general decline in the extent and connectivity of wetlands and wildlife habitat.

But, when well planned, acreages can

create important corridors, preserve

native plant communities, and maintain

permanent vegetation in an otherwise

fragmented landscape. 

Providing technical assistance to this

diverse group of landowners can also have

a big impact on the workload of conservation districts, NRCS, State forestry, and

extension offices. Often the carrot that

motivates acreage owners isn’t production,

but scenery, wildlife, privacy, or a reconnection to the environment. This opens

the door for conservation professionals to

educate and provide clarity to landowners

as they manage their prize property for

bigger, broader, and better benefits. k

Agroforestry VOLUME 15 ISSUE ONE

4

LANDOWNERS, GIVE

YOUR RIDING LAWNMOWER A REST

You’ve seen those homes – residential solitaires – nestled among trees or 

surrounded by acres of mowed lawn,

sprouting up around the city, within an

easy driving distance of urban amenities.

They have different monikers depending

on where you live: acreages, ranchettes,

country or rural residential, peri-urban, or

exurban. This growing phenomenon isn't

just changing the color of the landscape

near large cities like Seattle, Ft. Worth, or

Baltimore, but throughout agricultural and

forested lands in all parts of the country.

Any way you cut it, these small gems

can have a big impact on natural

resources and delivery of technical assistance. If development is haphazard the

impact can be negative, creating a loss of

natural vegetation and open space and a

9 A CHECKLIST FOR THE

FIELD

5 LET ME STAND NEXT TO

YOUR FIRE

Polish up that little

gem of a property

by fitting it with

the natural setting

Inside
This new, free, 52-page guide was 

developed for the Chesapeake Bay and

Mid-Atlantic region to help professionals or

motivated volunteers learn about riparian

forest buffer establishment and maintenance. 

The guide includes sections on goals,

“reading” the site, afforestation, and 

maintenance needs. 

Techniques are organized by prior land use

(crop, pasture, or turf) and address weed,

deer, and rodent control issues. The Appendix

contains a planting checklist, list of common

invasive weeds, and herbicide options.

Opportunities in the 

Rural/Urban Interface

NAC Director’s Corner

A commentary on the status of agroforestry 

by Dr. Greg Ruark, NAC Program Manager

2 Inside Agroforestry |Volume 15, Issue One

Acurious thing tends to happen when tracts offarmland or forests are subdivided and homes are

built on small acreage parcels. Typically, the efforts by

local, state, and federal agencies to promote conservation are abandoned since the lands are no longer 

perceived to fall under the purview of rural conservation

programs and the limited urban efforts at conservation

are confined within municipal boundaries. This

rural/urban interface zone effectively becomes a noman’s land for conservation efforts. Yet, ironically, one

of the main reasons that people buy a few acres and

build a home on it is to get closer to nature. Today,

there are very few places remaining in the United States

where populations are not growing and exerting 

pressure to convert working lands into home sites. 

There is an opportunity to harness this land conversion

trend so that many conservation benefits can be perpetuated or even enhanced. Many agroforestry plantings are

well suited to small acreages. Often the best opportunity

to develop “green infrastructure” around communities will

be through orchestrating a coordinated response from

landowners living on small acreages within the

rural/urban interface. In many cases, cropland is 

converted and there are opportunities for landowners to

greatly improve ecological services and landscape diversity

by planting trees, shrubs, and native grasses, rather than

the all-too-common fescue lawn. For this to succeed it is

imperative that landowners be informed of their options

and understand the spatial context of their land within the

overall landscape. For example, knowing that one’s land is

strategically positioned relative to remnant patches of

forests to provide critical habitat for songbirds may lead a

landowner to plant or retain the appropriate tree and

shrub species.k

Maryland buffer design

and maintenance guide

now available

You can download the guide at

www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/

download/rfb_design&

maintenance.pdf. Or, contact Anne

Hairston-Strang for a copy:

Maryland DNR Forest Service,

580 Taylor Ave., E-1, Annapolis,

MD 21401, (410)260-8509,

astrang@dnr.state.md.us.

Help save a tree

If you are receiving duplicatecopies of Inside Agroforestry,

have an address change, or no

longer wish to receive this

newsletter, please contact Nancy

Hammond at (402) 437-5178,

extension 11; or email her at

nhammond@fs.fed.us.
Volume 15, Issue One | Inside Agroforestry 3

Rich Straight

NAC Lead Agroforester

Lincoln, Nebraska

The conflict between rural neighborswho are farming and those who are

essentially urban people living on

acreages, arises from a series of very 

different expectations and activities.

