Inside Agroforestry

Working Trees for Wildlife Brochure and Display..page 2

Economic Potential of Wildlife................................page 3

Wildlife Habitat and A Living Snowfence...............page 4

Agroforestry Can Enhance Fish Habitat..................page 5

Spring, 1999 Forest Service

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Inside This Issue

Riparian Corridors and Area-Wide Planning Necessary for

Wildlife

The landscape of rural America is

changing. Wildlife corridors (linear

patches of grass, shrubs, and trees that

differ from their surroundings) are

removed to expand fields and make room

for urban development. The result is a

landscape that exports significant quantities of sediment and chemical pollutants

into waterways, lakes, and wetlands. This

evolving landscape has fewer and smaller

connected patches of habitat, as well as

degraded water quality that stresses

aquatic ecosystems. The land’s capacity

to sustain a diversity of plant, animal, and

aquatic species is declining at an accelerating rate. Loss of biodiversity has

become a national and global concern.

Land managers have turned to corridors to perform a more central role in the

conservation of soil, water, fish, and

wildlife in fragmented landscapes. The

revitalization and linkage of the nation’s

landscape corridors is one way to help.

(See Corridors on page 6)

Agroforestry practices can provide wildlife habitat as well as help address many environmental concerns, making a landscape more healthy.

On the left is a landscape that could be enhanced with agroforestry practices. On the right the same photo has been digitally enhanced by

adding trees and shrubs. Note the connected field windbreaks which provide travel lanes for wildlife as well as protect soils, crops, and livestock. The riparian zones provide benefits for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, while helping to improve water quality. (Photos by Gary Wells,

NRCS Landscape Architect).

by Kim Isaacson, Technology Transfer Specialist, NAC, Lincoln, Nebraska

Both natural and planted corridors, if

managed properly, can yield significant

benefits (value) to wildlife, the landowner, and society. 

Riparian corridors are used by over 70

percent of all terrestrial wildlife species,

including many threatened and endangered (T&E) species, during some part of

their life cycle. Corridors provide food,

nesting, brooding, loafing, and protective

cover for game and non-game wildlife.

They also afford wildlife relatively safe

access to adjacent resources and serve as

travel lanes for species dispersal and

migration in our increasingly fragmented

landscape.

The problem is that the quality and

quantity of our nation’s conservation corridors have been on the decline for the

last several decades. Hundreds of miles

of fence rows, windbreaks, and other

planted corridors are removed annually to

accommodate changing agricultural prac-
NAC Director’s Corner

2 Inside Agroforestry

A commentary on the status of agroforestry

by Center Director, Dr. Greg Ruark

Wildlife in a Tame World

Although providing quality habitat for

wildlife in agricultural settings may be

challenging, agroforestry offers unique

opportunities for landowners. 

Agroforestry practices are often

designed with the assumption that they

will be adequate for wildlife. Though they

usually benefit wildlife, agroforestry practices often are designed far below their

capability to provide the basic wildlife

habitat needs of food, water, and cover.

Our new Working Trees for Wildlife

brochure illustrates how agroforestry

practices can be designed to specifically

enhance wildlife habitat. To obtain this

brochure or any of our other brochures,

please e-mail Nancy at: nhammond/

rmrs_lincoln@fs.fed.us.

A coordinating Working Trees for

Wildlife display will also be available for

your use by late spring. To schedule the

display for your event, or for more information about any of our Working Trees

displays, contact Clover at 402-437-5178,

ext. 14.

Visit our web site for a preview of any

of these materials: www.unl.edu/nac. You

can now access our publication list online and order any of our publication electronically. We’ve added a lot of new

information to our site. Take a look and

tell us what you think.

The new Working Trees for Wildlife

brochure is now available from the Center.

Working Trees for Wildlife Brochure and Display 

Forest, range, pasture, and croplands across the nation are

now being developed for commercial and residential use at an

alarming rate. In response, people are increasingly expressing

their concern over the disappearance of open/green space around

and within the communities where they live. Linked to the issue

of open/green space are wildlife species, many of which rely

upon, or even require, forested habitat to provide food and cover.

Apart from excavating a den or weaving a nest, most wildlife do

not create their own habitat. Rather, they make do with what

nature provides or, increasingly, with what humans leave.

