State and Local Governments

State and local governments can help by advancing policies and practices that recognize the public benefits of a forested landscape that is largely in private ownership.

State and local governments can:
  • Establish targets for retaining Woodlands in each state.
  • Propose statutory language and funding for the planning, establishment, monitoring, and preservation of large Wildland reserves on public land.
  • Develop dedicated revenue sources for direct conservation or for servicing conservation bonds.
  • Support enhanced current-use property tax programs that provide annual tax relief to private owners in return for maintenance of land in forests, farms, and open space.
  • Institute policies that expand or facilitate markets for improved forest products and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and pollution abatement.
  • Adopt economic development strategies that encourage development and redevelopment that is green, clustered, and resource-efficient.
  • Establish programs through extension offices or Woodland Councils to work with private landowners to develop incentive portfolios that meet their needs and objectives.
  • Expand existing large-scale, cross-border efforts to collaborate on Wildlands and Woodlands pilot projects.
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