Some of these are agricultural induced,

such as livestock odors, pesticide drift,

and equipment noise and some are urban

induced, including high-speed traffic,

garbage in fields, and gates left open.

Often people have difficulties understanding why others do not accept or

understand activities that for them are

commonplace and acceptable. Tensions

between agricultural rural landowners and

acreage landowners can intensify because

of the increased number of neighbors

and contact points as a result of the

smaller-sized land ownership pattern.

The National Agroforestry Center

along with the University of Nebraska has

developed a concept of ecobelts as a

system of green infrastructure that transforms the zone of conflict into one of

shared ownership and use. These Working

Trees can take many forms, such as windbreaks, living snowfences, riparian forest

buffers, and alley cropping. When carefully

planned and designed, ecobelts can

address a wide range of non-conservation

issues, from education and visual quality to

income generation, while helping to create

a sense of place and community. Ecobelts

bring neighboring landowners into a partnering relationship where the needs of

each are accommodated.

Green infrastructure

Communities have long understood the need for “gray infrastructure” like water,

sewer , and power lines, and roadways. More recently, the importance of

“green infrastructure,” a planned and managed, interconnected network of natural

areas (e.g., waterways, wetlands, forests, and parks) and adjacent working lands (e.g.,

farms, ranches, and corporate lands) has gained recognition. Together, these lands

have the potential to support wildlife, maintain ecological processes, sustain air and

water resources, and contribute to the health and quality of life for communities. For

more information about how green infrastructure can be integrated in your area, visit

NAC’s Web site and read the Sustainable Development: Moving toward a greener

community brochure.

see Ecobelts on page 11

Ultimately, for ecobelts to be successful they must be culturally sustainable.

That is, the ecobelts must elicit sustained

human attention over time or else the

benefits may be compromised as land

ownership changes, as development pressure increases, or as different political

viewpoints arise. So, how do we create

ecobelts that are so desirable that they can

weather the test of time? There are a few

principles that will help in the creation of

viable ecobelts:

• Shared ownership – When all 

adjacent residents have a stake in the 

ecobelt it helps to build a sense of 

community and responsibility for 

implementing and maintaining the 

system. Ownership is not necessarily 

deed ownership and can be created 

through the planning process.

• Problems as opportunities – 

Although this phrase wears thin after 

awhile, when problems are reformulated into a positive framework, 

residents can use the issues to bring 

resources together to benefit the 

larger community.

• Agroforestry products – When careAgroforestry relieves stress from
We often think of farmers and large acreage

landowners as target audiences for reforestation

and riparian buffer programs. But, in the gently-rolling

Piedmont area of Maryland, a new program is finding that

landowners in smaller rural residential subdivisions are

willing to listen and willing to plant trees.

Using aerial photography and cadastral (land ownership) data, the Baltimore County Department of

Environmental Protection & Resource Management

(DEPRM) discovered that many landowners “use” only

1.0 to 1.5 acres of their 3-plus acre lots. Field observations

showed that “excess” acreage, often former farmland, is

most often simply mowed. GIS data on these findings

later revealed that many of the unforested areas were adjacent to, or near, streams and rivers. These mowed areas

Neighbors are working

together to increase forest

cover in Maryland watershed

Don Outen

Natural Resource Manager, Baltimore County

Department of Environmental Protection & Resource

Management (DEPRM), Towson, Marlyand

provide very little wildlife habitat or water quality benefits

and demand a significant amount of maintenance.

To address this problem, DEPRM is using a pilot program, the Rural Residential Stewardship Initiative (RRSI),

to educate landowners in these subdivisions about various

incentives to plant buffers. The project’s objective is to

plant five acres of trees in each of five subdivisions. RRSI

received so much interest from landowners that DEPRM

considered extending the project before the first projects

were even complete. 

The Approach

1. Cooperate with a known conservation organization 

to make the initial landowner contact;

2. The conservation organization solicits a resident 

volunteer in each subdivision to host a meeting with 

neighbors at which DEPRM staff describe the RRSI 

program;

3. DEPRM staff provide education about managing a 

shared forest-stream resource in their local watershed; (Currently, DEPRM is developing a 

“landowner’s manual” about reforestation 

maintenance and an overall subdivision stewardship 

see Reforestation on page 11

Plastic tubes protect newly planted

seedlings in this riparian forest buffer.