In many places across the nation, agroforestry technologies

can provide excellent ways to alleviate the simplification, fragmentation, and reduction of wildlife habitat. This is true in both

rural agricultural landscapes and at the interface where expanding communities meet agricultural land. For example: windbreaks and alley cropping systems can be designed to provide

travel corridors, while themselves providing beneficial habitat.

Forested riparian buffers can provide high quality habitat for

both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife while enhancing water quality. The forage beneath the trees in a silvopastoral system is

favorable for many small mammals, deer, and game birds. 

Whether the desire is to have wildlife for aesthetic, recreational, or ethical reasons or to allow for consumptive activities,

like hunting or fishing, agroforestry practices can be designed to

increase the habitat of many wildlife species.

Once upon a time... settlers to this country were rightly

concerned with taming the wild lands that stretched across the

continent; land was abundant and people were few. Land,

wildlife, and other natural resources provided the means to carve

a livelihood and meet human aspirations.

Now upon a tame... settlers and their ancestors were wildly

successful in their efforts. With the exception of public lands that

were set aside for wilderness, forests, grasslands, and parks,

there is little left to tame. In many places, agricultural fields now

spread from horizon to horizon, uninterrupted by a tree or shrubs.

Ironically, in making the land simpler for people to manage, it

has become too complex for most wildlife to endure. NAC

NAC

“Apart from excavating a den 

or weaving a nest, 

most wildlife do not create their own habitat,

rather they make do 

with what nature provides or, 

increasingly, with what humans leave.”
Inside Agroforestry 3

Wildlife Offers Economic Potential in Agroforestry Systems

Agroforestry systems are known to

enhance wildlife habitats, subsequently

increasing wildlife populations. The number of possible combinations of trees and

other components in agroforestry systems

is virtually infinite. Combinations are limited only by the landowner's objectives

and by the land's characteristics. This

variability makes agroforestry systems

applicable over a wide range of land

areas. 

There are five major agroforestry

practices currently in use in the United

States. They are windbreaks, alley cropping, riparian buffer strips, forest farming,

and silvopasture. Each of the five systems

represents an alternative to single-use

methods, while simultaneously providing

both economic returns and wildlife habitat

for landowners and communities. The

economic and wildlife benefits can be

considerable if landowners choose a system that will be the most productive and most compatible

with their land. 

Windbreaks use rows

of trees or a combination of

rows of trees and shrubs

placed at right angles to the

prevailing wind direction and

scattered across an area to

reduce wind speed and trap

snow. In the U.S., they are

employed most often in the

Great Plains, the Midwest,

the East, and the West and

provide numerous benefits to

both the landowner and

wildlife. Windbreaks indirectly boost the landowner's

income by increasing crop

quality, improving pesticide

application, facilitating better

water and frost management,

controlling soil erosion,

reducing the incidence of

plant disease, improving the

efficiency of livestock production, and boosting the

number of pollinating

insects. The vegetation used

within windbreaks can

become an additional

income source if fruit, timber, or nut-producing species are chosen.

Wildlife populations benefit if the

landowner employs windbreaks because

they provide travel corridors, shelter,

nesting and brood cover, and food for

many small mammals, furbearers, game

birds, and songbirds. This is advantageous to landowners who may want to

enter into fee hunting arrangements. The

enhanced habitat and increased wildlife

populations can also accommodate the

needs of other wildlife enthusiasts, such

as wildlife photographers and bird watchers.

Alley cropping involves planting single or multiple rows of trees at wide

spacings, thereby creating alleys for

growing agricultural or horticultural

crops. This system is applied most often

in sub-humid regions, such as the northeastern, midwestern, and southern U.S.

Economically, alley cropping creates

by Amanda E. Latham and Stephen C. Grado, Department of Forestry, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi 

cash flow from traditional agricultural

crops while waiting for the trees to

mature. This tree/crop arrangement produces greater yields than if the components were grown separately. Wildlife

benefits associated with alley cropping

systems include perches for insect eating

birds, roosting and breeding areas for

nesting birds, and protective cover for

game birds and small mammals. With this

increase in suitable habitat, small mammal and game bird populations increase,

accentuating fee hunting and wildlife

watching opportunities. 

