. 

Population inventories simply consist of counting 

the number of plants in a given population 

and categorizing them based on their stage 

of development (i.e., juvenile/reproductive, 

1-prong/2-prong/3-prong, etc.) These activities 

have provided a better understanding of herb 

community dynamics on the Wayne National 

Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 3
Forest and have helped forest managers identify 

and document potential threats that may hinder 

their development, such as encroaching non-native 

invasive plants, unsanctioned ATV trails, illegal 

harvesting, and frequent predation by animals. 

The populations identified through this project 

have also provided a valuable source of seed that 

has been used to help restore at-risk populations. 

After five years of continued support for this project 

and more than 250 hours of volunteer service, 

more than 16,000 goldenseal seeds, 1,000 ginseng 

seeds, and 196,000 ramp seeds have been collected 

and planted on the Wayne National Forest. 

A second component of the National Forest 

Foundation project has focused on educating 

forest landowners about how they can help support 

medicinal plant conservation and restoration on 

public lands by choosing to cultivate or manage 

these species in their forests. Forest farming, which 

is the intentional cultivation of high-value edible 

and medicinal plants in the forest understory, 

can help to take pressure off commonly wildharvested species by helping to satisfy market 

demand and raise awareness about conservation 

issues. Since 2014, Rural Action and the Wayne 

National Forest have convened seven forest 

farming workshops for landowners and community 

members, with more than 270 participants. 

In 2019 the two organizations joined forces to 

conduct botanical surveys within the corridor of 

the Baileys Mountain Bike Trail, a proposed 88-

mile long trail system that will be developed on the 

Wayne National Forest during the next several years. 

These surveys helped document potential forest 

health concerns, such as the presence of invasive 

plant species that could be further dispersed into 

the forest interior, as well as populations of forest 

herbs that may be affected by trail development. The 

information collected during these surveys will be a 

valuable asset for forest managers to treat and address 

management concerns (i.e., invasive trees, shrubs, 

and grasses/herbs), as well as protect sensitive plant 

communities during the trail-building process. 

The results produced through these projects help 

underscore the potential for cross-organization 

partnerships and provide a good example of what can 

be accomplished through a collaborative approach 

to public land management and conservation. e 

Rural Action staff collect data. (Photo by Rural Action) 

4 Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 
 

Using Cow Power to Help Restore 

Longleaf Pine Ecosystems in Louisiana 

Troy Mallach, Wildlife Biologist, NRCS Louisiana 

Jason Nolde, Wildlife and Fisheries Program Manager, 

Kisatchie National Forest 

John Pitre, State Resource Conservationist, NRCS Louisiana 

David Daigle, Landowner and Conservation Member, 

Ragley, Louisiana 

The longleaf pine forest was once one of the most extensive and biodiverse ecosystems 

in North America. It encompassed almost 90 

million acres in nine southern states, including 

almost 4 million acres in Louisiana. 

Its understory supported numerous early successional 

forbs, grasses, and legumes and provided excellent 

habitat for many species of wildlife, including 

large herbivores, such as bison and elk. While the 

bison found in the southeastern United States 

were likely smaller than bison found in the central 

and midwestern prairies, they were undoubtedly a 

significant factor in the ecology of the longleaf pine 

forest, and many ecologists agree that grazing is an 

important driver in natural grassland ecosystems. 

By 2010, the original 90 million acres of longleaf 

pine were reduced to fewer than 3 million acres, 

and the bison and elk had been extirpated from 

those areas for hundreds of years. Other wildlife 

species that rely on longleaf pine ecosystems, 

such as grassland birds, northern bobwhite quail, 

and the red-cockaded woodpecker, had also 

declined, and proper management and restoration 

of the longleaf pine ecosystem became a priority 

for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The Longleaf Pine Initiative created in 2010 focused 

on replanting and prescribed burning to restore the 

diversity of this ecosystem. However, in his book 

“Forgotten Grasslands of the South,” Reid Noss 

identified fire and grazing by large herbivores as 

two major forces necessary in the development and 

maintenance of savanna and prairie ecosystems. 