Once the grass is shaded out,

landowner maintenance is greatly

reduced. Original photo courtesy DEPRM.

4 Inside Agroforestry |Volume 15, Issue One
Volume 15, Issue One | Inside Agroforestry 5

For thousands of years, fires shapedthe lands of North America,

affecting the composition of plant and

animal communities. Fires used to burn

some grasslands nearly every year, while

some forests and wetlands escaped fire

for centuries at a time. 

Many plant species actually thrive

when burned at periodic intervals.

Knowing this, we can attempt today to

either reintroduce fire or take advantage

of naturally-occurring fires to benefit

rural landscapes. In a community setting,

however, we are taught to prevent fire.

But, what about the edges of towns and

Kimberly Stuhr

NAC Technology Transfer Specialist

Lincoln, Nebraska cities where homes are spaced far apart

and situated among trees and other combustible vegetation; where fire played a

historic role in shaping the landscape?

More and more, managing this

rural/urban interface is a challenge. Rural

residential landowners build houses in the

interface area for privacy and scenic views.

These very qualities, which attract them to

the interface, also increase fire risk: open

grass meadows lined with unmanaged

riparian areas; a nice home in the trees with

a big wooden deck, stacks of firewood

nearby; a yard filled with pine needles; and

outbuildings filled with hay for the horses. 

The benefits of interface living usually

don't come with the same conveniences

see Firewise on page 8

Prescribed fire for

controlling broadleaf understory of a

pine plantation. 

Original photo courtesy

Rich Straight, NAC.

of city living. City living promises fire control and speedy emergency response

times. Living outside city limits, typically,

means longer response times, limited man

power, water supplies, and firefighting

equipment. Part of the attraction to rural

residential living is living in a secluded

location. But in the event of a fire, it is

essential that firefighters can find homes,

have access to defend them, have the

available resources, such as water, and that

homeowners can safely evacuate if necessary. Inhibiting fire in the interface allows

fuel to build. While sometimes caused by

lightening, most wildlfires – nine out of 10

– are caused by people, who are beginning

to dominate interface areas. 

The good news is that home sites in the

interface can be both firewise (knowledgeable and prepared for wildfire) and compatible with the area’s ecosystem. It is

essential that landowners in the interface

area understand fire and reduce their vulnerability within their “home ignition

zone” – the house and its immediate surroundings up to 100 to 200 feet. Within

Structural damage from a

2003 aspen fire in Arizona.

Original photo courtesy Jack Cohen, Forest

Service Fire Sciences Laboratory.

Firefighters are in the business of putting out fires, 

not getting hurt... We are not going to take a risk 

that could damage a firefighter or equipment.” 

– Steve Faris, California Department of Forestry, “Defying 

the Flames,” The Press Enterprise (June 24, 2005).
Harmony

6 Inside Agroforestry |Volume 15, Issue One

Most conservation measures, including agroforestrypractices, plan for and manage movement – the

movement of wind or water; the movement of nutrients,

chemicals, soil particles; the movement of livestock,

wildlife, pathogens or invasive species. Understanding

how things move allows planners to meet landowner

objectives and larger societal objectives, such as cleaner air

and water. The larger societal objectives cannot be

achieved working with a single landowner; it is the cumulative effect of conservation measures on multiple lands

that makes a difference. Even rural residential landowners

have the potential to affect these larger societal objectives. 

Movement occurs at different scales, from the microbial

scale to the landscape scale, which can cover many square

miles. Planners need to look at these different scales to

understand how things move onto, within and through the

site. Looking at how an acreage fits into the larger landscape provides valuable information to help address offsite societal concerns. This larger context will also help to

determine the feasibility for some landowner goals. For

Cropland is the dominant land use, or matrix, and

the management of annual crops dominates how

things move in this landscape. The cropland matrix is

dissected by patches of grassland and building sites.

Corridors are formed by roads, grassed field borders,

and riparian vegetation.

Cropland, woodland and grassland are interspersed across the landscape in a patchwork or

mosaic pattern in this landscape. Movement in a

mosaic is more difficult to assess than a matrix dominant landscape. The complex pattern creates greater

diversity that influences movement.