Riparian buffer strips combine a variety of tree, shrub, and grass species in

plantings between cropland or other land

uses and streams, lakes, wetlands, ponds,

or drainage ditches. Riparian buffers help

the landowner decrease the chance of

future economic loss by reducing erosion,

trapping sediment, stabilizing the stream

banks, and slowing the peak flows of

flood water. Wildlife and recreational

opportunities are also created and

enhanced by riparian buffer systems. The

buffer provides homes for cavity-nesting

birds, supplies shelter, food, cover, and

water for small mammals, furbearers, and

hoofed browsers, and returns nutrients to

the stream for small organisms. The

buffers also provide homes for amphibians and resting sites for neotropical

migrants. Riparian buffers are made up of

three zones, each of which has economic

value. The upland zone can be planted in

grass to serve as a surface water filter or a

forage crop. Rows of trees and shrubs can

be planted in the riparian middle zone and

used for timber, nut, syrup, or fruit production. The aquatic zone contains native

woodlands that can be used and maintained for hunting, hiking, and bird

watching. The protection and enhancement of waterways within the buffer

make opportunities available for recreational fishing and boating. 

Forest farming involves creating

microenvironments in forested areas by

growing crops in addition to timber.

Currently, forest farming is most prevalent in the Pacific Northwest, Northeast,

Midwest, and Appalachian states. Forest

(See Potential on page 7)

An eastern wild turkey hunter in Mississippi takes advantage of agroforestry practices. Turkeys, as well as most

wildlife, thrive in riparian areas and windbreaks.
lizes the leeward side to establish food plots and cover for

wildlife. 

“The winter of ‘96-’97 was pretty revealing,” Wright said.

“[Near one planting] there was a drift 30-foot high. Because we

planted honey locust so close together, there was little tree damage. I know it works. I’ve seen it.”

Dan McCormick, South Dakota Division of Forestry,

applauds Wright’s efforts. “Because of his dedicated activity, the

area has been improved dramatically for the good of wildlife. He

is a leader of habitat development in South Dakota.”

“In 1987, Governor George Mickelson presented Terry an

award for the millionth wildlife tree he had planted,” McCormick

said. “He is probably over two million by now!”

Partially adapted from the article in South Dakota Conservation

Digest, March/April, 1998: “Tough Struggle.”

Spotlight On Success South Dakota

4 Inside Agroforestry

Wildlife Habitat Functions as Living Snowfence Too

When the

United States

Army Corps of

Engineers constructed four

reservoirs along

the Missouri

River in South

Datoka, the intention was to prevent recurrent

floods, thereby

saving lives and

money and creating hydropower

electricity and

irrigation. An unintended effect of this construction was the

depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat. 

Terry Wright, Habitat Mitigation Coordinator for the South

Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks is attempting a heroic rescue.

With federal dollars, Wright is re-establishing wildlife habitat on

Corps of Engineers land near two of the reservoirs, Lake Oahe

and Lake Sharpe, known as the “take-lands.”

With the help of two crews consisting of over ten permanent

employees and over 40 seasonal workers, Wright has planted

thousands of acres of wildlife habitat over the last 15 years with

an annual budget of approximately $530,000. 

These plantings are designed with one purpose in mind: establish adequate habitat. To accomplish this, Wright considers four

essential practices: 

• Dense blocks of trees – Blocks (10-15 acres and larger) of 

native trees and shrubs planted a minimum of 20 rows wide 

provide essential winter protection to resident wildlife. They 

provide a wide variety of nesting sites for neotropical and 

other migrants, excellent escape cover, and loafing cover 

during hot summer months for many species.

• Dense nesting cover – Cool season grasses and legumes 

provide valuable nesting and brood rearing habitat for game 

and nongame birds in addition to providing loafing cover and 

food for animals.

• Native tallgrasses - Warm season native tallgrasses provide 

winter cover for many purposes and offer a food source to 

many species.

• Food plots – Small acreages of cropland are left standing over

the winter for wildlife. These plantings attract wildlife into 

good habitat areas where essential winter cover is adequate. 

Without specifically designing an agroforestry practice, many

related benefits result from Wright’s wildlife habitat plantings.

Some of these blocks serve as living snowfences, although

denser and shorter than the traditional design. On the windward

side, he plants strong, dense trees intended to trap snow and utiTerry Wright’s dedicated tree planting activities

have improved wildlife habitat dramatically.

