BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD REFORESTATION ON PRIVATE LANDS IN INDIANA THROUGH THE PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM

Jeff Kiefer, U.S. fish and Wildlife Service, Bloomington

The flash of iridescent color as a drake wood duck rises from a pine oak flat in the early October sunlight. The intense yellow of a male prothonotary warbler as it sings its persistent zweet-zweet-zweet-zweet across a flooded green ash swamp in early May. And the lazy soaring of a red-shouldered hawk in mid-summer as it banks above the swamp white and bur oak scattered throughout the flood plain of a winding stream. These are just a few of the inhabitants of Indiana's bottomland forests, which support an impressive diversity of wildlife and associated aquatic species. They also share a common classification as migratory birds, which makes them of particular interest to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). This is one reason that the Service has been working with private landowners in Indiana since 1992 to restore bottomland hardwood forests through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Program.

The PFW Program is a voluntary effort aimed at restoring native bottomland hardwood forests on private land through a combination of tree planting, natural regeneration, and restoration of hydrology. The focus of the planting effort has primarily been on a diversity of heavy seeded species, such as the bottomland oaks (e.g. swamp white, Shumard, bur),that generally would not invade a site naturally for a considerable period of time. Light seeded bottomland species, such as ash and sycamore, have also been used depending up on the objectives of the landowner and the proximity to existing forest stands.

The Service provides up to 80% of the cost for establishing the trees, which includes site preparation, nursery stock, planting, and initial weed control. In return, the landowner signs a 15-year agreement to maintain the planting and provide weed control during the 2nd and 3rd year, if necessary. Trees are generally purchased through the state nurseries, and private consulting foresters are hired to conduct the plantings. Most sites are on former agricultural land, with many areas being retired from crop production the year of the planting.

The PFW Program has proven to be an effective vehicle for restoring drained wetlands on private land in Indiana, and similar interest is being shown in the bottomland hardwood reforestation effort throughout the state. Over the past 5 years, the Service has worked with more than 90 landowners planting trees on nearly 1,000 acres of flood plain and riparian land through PFW. With an average of 545 trees/acre planted on most sites, more than a half-million tree seedings have been required over the 5 year period. Current demand has slowed somewhat with the reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the growth of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP); however, interest among landowners remains strong, with anticipated future demand at 100-150 acres per year, requiring 60,000-80,000 tree seedlings annually.

For more information on the bottomland hardwood reforestation program, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 620 S. Walker Street, Bloomington, IN 47403; (812) 334-4261 .

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