Figure A: Matrix Photo courtesy U.S. Geological Survey Figure B: Mosaic Photo courtesy U.S. Geological Survey

by Gary Wells

on the landscape
Here is the same site in context of the larger landscape. The

matrix at this scale is row-crop agriculture, indicated by

lighter areas. The 15 acre site (marked by the arrow) is part of a

wooded riparian corridor (indicated by the darker areas). We

begin to see how water and wildlife might move at this scale. The

site and larger corridor may also act as a barrier or filter for

some nutrients that are moving off of the cropland matrix.

Nutrients, along with flora and fauna, may also be moving along

the riparian corridor. These insights help an individual

landowner to plan for societal water and air quality issues. What

is upstream and upwind of the site will have an effect on the site.

Furthermore, the site will have an effect on land that is downstream and downwind.

example, a landowner may want certain wildlife, but the

site may be too isolated from existing wildlife populations.

Planners do not have the luxury or the resources to

investigate all movement that occurs in the planning area,

so prioritizing which things to investigate in more detail is

critical. Looking at how the landscape is arranged at different scales provides a conceptual overview on how

things move. This overview can then be used to determine what needs to be studied in more detail. 

Similar processes occur in similar land cover types.

Looking at the seasonal patterns created by homogenous

land cover units in aerial photographs or digital orthoquads provides a framework for analysis. The shape and

size of these units influence movement within and

between units. When there is a clear dominance of a land

To illustrate how to look at landscape patterns at different

scales when working with rural residential landowners, here

is an example from the Midwest. First, let’s look at an aerial

photo of the 15 acre site and the immediate surroundings. At

this scale, we see that the matrix has a woodland cover type with

patches and corridors of grass. We don't know the species type

or condition of the cover type, but we can still gain some insight

on how this landscape functions. There are different: infiltration

and runoff rates; nutrient and material cycles; and types of

organisms present in each unit. Wind and water energy vary

between the different cover types. We can see major pathways

created by concentrated water and by man-made corridors.

cover, it is called the matrix (Figure A). The matrix sets the

foundation for the dominant processes that occur in the

landscape. Subordinate types of land cover will create

patches and corridors within the matrix. Rural residential

development often functions as a patch within a cropland

or forestland matrix. If there is no dominant cover type

then the landscape pattern is called a mosaic (Figure B). 

Once the matrix, patches and corridors have been

delineated, movement of things within and between them

can be considered. Each unit can be assessed on how it is

functioning as a source, sink or habitat for materials,

energy, or organisms. Patches and corridors can also function as barriers, filters and conduits. 

This technique can be used at different scales. The

closer the aerial photograph, the more valuable the information can be for analyzing movement on the site. Larger

scale photographs are valuable for analyzing how the site

functions in the larger landscape. Making landowners

aware of these off-site relationships can help educate them

about the importance of their management decisions.

Computers now make it practical to gain a landscape

perspective. Aerial photographs and satellite imagery are

readily available over the internet. Software is also available

to help delineate land cover. Next time you work with a

landowner; don't forget to take a landscape perspective.k

Figure C

Photo courtesy U.S. 

Geological Survey

Volume 15, Issue One | Inside Agroforestry 7

When landowners, like musicians,

work in concert with one another, they

can yield results far more productive

and harmonious than when working

alone or against one another. 

Figure D

Photo courtesy U.S. 

Geological Survey
construction materials and a resistant

building design.

For even greater impact, consider

working with a group of neighbors to

create a Firewise zone. Voluntary wildfire

mitigation and prevention can be more

successful with neighborhood involvement so that all homes and properties are

safer and one will not jeopardize the

safety of others. In addition to individual

homeowners, work with the fire department, city planners, and developers to

create firewise plans.

For more information on Firewise practices, grant and funding sources, and lowflammability plants visit 

www.firewise.org.k

tively dangerous. They are susceptible to

subtle changes in weather and a small

smoldering brush pile can blow up into a

raging wall of fire with slight changes in

wind and humidity. Here, vegetative fire

breaks around properties can help slow the

spread of fire, giving rural firefighters an

opportunity to defend isolated, scattered

homesites. Vegetative firebreaks, like a specially designed windbreak, can change the

fuel type between the grassed area and the

area to be protected. It includes a strip of

grass to reduce flame heights, a strip of

bare ground meant to eliminate wildfire

fuels, and incorporates less flammable

species into the design. Keep in mind that

the home ignition zone includes the home,

which ought to include nonflammable

8 Inside Agroforestry |Volume 15, Issue One

Are you working with a landowner, or do you know of

one, who is full of questions and ideas about things

like mushrooms, walnuts, and goat milk? As the number of

small farms increases, so do the number of unconventional

farmers who are seeking a career or lifestyle change, or perhaps, trying to save the family farm. Specialty crops and

livestock, from heirloom apples to bison, and value-added

products like jellies made from home-grown berries, are

niche markets which mean less competition and higher

returns than traditional large farm commodity crop farming. 