Dan McCormick, South Dakota Division of

Forestry says, “He is a leader of habitat development in South Dakota.”

by Clover Shelton, Technology Transfer Assistant, NAC, Lincoln, Nebraska

NAC

We are planning to devote a future issue of Inside

Agroforestry (distributed to over 7500 locations) to progressive natural resources professionals just like you and innovative landowners that you work with. We want to know

about successful agroforestry practices you have planted,

designed, coordinated, and/or maintain. Please write a short

description (one page) of your success story. Include:

• WHO: Who was involved? Whose land? Who funded it? 

• WHAT: What practice(s) were planted? What resulted? 

What stage is it in now?

• WHEN: When was the practice planted? When was it 

initiated?

• WHERE: County or city and state? Proximity to a river, 

livestock, etc.?

• HOW: How was the practice(s) designed? How is it 

maintained? How does it function?

• WHY: Why was it planted? What need does it fill?

Send your story, along with a contact name and telephone

number (and photograph or slide if possible) to: EDITORIA, National Agroforestry Center, UNL-East Campus,

Lincoln, NE 68583-0822. Or, e-mail Kim Isaacson at:

kisaacson/rmrs_lincoln@fs.fed.us

Tell us 

your 

success 

stories!
Inside Agroforestry 5

by Clover Shelton, Technology Transfer Assistant and Kim Isaacson, Technology Transfer Specialist,

NAC, Lincoln, Nebraska

In early March, Americorp volunteers

planted 155 acres of riparian buffers, the

first major contract under the State of

Oregon’s Conservation Reserve

Enhancement Program (CREP). The

CREP was proposed by the Governor’s

Office, developed with the United States

Department of Agriculture and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal level.

The CREP was designed to enhance

riparian habitat on agricultural lands

along streams that provide important

habitat for endangered salmon and trout

species in Oregon. Throughout Oregon,

populations of the once abundant salmon

have declined, face extinction, or have

already become extinct. This problem is

of enormous importance to the people of

Oregon and the Pacific Northwest and has

been identified as an issue of national

scope by Congress. Restoration of riparian habitat is a key element in the overall

recovery of these fish populations.

Riparian forests and marshes filter pollutants from overland flow and subsurface flows. Removal or elimination of

native riparian vegetation results in

increases in water temperature and rates

of sedimentation and changes in channel

morphology. Trees provide shade to

maintain cool water temperatures. Litter

falls and insects drop from riparian vegetation to significantly contribute to the

food supply of stream fish. When trees

die and fall into the stream, they provide

structure for pools creating channel complexity. Roots stabilize streambanks and

protect them from chronic sediment loss. 

The project area includes private agricultural lands along all streams in Oregon

which provide habitat for nine species of

salmon and two species of trout which are

listed under the Federal Endangered

Species Act. Since the CREP sign-up

began in October, 1998, the state has

received 60 offers including over 1700

Agroforestry Can Help Fish Habitat

acres from 13 counties. Of these proposals, 180 acres are currently approved for

planting under CREP, and many more are

expected to be approved.

In Oregon, up to 100,000 acres are

expected to be enrolled under this program. Of the land enrolled, 95,000 acres

are to be planted to riparian buffers and

5,000 acres will be used for wetland

restoration. A total of 4,000 miles of

important freshwater streams will be

enhanced.

The CREP proposal is designed to

address water quality degradation on private lands along freshwater streams. On a

statewide basis, about 20 percent of the

freshwater salmon streams on private

lands pass through agricultural land use

areas. Farming and ranching activities on

these lands have led to removal or elimination of native riparian vegetation.

Restoration of forest buffers along these

salmon and trout streams will:

• provide shading of streams to reduce 

the rate of solar heating;

• contribute large woody debris to the 

streams which will help restore natural

channel morphology;

• increase the production of food 

organisms beneficial to salmon 

species; and

• reduce sedimentation from sheet 

overflow and bank sloughing.

According to Fred Ringer, State

Program Specialist for Oregon’s Farm

Service Agency, landowners are the key

to the success of this program.

“Landowners need to be given credit for

their participation in conservation programs on their own. But now, because of

the Endangered Species Act, it is important that we assist landowners.”

Ringer is already calling the CREP a

success. “In the two previous years, only

200 acres were proposed in continuous

sign-up. Since the CREP enhanced signup in October, we’ve already had over

1700 acres offered.”

Adapted from: Oregon’s Riparian

Enhancement Initiative: A Conservation

Reserve Enhancement Proposal for

Restoring Endangered Salmon and Trout

in Oregon.” September, 1998.