While prescribed fire is widely accepted as the 

most important management approach needed 

to maintain the diversity of this ecosystem, 

fire and grazing are rarely used together in the 

management of natural resources today. 

David Daigle, a private landowner and member of 

several nonprofit organizations, is focused on land 

management and conservation. Daigle’s litany of 

conservation memberships include the Calcasieu 

Soil and Water Conservation District, the Louisiana 

Association of Conservation Districts, the Grazing 

Land Conservation Initiative, the Longleaf Alliance, 

the Coastal Plains Conservancy, the Louisiana 

Forestry Association, The Nature Conservancy, 

the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and 

the Louisiana Cattlemen’s Association. He is 

spearheading a project proposed in partnership 

with the Department of Agriculture to restore 

longleaf pine ecosystems through a combination of 

prescribed grazing and burning on the Kisatchie 

National Forest. Specifically, Daigle submitted 

a proposal to the Calcasieu Ranger District of 

the Kisatchie National Forest in late 2020. 

“The Kisatchie National Forest is extremely 

interested in a proposal to use herbivory as a critical 

tool for ecosystem restoration,” said Ranger Jonny 

Fryar, district ranger on the Calcasieu Ranger 

District. “Large ungulates played a vital role in 

establishing and maintaining open pine savannas. 

Mr. Daigle has demonstrated this process at a large 

Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 5

Daigle uses silvopasture management raising timber 

and beef together. (Photo by David Daigle) 
Daigle’s longleaf pine ecosystem with herbaceous understory managed 

with fire and herbivory in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. (Photo by 

David Daigle) 

scale on property that he owns 

in southwestern Louisiana. He is 

currently managing longleaf pine 

flatwoods using herbivory and fire. 

This habitat structure is similar to 

the landscape we are managing on 

the Calcasieu Ranger District of the 

Kisatchie National Forest. We are 

always looking for ways to improve 

our management of the longleaf 

ecosystem which, in turn, will 

benefit the biotic community and 

improve our visitors’ experience.” 

Working with the Kisatchie 

National Forest and the Louisiana 

Cattlemen’s Association, Daigle 

would provide a specialized breed 

of cattle adapted to grazing in the 

longleaf pine ecosystem to specific 

sites on the forest that are currently 

being managed with prescribed 

fire. Those cattle, along with a prescribed grazing 

schedule, would be used to “bio-mimic” the large 

herbivores that historically grazed there and help 

restore an important part of the grassland ecosystem. 

The project’s goal is to provide more efficient 

management of the Kisatchie National Forest. 

Jason Nolde, Wildlife and Fisheries program 

manager for the forest, has observed Daigle’s 

operation during conservation events, such as the 

Longleaf Alliance’s field day that recently showcased 

Daigle’s operation. All grazing allotments on 

national forests are monitored for success criteria, 

and if this proposal is approved by the Calcasieu 

Ranger District, a monitoring scheme and success 

criteria will be developed and followed. 

If the proposal is given final approval, the Kisatchie 

National Forest would provide grazing allotments 

to allow targeted grazing to enhance and restore 

longleaf pine ecosystems. Cattle provided by Daigle 

would act as “mowing machines” for management 

of red-cockaded woodpecker, northern bobwhite 

quail, and the native vegetative communities, as 

opposed to hiring mechanical mowing contractors 

and implementing unnatural fire frequencies to 

deal with native and exotic vegetation invasion. 

If successful and the project improves, enhances, 

and restores vegetative communities and grassland 

habitats on the Kisatchie National Forest, it could 

be expanded. On a larger scale, the cooperators 

in this proposed project hope this type of 

management strategy becomes commonplace 

across the historical ranges of both longleaf and 

shortleaf pine forests on both public and private 

properties. This would benefit landowners through 

increased and diversified production of food, 

fiber, fuel, and building components, but more 

importantly, would be of more benefit to society 

and wildlife than current conditions and markets. 

Daigle maintains this type of a silvopasture operation 

on his own land in southwestern Louisiana, where 

he uses all available resources to ensure longterm sustainability. He produces beef and timber 

as efficiently as possible without sacrificing the 

native plant community or ecosystem. The primary 

focus of his cattle operation is to use available 

forage to produce beef with minimum inputs. 

