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USDA Approves Emergency Forest Restoration Assistance for All Counties in Alabama

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, farm loan and catastrophe healing alternatives offered for drought-related tree loss MONTGOMERY, Ala., Sept. 23, 2024 -U.S. Department of Agriculture( USDA) Farm Service Agency( FSA) today revealed that all 67 Alabama counties have been approved for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program( EFRP )to restore and fix up personal forest lands impacted by extreme drought and related insect problem damage. The EFRP signup period ranges from September 30, 2024, to March 31, 2025. EFRP is a performance-based, cost-share program that supplies monetary and

technical assistance to owners of nonindustrial private forestland (NIPF) to bring back NIPF harmed by a qualifying natural disaster." It is necessary that forest landowners who have trees impacted by drought and insect problem, promptly request Emergency Forest Restoration Program assistance throughout the signup duration. Program funds will be obliged to qualified applications based on on-site inspections to identify the degree of the damage and restore forest health," said Clifton Warren, FSA State Executive Director in Alabama." Eligible landowners who haven't formerly took part in FSA programs are motivated to contact their local FSA county office as quickly as possible to establish farm records." EFRP Participation Requirements After EFRP applications are submitted, local FSA county committees figure out land eligibility based on on-site assessments carried out by a local forester who will assess the type and level of damage, and the remediation activities required to bring back forest health. FSA will authorize applications based upon the onsite repair need. Financial assistance is not supplied upfront. Cost-share is compensated at no more than 75% of the lesser of the real costs incurred or allowed cost after a remediation activity is complete.

If an EFRP application is approved, the program participant is anticipated to carry out restoration and preservation practices based on the FSA-848A Cost-Share Agreement and repair plan provided. The minimum certifying cost of remediation is$ 1,000 and the EFRP payment constraint is$ 500,000. To take part in EFRP, eligible candidates must:- Complete remediation to fulfill the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and/or state forestry agency technical requirements.- Document and keep records of all

expenses sustained to complete the repair activities,

including costs related to personal labor.- To meet eligibility requirements, NIPF land must have existing tree cover or had tree cover instantly before the natural catastrophe took place and be sustainable for growing trees. The land needs to also be owned or rented by a nonindustrial private person
, group, association, corporation or other personal legal entity that has definitive decision-making authority over the land. The natural disaster occasion must have resulted in damage that, if without treatment, would hinder or threaten the natural deposits on the land and/or materially impact future usage of the land. Eligible EFRP Restoration/Rehabilitation Practices For eligible program individuals who have approved applications, EFRP provides cost-share help for the following repair and rehab practices:- Forest stand improvement -tree removal and thinning -Woody residue treatment- woody

slash and particles removal- Site preparation for forest repair- Tree planting -Prescribed burning and firebreaks- Conservation structures, i.e. roads, stream crossing, fence Additional Assistance Available Landowners experiencing dry spell associated losses, including pine decline, of eligible trees planted on Conservation Reserve Program( CRP) acres might be qualified for as much as 50 %cost-share, not to surpass the Alabama state average expense
, to rehabilitate
and replant the trees. CRP program participants should call their FSA county workplace to determine next steps. Additionally, eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers may be eligible for cost-share help through the Tree Assistance Program to replant or restore qualified trees, bushes or vines. TAP matches the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program or crop insurance protection, which covers the crop however not the plants or trees in all cases. For TAP, a program application must be submitted within 90 days of the disaster event or the date when

the loss of the trees, bushes or vines is apparent. FSA also uses a variety of direct and ensured farm loans, consisting of operating and emergency farm loans, to producers unable to protect commercial funding. Producers in counties with a main or adjoining catastrophe classification may be qualified for low interest emergency loans to assist them recover from production and physical losses. Loans can help manufacturers replace necessary residential or commercial property, purchase inputs like livestock, equipment, feed and seed, cover family living expenditures or refinance farm-related financial obligations and other requirements. Additionally, FSA offers several loan servicing alternatives available for debtors who are not able to make scheduled payments on their farm loan programs financial obligation to the firm because of reasons beyond their control. Discover more about EFRP in this Farmers.gov blog and the EFRP factsheet. Additional USDA disaster help info can be discovered on farmers.gov, consisting of USDA resources particularly for producers impacted by drought. Those resources include the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance truth sheet and Loan Assistance Tool.