International Links

by Sarah Workman, 

NAC International Coordinator

Throughout much of the world,

integrated crop and tree combinations

are considered normal farming systems. In these systems, trees can provide important habitat and food

resources for a variety of wildlife,

especially where intensive land use

has influenced species composition

through direct competition or predation (hunting/ poaching) and habitat

modification. In an agricultural landscape where wildlife cover is fragmented, or minimal to begin with,

trees enable forest animals to persist

by functioning as islands of woody

habitat and serving as ‘stepping

stones' across open fields or pastures.

This is true whether we consider

farmland in Tennessee, riparian

buffers in the Midwest, hedgerows in

Europe, or pasture lands in the tropics. Through maintenance of species

and structural diversity in the landscape, agroforestry systems also help

conserve local and regional biodiversity and increase the agroecosystem's

resilience to disturbances. Where seasonal drought or temperature

extremes occur, woody plant species

provide critical sources of food and

shelter for wildlife. An example is the

savannas of Africa, where many

ungulates would not survive without

trees as a source of browse in the dry

season. There are some problems

when wildlife is attracted to what

seems a favorable habitat, but

becomes exposed to greater harm

because of predator concentration or

farming activities. Conflict between

humans and wildlife can occur when

animals ‘raid' crops and cause yield

losses - like deer in North America,

chimps or monkeys in tropical 

forested areas, or elephants in 

savanna areas. Overall, when 

properly planned, agroforestry practices can be seen as effective tools to

enhance wildlife habitat and other

ecological benefits in agricultural

landscapes.

NAC

NAC

“...landowners 

are the key 

to the success 

of this program.”

—Fred Ringer
NAC Website “Best of the Net”

6 Inside Agroforestry

(Corridors from page 1)

tices and suburban sprawl. Long neglected windbreaks planted in the 1930s are

dying out; few have been replaced. Many

contour buffer strips, grassed waterways,

and roadsides are planted in only one

species of grass. Single-species stands of

introduced grass provide few wildlife

benefits and are of little value as winter

cover. Untimely mowing, heavy grazing,

repeated burning, and pesticide spraying

further reduce their habitat value. 

While corridors decline, remnant fragments or patches of relatively large undisturbed habitat are also becoming less

common, smaller, and increasingly isolated. In some cases they are no longer capable of supporting viable populations of

native plants or wildlife. The resulting

threat to plant and wildlife species diversity in all regions of the country has

become a national concern. Many ecologists believe that connecting remnant

habitat patches with corridors should be

one part of a comprehensive plan to

address this growing problem.

Planning Area-Wide Solutions

How corridors are arranged and connected within the larger landscape context

determine their wildlife value. It is the

cumulative effect of corridor arrangement

that influences wildlife population

dynamics. Designing corridor systems is a

task of creating strategic configurations

across ownerships and land uses. The

objective is to restore targeted ecological

functions at area-wide scales.

Opportunities exist in every state to

plan, design, and manage corridors, optimizing their multiple benefits. Thousands

of acres of potential high quality habitat

exist in roadsides, windbreaks, riparian

areas, grassed waterways and other types

of corridors. Implementing a successful

system of integrated corridors will require

the cooperation of private landowners,

local governments, private non-profit conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies working at both landscape

and site-specific scales.

Natural resource conservationists play

an integral role in promoting area-wide

planning and facilitating the planning

process once it is initiated. Landowners,

farmers, ranchers, partnering agency personnel, and other proponents all share in

the work. The NRCS National Planning

Procedures Handbook provides a structure within which these tasks can be completed in an orderly and efficient way.

The forthcoming NRCS Conservation

Corridors handbook has been designed

for NRCS conservationists and other partners as a complement to the Procedures

Handbook. It is a source of of information

about conservation corridors and their

benefits and a reference for use in the

field.The handbook emphasizes planning,

designing, and managing corridors to

optimize wildlife habitat. It provides: 

• a review of the causes and 

consequences of habitat fragmentation

• an overview of the types and 

ecological functions of corridors

• a summary of the benefits corridors 

provide landowners, communities, and

the environment

• watershed scale wildlife corridor 

planning principles

• examples and case studies 

documenting the importance of 

planning systems of conservation 

corridors for wildlife at watershed 

scales

• illustrations and case studies showing 

how an individual farm, ranch, or 

community conservation corridor 

project can be knitted into an areawide plan.