Instead of running a cow herd with unnecessarily 

high maintenance requirements on forages that 

require extensive fertilization, he tailors his 

operation to fit the resources already available. 

His timber production focuses on high quality 

6 Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 
products: poles and saw timber. Harvest using 

single tree selection or patch cutting allows natural 

regeneration of longleaf and improves diversity and 

quality of forage available to cattle and wildlife. 

According to Daigle, management of this system 

is “all about the bushes — too many bushes on 

the savanna” and recommends a two-pronged 

approach of fire and grazing to control hardwood 

midstory (bushes) and promote the native grassland 

understory. Fire suppresses native brush species 

and allows grasses and forbs to flourish. Grazing 

creates natural disturbances that allow some plants 

to establish, while stressing others, maintaining 

biodiversity in the grassland ecosystem. 

Many of the key plants, such as big bluestem, 

Indiangrass, Eastern gamagrass, and longleaf pine, 

are fire dependent. If properly managed, fire and 

grazing stimulate growth of those desirable plants 

and help to control or repress nonnative invasive 

species, such as Chinese tallow and privet. This type 

of management has promoted native herbaceous 

species to increase in both diversity and richness. 

American chaffseed (Schwalbea americana), federally 

listed as “endangered” under the Endangered 

Species Act, is among the native species that has 

shown back up on his site due to the bio-mimicking 

management efforts. Burning also helps to manage 

fuel loads and prevent out of control wildfires.

Daigle’s use of cattle, which he terms “cow power,” 

helps him manage the native grassland understory 

and maintain a healthy longleaf pine ecosystem. 

According to Daigle, “cow power” (prescribed 

grazing on understory vegetation) is basically 

replicating what took place as this ecosystem evolved. 

“I believe rotational grazing of native plants 

recreates a process that took place naturally 

for thousands of years,” he explains. 

Historically, large ungulate animals, sometimes in 

large herds, would move through and graze longleaf 

pine savannas causing physical damage to brush from 

trampling. That hoof-induced soil disturbance also 

redistributed organic mulch to the soil, providing 

a good seedbed for desirable native species to 

germinate and establish. This would not only 

maintain plant diversity, but would also help disperse 

seeds and reduce competition from invasive species. 

While proper amounts of “cow power” are 

essential to stimulate regrowth and increase 

above- and belowground biomass, overgrazing 

on many areas in the past and today has led to 

significant long-term ecosystem degradation. 

As a result, grazing is often viewed negatively in 

the management of natural resources. This was 

not always the case. In fact, Daigle often quotes 

from a 1966 U.S. Forest Service manual that 

states “without grazing and fire, shrubs and scrub 

hardwoods drastically reduce grazing capacity.” 

Daigle has found a way to diversify his production 

portfolio (growing timber and beef), insulating 

potential loss in one market by tandem agricultural 

production on the same acre, all while lowering 

his required inputs and management expenses. 

This is considered success, but if factoring in the 

intangibles of restoring native plant communities, 

enhancing wildlife habitat, and water, soil, and air 

quality improvements, it is a win for society also. e 

"Cow Power" helps manage... 

Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 7

Indian Grass 

Big Bluestem Plant 

Northern Bobwhite Quail 

Red-cockaded Woodpecker 
 

From Ideas to Action: 

A Guide to Funding and Authorities for 

Collaborative Restoration 

Emery Cowan, Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition 

Tyson Bertone-Riggs, Rural Voices for Conservation 

Coalition 

Emily Jane Davis, Ecosystem Workforce Program 

This article was excerpted from “From Ideas to Action: A Guide 

to Funding and Authorities for Collaborative Restoration.” This 

project was made possible through support provided by the U.S. 

Forest Service to the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition and 

Wallowa Resources under the terms of cooperative agreement #16-

CA-11132544-032, supporting an all-lands learning network. 