If you want to catch up on the latest news in sustainable

agriculture and organic farming, including funding opportunities visit the National Sustainable Agriculture Information

Service website, www.attra.org (or ATTRA-Appropriate

Technology Transfer for Rural Areas). Their website offers

publications on production practices, alternative crop and

livestock enterprises, innovative marketing, organic certification, and highlights local, regional, USDA, and other federal

sustainable agriculture activities. They also have resource

lists to help you find equipment, materials, and supplies. If

you need more in-depth information or have specific questions, you can contact one of ATTRA's Program Specialists.

If necessary, your question will be assigned to an agriculture

specialist, who will research the topic and prepare a report. 

They have offices in Butte, Montana; Fayetteville,

Arkansas; and Davis, California. You can contact ATTRA

via their website, www.attra.org or by calling 800-346-9140

or 800-411-3222 (Spanish-language help line).

Firewise

continued from page 5

this area, the vegetation should been

modified to reduce threats, slow down

and cool approaching fires, and provide

space for available firefighters to effectively defend the house. Rural residential

homeowners typically own and manage

land for its amenity values rather than its

productive value. They usually want to do

the “right” thing, they just don’t know

what that is. The majority of homeowners

will endorse firewise suggestions, if given

the opportunity.

Maintaining a firewise landscape is similar for both forested parts of the country

and the prairie and includes limiting the

level of flammable vegetation and materials

surrounding the home and increasing the

moisture content of the remaining vegetation. In addition to integrating defensive

space into landscape design, it is important

to reduce understory fuels and increase the

use of fuelbreaks. In forested parts of the

country, silvopasture and alley cropping

can help lessen the understory vegetation

fuel load. Prairie wildfires can be decepPrevailing wind 

direction

Tilled 

Mowed soil

grass

Multi-row

windbreak

Combined width

of 50 feet or more

Maintain a minimum distance

of 100 feet between 

windbreak and home.

Adapted from Vegetative Firebreak design

courtesy North Dakota Forest Service
Volume 15, Issue One | Inside Agroforestry 9

At the rural/urban interface there are an everincreasing number of factors that can limit the

establishment of agroforestry practices or that can be

negatively impacted by these practices. Some of these

factors are man-made structures, some are man-made

regulations, and some are factors related to the 

surrounding environment. The following is a checklist

that conservation professionals may wish to review 

with the landowner while planning and designing 

agroforestry practices for an acreage or small farm

owner living near the rural/urban interface.



Roads & access lanes 

• Locate trees and shrubs so that fire and rescue vehicles

have easy access to home and buildings.

• Keep shade off travel lanes in winter months to reduce

snow and ice hazards.

• Keep trees from blocking the view at road 

intersections.

• Minimize crossing through windbreaks with driveways 

or access lanes. Gaps in windbreaks will reduce 

effectiveness. If not properly oriented, lanes cutting 

through windbreaks are easily drifted full of snow.

Utilities 

• Planting trees and shrubs may be restricted near under

ground and overhead utilities. Contact local utilities for 

easement conditions and to locate buried utilities. 

• Plan for a treeless buffer around septic drainage lines, 

fields and lagoons.

Buildings and other facilities

• Tree plantings upwind of buildings can fix or create 

snow drift problems.

• Reduce fire hazard by keeping trees a safe distance 

from buildings. Use Firewise planning guidelines for 

locating landscape trees as well as agroforestry plantings. 

• Avoid possible roof and foundation damage by planting 

trees far enough away from buildings.

• Locate trees so they don't shade buildings during winter 

months in colder climates. Some homes may be 

designed to collect solar radiation in winter months.

• Keep solar collectors for electric fences and home solar 

power free of shade.

• Gardens and other small production areas can be 

affected by shade. Trees can reduce intense summer 

heat or create too much shade for some garden 

vegetables and flowers or specialty crops.

Infrastructure

Regulatory restrictions

• Contact local authorities to determine if the site is in 

a water quantity or quality, air quality, wellhead 

protection, or other special districts that could restrict 

land management activities.

