Photo: Left to Right Terry Cosby (NRCS), Dave Schatz OFC Treasurer, Pete Woyar OFC Forester, Terry Jeffers OFC President signing CCPI agreement



Ohio Forestry Cooperative announces new partnership and funding with Soil and Water Districts in Southeastern Ohio.

 The Ohio Forestry Cooperative based in Athens, Ohio announced a new partnership with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and area Soil and Water Districts. This partnership will give Landowners access to additional cost-share funds during 2009 that had not been available previously. Landowners who apply for cost-share programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives program (EQIP) and Wildlife Habitat incentives Program (WHIP) have an additional opportunity to receive these funds outside of the normal county funding because of a grant opportunity called the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative that was made available this year.

 The Ohio Forestry Cooperative formed in 2004 originally named the Ohio Premium Pine Cooperative transitioned into a service based cooperative in 2008 that believes in the principles of “Land Care” which is a land management philosophy that emphasizes long term stewardship of farm and forestlands through investment in conservation practices, community involvement and job creation, education and outreach, and marketing a wide range of forest products as the land permits them to be harvested.

In order to participate in the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative, land owners must qualify for cost-share funding under the same guidelines that your local Soil and Water District requires and live in Athens, Vinton, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Hocking, or Washington counties. Additionally the Ohio Forestry Cooperative has a local scoring sheet that will allow them to prioritize projects over the next year.