For nearly 20 years, the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition has successfully 

advocated for the expansion and improvement 

of federal policies that support stewardship and 

restoration on public and private lands. An alllands approach to collaborative stewardship 

recognizes the social, ecological, and economic 

interdependence that exists regardless of property 

and management boundaries and strategically 

targets the larger benefits that can be achieved

when working together at broader scales. 

Dozens of programs and authorities enable this 

holistic approach to land stewardship, yet few people 

know about the federal resources at their disposal or 

how to navigate the agencies administering them. 

This unfamiliarity, in combination with the 

increasing importance of implementing collaborative 

agreements, led the Rural Voices for Conservation 

Coalition to create a practitioner guidebook. 

The guidebook presents a menu of USDA Forest 

Service and Natural Resources Conservation 

Service tools and programs available to implement 

land stewardship on public and private lands, 

as well as insider tips and lessons learned. 

It is intended to increase understanding of the 

options for effective collaborative restoration. 

While not exhaustive, this primer represents 

many of the key tools and programs available. 

The Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition 

believes there is significant room for creativity, 

flexibility, and innovation within existing 

policies, programs, and authorities and that 

leveraging programs and unlocking efficiencies 

will lead to improved outcomes. e 

Volunteers remove about one mile of fencing 

on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s 

Spring Mountains National Recreation Area 

in 2016. (Forest Service photo) Collaborative stewardship strategically targets larger 

benefits that can be achieved when working together.

(Photo by Ecosystem Workforce Program)

8 Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 
The RVCC Guidebook includes: 

Programs 

• Community Capacity and Land Stewardship Program 

• Joint Chiefs’ Restoration Partnership 

• Environmental Quality Incentives Program 

• Conservation Innovation Grants 

• Conservation Stewardship Program 

• Regional Conservation Partnership Program 

Federal Authorities 

• Good Neighbor Authority 

• Stewardship Authority 

• Wyden Authority 

• Tribal Forest Protection Act 

Agreements 

• Challenge Cost Share 

• Cooperative 

• Cooperative Research and Development 

• Joint Venture 

• Participating 

Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2 9
 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside Agroforestry V O L U M E 2 7 , I S S U E 2 

USDA National Agroforestry Center 

1945 N 38th St. 

Lincoln, NE 68583–0822 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use, $300 

Address Service Requested 

PRSRT STD 

POSTAGE & FEES 

PAID 

USDA — FS 

PERMIT NO G-40 

Available Resources 

Savanna Institute Nutshell 

Webinars: http://savannainstitute. 

org/events.html 

Conservation Webinars: NRCS 

Science and Technology Training 

Library: http://conservationwebinars.net/ 

Agroforestry Webinar Library: 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/ 

resources/webinar-library/ 

index.php 

USDA National 

Agroforestry Center 

“Inside Agroforestry” is published by the USDA National 

Agroforestry Center: www.fs.usda.gov/nac 

Phone: 402-437-5178 

Fax: 402-437-5712 

• Susan Stein, NAC Director 

• Matthew Smith, FS Research Lead (ext. 4021) 

• Richard Straight, FS Lead Agroforester (ext. 4024) 

• Lord Ameyaw, NRCS Agroforester (ext. 4012) 

• Kate MacFarland, FS Agroforester 

• Information Assistant - Vacant 

NAC Mission 

The USDA National Agroforestry Center (NAC) is a partnership of the Forest Service (Research & Development and State & Private Forestry) 

and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. NAC’s staff is located at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. NAC’s purpose is to accelerate 

the development and application of agroforestry technologies to attain more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable land 

use systems by working with a national network of partners and cooperators to conduct research, develop technologies and tools, establish 

demonstrations, and provide useful information to natural resource professionals. 

USDA Non-discrimination Policy 

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, 

its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in 

or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating 

based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity 

(including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, 

marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public 

assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior 

civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by 

USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint 

filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 

communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, 

audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the 

responsible agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 

(voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service 

at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made 

available in languages other than English. 

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 

Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online AD-3027 

at https://www.ocio.usda.gov/document/ad-3027 and at any USDA 

office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter 

all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of 

the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed 

form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or 

(3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. program.intake@usda.gov 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. 

10 Inside Agroforestry ] Volume 27, Issue 2