How the North Bay Forest Improvement Program Works

A Registered Professional Forester , or a technical Resource Conservation District staff person, must apply for Forest Management Plans through North Bay Forest Improvement Program on behalf of their client. Landowners are not eligible to receive cost-share incentive payments for writing a Forest Management Plan without a qualified plan writer.

Yes. Cost-share funding for both traditional Forest Management Plans (properties of 40 acres or more) and Mini-Forest Management Plans (properties less than 40 acres) are available under North Bay Forest Improvement Program. 

If you wish to apply, see the list of Registered Professional Foresters here.

Contracts between landowners and North Bay Forest Improvement Program will have a duration of 1-year, however Registered Professional Foresters should aim to complete Forest Management Plans within a 6-month window from contract execution to allow clients to apply for subsequent North Bay Forest Improvement Program funding cycles for project implementation.  

North Bay Forest Improvement Program is a cost share program. As such, it will reimburse a percentage of the total cost of the Forest Management Plan. That amount will be calculated per the table below. When the Forest Management Plan is complete, North Bay Forest Improvement Program will collect an invoice from the authoring Registered Professional Forester to ensure the Landowner has contributed to the cost share. To ensure programmatic effectiveness and integrity, North Bay Forest Improvement Program will reimburse 80% of the cost of your Forest Management Plan invoice from the Registered Professional Forester that you hired. 

Forest Management Plans funded under North Bay Forest Improvement Program are not required to include archeological surveys or archeological records search requests. These activities are not eligible for reimbursement through North Bay Forest Improvement Program. Registered Professional Foresters shall note that having these activities completed will increase application scores for project implementation funding through North Bay Forest Improvement Program. Registered Professional Foresters should consult with clients to determine if the completion of these activities during the Forest Management Plan writing process is desirable.

Conservation Works will pay landowners soon after on-the-ground work has been verified. We estimate payments will be received within 60 days of notification of completion by the landowner, as long as completed work meets the standards agreed upon prior to implementation.

The total time it takes to complete a project depends on your contractor’s availability. Ideally, work will be completed within one year from when you were awarded funding.

You can find your project’s location on the USGS Topographic Quadrangle Map. Click the link to open the map. Use the + and - buttons in the upper left corner to zoom out until you can see your location. Zoom in to your location until you see the quadrangle grid appear. Each quad has a name in green font (ex: Middletown; Jericho Valley). Record the name of the quad where your project is located in the application.

No, it does not disqualify you. If you have an EQIP contract, past or present, you will not be disqualified. Please provide your current verified EQIP agreements with NRCS in your application. You must agree that you will not accept incentive dollars above the full cost of implementing your project.

Please note: Applicants that can treat additional acres by combining incentive dollars from multiple incentives programs will earn higher points in the application review process. Express that this is your plan in your application.

Yes, projects are required to comply with CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act). The Resource Conservation District will act as the lead agency. Projects will be required to avoid impacts to cultural and biological resources, in order to comply with this requirement, an assessment of impacts to sensitive species (query of the California Natural Diversity Database), and archaeological/cultural resources (archaeological records request from the Northwest Information Center), will be required prior to project implementation. The responsibility of fulfilling this requirement, and covering the costs of associated permits for implementation, is on the applicant. Projects will also be required to follow general avoidance guidelines that are outlined in the prescriptions document.