Corridors are only one piece of the

conservation puzzle. The other important

pieces are the various land management

practices applied by farmers, ranchers,

and communities to the natural resources

on their land. The long-term value of corridors is highly dependent on the health

of the adjacent landscape and large patches of native vegetation. Landowners and

communities participating in land and

water conservation programs using sustainable agricultural and other land use

practices enhance habitat quality and

quantity. The puzzle can be completed

through public and private landowner

partnerships, passing on to future generations the rich wildlife and scenic heritage

our nation has come to cherish.

The Conservation Corridors handbook

is available on the NRCS Watershed

Science Institute’s website at:

gneiss.geology.washington. edu/~nrcswsi/products.html.

After it is printed, copies will be distributed to each NRCS State Office for

use by field staff.

Adapted from: NRCS Conservation

Corridors Planning at the Landscape

Level: Managing for Wildlife Habitat,

Chapter 1.

NAC

The National Agroforestry Center’s website

was named one of the best forestry-related sites

on the Internet by The Mining Co.

The Mining Co. (home.miningco.com/) is a

“web guide,” a site containing thousands of

hyperlinks to web sites related to more than 600

topics. A company-certified specialist -- a real

human being, not a computer -- chooses and

then reviews the sites that are linked by the

Mining Co.

Take a look at NAC’s web site

(www.unl.edu/nac/). It includes online versions

of most of the informational and technical materials published by the Center, plus links to more

resources. Now, visitors can also order NAC

materials using an online form.
Inside Agroforestry 7

Sixth Agroforestry

Conference in 1999

Sustainable Land-Use

Management 

for the 21st Century

June 12-16, 1999

Hot Springs, Arkansas

For more information and 

registration materials, contact:

Dr. Catalino Blanche

Dale Bumpers Small Farms 

Research Center

6883 South State Hwy 23

Booneville, Arkansas 72927-9214.

E-mail: cblanche@yell.com

Phone: 501-675-3839

Fax: 501-675-2940

For current information about the

conference, visit the Association For

Temperate Agroforestry website:

www.missouri.edu/~afta

(Potential from page 3)

Economic Values of Wildlife Evaluated

Assessments need to be made on the economic values or benefits associated with

wildlife in temperate agroforestry systems in the United States. Currently, there is

a study being conducted by researchers in the Department of Forestry at

Mississippi State University that will be addressing this topic. The investigation

will consider several factors. For example, when determining the worth of specific

agroforestry systems in particular locales it is imperative to include both marketable and non-marketable wildlife benefits. Each agroforestry system creates a

unique habitat and set of associated wildlife species. Certain species may provide

benefits to landowners and surrounding communities directly through such activities as the use of fee hunting leases, recreational fishing, or honey production.

There are also non-use values placed on wildlife by landowners, communities, and

other citizenry that need to be considered. 

farming promotes biodiversity and diversifies the landowner's income on a single

parcel of land. Forest farming is growing

in popularity due to a decline in timber

production and logging from public

forestland and an increase in demand for

alternative specialty crops. Such specialty

products include ginseng and other medicinal plants, craft materials, floral products, Shiitake and other specialty mushrooms, and native fruits and nuts. All of

these crops are compatible with the timber crops. An obvious wildlife benefit

from this system is the production of

honey from bees. Forest farms are also

home to numerous species of migrant and

resident birds, and they support game

birds, hoofed browsers, small mammals,

and furbearers. Stable wildlife populations from forest farming habitats contribute to the increase in recreation-based

activities. Conversely, certain wildlife

species can be “problem” wildlife too.

Each situation needs to be evaluated for

potential benefits and potential problems

to the forest farming system. 

Silvopasture is a system that combines forage crops, trees, and livestock

production. Its application is most prominent in the southern U.S. and the Pacific

Northwest. Adding trees to forage systems creates additional income from timber products, pasture rents, Christmas

trees, fruits, nuts, and syrup production.

Silvopastoral systems may also be used

for wildlife or recreational opportunities

and furnish the landowner with additional

cash flow from fee hunting. In the South,

landowners lease many acres for hunting

white-tailed deer, turkey, and quail. The

forage crops beneath the trees in silvopastoral systems are home to numerous small

mammals and gamebirds and provide

food for furbearers and hoofed browsers. 