• Check local zoning and covenant regulations that can 

limit land management activities such as agriculture, 

roadside retail stands, or forestry.

• Check local zoning ordinances for possible setback 

distances for trees and shrubs from right-of-way or 

property boundaries.
10 Inside Agroforestry |Volume 15, Issue One



• Local traffic could increase as a result of roadside 

stands, or in-home retail business. Along with 

business zoning the landowner should consider how

tolerant neighbors are towards increased traffic.

• Desirable landscape views for you or your 

neighbors. Landowners may have to make trade 

offs between benefits of a tree planting and the loss 

of a view of the landscape.

• Plan for adequate space for maintenance between 

trees and boundary fences. Access for fence 

maintenance includes the mature width of the trees 

and width of equipment such as pickups or tractors.

• Determine if drifting snow from trees can encroach 

onto neighboring fields, houses or access lanes. A 

tree planting that is not intended for snow 

management can create off-site snow drifts.

• Determine if existing neighboring trees and 

windbreaks will drift snow onto the landowner's 

property.

• Plant species that are tolerant of pesticides if 

pesticide drift from neighboring fields could be a 

problem.

• Develop a plan for managing potential invasive or 

noxious weeds.

• Use tree and shrub species that are not likely to 

spread to adjoining properties.

• Consider if your tree and shrub plantings may 

attract wildlife or diseases that may be detrimental 

to neighboring gardens or crops. k

Environmental factors

Wildlife & livestock

• Presence of threatened & endangered 

species may influence planting of trees 

and shrubs.

• Make sure desired wildlife species will 

tolerate trees.

• Protect trees and shrubs from wildlife, 

such as rabbits, deer, beavers, as well as

domesticated livestock. 

• Consider whether potentially nuisance 

species such as deer, starlings, etc. will 

be attracted by trees and shrubs.

• Make sure trees don't restrict seasonal 

winds that can cool livestock during 

hot months.

Wetlands, streams, & water

• Make sure trees in or near drainage ways do not 

restrict flow.

• Wetland management goals may be incompatible 

with tree plantings.

• Determine irrigation needs (if any) for establishing or

maintaining trees and shrubs. Irrigation may require 

more water and pressure than the landowner’s well 

can provide along with daily water needs.

• Make sure suitable tree and shrub species are selected

for flood prone areas.

• Keep trees off dams and dikes.

• Protect sensitive areas from sedimentation due to site

preparation and planting of trees.

• Check pesticide use label for restrictions when 

considering use near streams and wetlands.

Seasonal wind direction

• Determine dominant winter wind direction to 

design tree and shrub plantings to achieve snow 

deposition goals for roads, work areas, and 

around buildings. 

• Determine dominant summer wind direction to 

avoid restricting cooling breezes in work areas 

and living spaces.

Social issues

Soils

• Check soils map for limiting soil conditions such

as internal drainage, high pH, soil texture, and 

shallow soil that can limit tree species selection.

• Presence of disturbed soils such as borrow sites, 

gravel quarries, building sites, and reservoir 

construction areas can create restrictive soil 

conditions.
Volume 15, Issue One | Inside Agroforestry 11

Know a landowner who

loves working with 

children?

Encourage him or her to include

children in their Working Trees

planning. Kids of all ages love to "get

their hands dirty." Hands-on activities

like tree and shrub planting and

woody floral harvesting provides

opportunities for them to learn about

nature. If the landowner sells products, the kids might learn about running a business, too - working at the

farmer's market, selling products, and

working with people.

The RRSI is a forest sustainability project in the national

Linking Communities to the

Montreal Process Criteria and

Indicators effort and is a leading

element of the County's Green

Renaissance initiatives. The RRSI,

funded by the US EPA under a

Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed

grant, focuses on rural subdivisions

in Resource Conservation (RC)

zones. Thousands of these RC lots

have been created since 1975 as

part of the County's growth management program. Parcelization of

rural lands, as well as forest fragmentation from long-term conversion to agriculture, has resulted in

9,000 forest patches and an estimated 50,000-plus “owner-managers.” The RRSI is designed to

begin educating multiple owners of

100-plus acre forest patches about

the need for improved stewardship

of forest-stream systems, especially

within drinking water reservoir

watersheds.

