This program helps nonfederal landowners better manage, protect and utilize their forests through technical information assistance, development of over 24,500 multi-resource forest stewardship plans covering 1.8 million acres, and production of high quality tree planting stock. The plans establish the basis for future management, protection, and better use practices. The goal of this program is to effectively protect and conserve environmentally important forest areas that are threatened by conversion to nonforest uses, through conservation easements and other mechanisms. No eminent domain authority or adverse condemnation is authorized for this program. The AON is the formal document that allows for entry into the Forest Legacy Program.
Final approval is pending for Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Important connections exist between the livability of cities and the dispersion of the population. The Urban and Community Forestry program improves the livability of urban areas by maintaining, restoring, and improving the health of trees, forests, and greenspaces through encouraging and promoting the creation of healthier, more livable environments in cities and communities across the Nation. The Forest Service is uniquely placed to link people and forests in order to strengthen the economic health of communities over the long term. Nearly 70 percent of rural counties are highly dependent on natural resource based earnings and over 75 percent of them are experiencing population growth and related changes. The Economic Action Programs bring communities, groups and businesses together to create diversified economic activity built on forest resources.