Agroforestry systems are made less

vulnerable to market fluctuations because

they deliver more than one product from a

single land area. For landowners, this is

extremely important because it potentially

gives them a steady, year-round source of

income, regardless of the prevailing market. Wildlife-oriented recreational opportunities are one way in which this income

can be increased. Agroforestry, on a

broader scale, can be considered important because it potentially offers greater

financial returns than unmodified agricultural ecosystems while introducing some

of the environmental attributes of natural

systems. As more land is converted to

agriculture, the necessity of maintaining

biodiversity and restoring and connecting

portions of the landscape to wildlife habitat will become increasingly important. In

turn, this will support those activities

which generate economic benefits for

landowners and communities. 

Agroforestry is a partial solution to

habitat and biodiversity loss. It is up to us

to recognize and reap the benefits of

these systems instead of ignoring them

and allowing them to lie fallow.

Source: Adapted from ``Agroforestry Systems”

31:117-132 and 35:303-321 and ``Agroforestry: An

Integrated Land-use Management System for

Production and Farmland Conservation” by H.E.

Garrett.

NAC

Need Information About Plants for Your

Agroforestry Planting? 

A new website, Vegetative Practice Design Application (VegSpec), can actually help you design an agroforestry practice. This site, www.plants.usda.gov/,

provides practice design technology and automates design for tree planting,

farmstead windbreaks, and field windbreaks as well as several grass practices. It can assist you with selection of plants that are suitable for a specific

soil and climate. There is also plant attribute information that can assist you

in selecting plants that are beneficial for wildlife. The web site requires a

recent net browser. VegSpec is continuing to be developed and your suggestions would help the developers. It’s worth checking out.

“...restoring and connecting 

portions of the landscape to

wildlife habitat will become

increasingly important.”
Upcoming Events

May 2-5, 1999

Sustainable America: A National Town 

Meeting. Detroit, MI. For more 

information, 1-888-333-6878 or 

www.sustainableamerica.org.

June 6-9, 1999

Keep America Growing: Balancing 

Working Lands and Development.

Philadelphia, PA. For more 

information: 802-655-7215 or 

e-mail delaney@together.net.

June 12-16, 1999

Sixth Conference on Agroforestry in 

North America -- Sustainable LandUse Management for the 21st Century,

Hot Springs, AR. Contact, Dr. Catalino

A. Blanche, 501-675-3834.

June 21-25, 1999

Plains & Prairie Forestry Association-

“Snow Control” Short Course/Conf. 

Cheyenne, WY. Contact, Randy 

Moench, 970-491-8429.

September 9-11, 1999

Northeast Regional Agroforestry 

Conference, Portland, ME. Contact, 

Susan Lee, 207-622-7847 or e-mail: 

timetide@me.nrcs.usda.gov.

NAC staff are developing a pilot packet of materials and projects for natural

resource professionals to use to educate

elementary school age children about

working trees. For more information

about the project and to offer suggestions

or comments, please visit our web site at

www.unl.edu/nac and click on “Tell us

what you think” or call Clover Shelton at

(402) 437-5178, ext. 14.

Looking for Information to

Teach Kids About Conservation

Trees?

Inside Agroforestry is published quarterly by the

USDA National Agroforestry Center. 

Phone: 402-437-5178; Fax: 402-437-5712.

Greg Ruark, Center Director, ext. 27

Michele Schoeneberger, 

FS Research Leader ext. 21

Jerry Bratton, FS Lead Agroforester ext. 24

Bruce Wight, NRCS Lead Agroforester ext. 36

Kim Isaacson, IA Editor ext. 13

Clover Shelton, Technology Assistant ext. 14

Jim Robinson, NRCS Agroforester 

Fort Worth, TX phone: 817-509-3215

Gary Kuhn, NRCS Agroforester 

Spokane, WA phone: 509-358-7946

Web Site: www.unl.edu/nac

Mission

The National Agroforestry Center (NAC) is a partnership of the USDA Forest Service,

Research & Development (Rocky Mountain Research Station) and State & Private Forestry and

the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Center’s purpose is to accelerate the

development and application of agroforestry technologies to attain more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable land-use systems. To accomplish its mission, the Center interacts 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 policy prohibits discrimination because of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or handicapping condition.

Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any USDA-related activity should immediately contact the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

Opinions expressed in Inside Agroforestry are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policy of the USDA Forest Service and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.