Reforestation

continued from page 4

Rural Residential

Stewardship

Initiative (RRSI) 

“plan” will be provided to each 

participant). The plan offers free 

project design and planting, including: 

site preparation, plant materials, and 

shelters for deer protection;

4. Train landowners to monitor the 

reforestation project;

After this, landowners maintain the

project. If necessary, mowing is allowed to

control invasive vines though only one fall

mowing is recommended. Landowners

are encouraged to reduce mowing over

time as tree growth and shade increase.

The survival rate for existing DEPRM

projects on public lands is 80 to 90 percent, so they are confident that this

approach can work on private lands, too.

Previous work is based on years of

county-wide reforestation experience

using developer fees-in-lieu of mitigation

under the 1991 State-mandated Forest

Conservation Act. 

Two pilot residential reforestation projects were completed in the fall of 2005.

One project added 5.2 acres of forest on

four rural lots, increasing forest cover by

44 percent. The second project involves

12 property owners and has added 16.7

acres of forest, a 229 percent increase

over existing forest acreage. 

Baltimore County’s RRSI is demonstrating that technical assistance, financial

assistance, and the prospect of having less

area to mow provide compelling incentives for neighbors in rural residential subdivisions to add significant areas of forest

to their development.k

Tree planting on acreages increases forest

cover and helps protect rivers and streams.

Photo courtesy DEPRM.

Ecobelts

continued from page 3

fully managed, useful products can be 

harvested from ecobelts. These may 

include nuts, berries, natural herbs, 

and horticultural materials for the 

floral industry.

• Landscape linkages – Ecobelts 

should not be created as isolated 

elements in the landscape but as part 

of the green infrastructure (see on 

Harmony on the landscape on page 6).

• Economic, social, and ecological 

integration – When ecobelts address 

goals in all three areas they become a 

desired part of the larger sustainable 

community.

Natural resource professionals are

uniquely positioned to transform the

rural/urban tension zone into an area of

shared ownership and use through education and technical assistance that leads to

the implementation of ecobelts. 

Adapted from Creating Viable Living

Linkages Between Farms and

Communities: Ecobelts at the

Rural/Urban Interface (Schoeneberger,

Bentrup, Francis, Straight, 2004). k
USDA National Agroforestry Center

East Campus–UNL

Lincoln, NE 68583–0822

PRSRT STD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

USDA — FS

PERMIT NO G-40

March 11, 2006

Tri-State Forest Stewardship 

Conference. Sinisinawa, WI. Contact: 

Peggy Compton, 608–342–1633, 

peggy.compton@ces.uwex.edu.

March 27–30, 2006

Intermittent & Perennial Stream 

Identification for Riparian Forest 

Buffers. Raleigh and New Bern, NC. 

Contact: Becky Townsend, 915–515–

9563, becky_townsend@ncsu.edu.

March 31–April 1, 2006

Designing Communities To Live With 

Fire – Shelter In Place. Rancho Santa 

Fe and Palomar Mountain, CA. 

Contact: John Todd, 323–890–4330, 

jtodd@lacofd.org, www.socalsaf.org.

May 14–17, 2006

Fifth Natural Resource Extension

Professionals Conference. Park City,

UT, www.anrep2006.org.

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use, $300

Address Service Requested

VOLUME 15 ISSUE ONE Agroforestry Inside

Upcoming Events

“Inside Agroforestry” is published quarterly by the 

USDA National Agroforestry Center. 

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

• Greg Ruark

NAC Program Manager (256–372–4540)

• Michele Schoeneberger

FS Research Lead (ext. 21)

• Rich Straight

FS Lead Agroforester (ext. 24)

• Bruce Wight

NRCS Lead Agroforester (ext. 36)

• Kimberly Stuhr

Technology Transfer Specialist/

“Inside Agroforestry” Editor (ext. 13)

• Ryan Dee

Technology Transfer Assistant (ext. 14)

www.unl.edu/nac

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

(Research and Development and State and Private Forestry) and the Natural Resources

Conservation Service. It is administered by the Forest Service, Southern Research Station;

and its program manager and headquarters are located in Huntsville, AL, on the campus of

Alabama A&M University, while its research, clearinghouse, and technology transfer staff

are concentrated in Lincoln, NE, at the University of Nebraska. NAC’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, NAC 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.

Mission

July 22–26, 2006

Soil & Water Conservation Society 

Annual Conference. Keystone, CO. 

Contact: Kristin Smith, 336–370–

3362, kristin.smith@gnb.usda.gov, 

www.swcs.org/en/swcs_international_

conferences/2006_international_

conference/.