Wildlife habitat improvement handbook

Official Website of Michigan. Program Objective s : The primary goal of this program is to enhance and improve the quality and quantity of game species habitat in support of specific goals from the Wildlife Division's strategic plan, " Guiding Principles and Strategies - The GPS ," specifically GPS Goal 2 - Manage habitat for sustainable wildlife populations in a changing environment.

Criteria: Applications are evaluated based on established criteria in the "Wildlife Habitat Grant Program" handbook, which is available under the "Forms and Information for Applicants" section below.

Eligibility: Any local, state, federal or tribal units of government, profit or non-profit groups, or individuals. Application Process: Submittal of grant application with all supporting documentation.

Evaluation by DNR staff. A natural resource professional can help you decide where to place the openings and best methods for creating them. You do not need to remove all of the trees and shrubs in your opening. Wildlife can benefit from having a few nut- and fruit-bearing species, snags, fallen logs, and brush piles for shelter. Openings are typically irregular in shape, placed on a south- or southeast-facing slope to take advantage of the sun, and about three times as long as they are wide if small.

You may not need to clear new areas if you can improve existing openings by planting or regenerating native species. Pre-existing openings include yards, old pastures, edges between forest and agricultural fields, and open areas near lakeshore. You might also consider improving an existing food plot. Using pre-existing openings can prevent unnecessarily fragmenting of your woods. Large-diameter trees with cavities and dead trees—or snags—provide food, nesting, and for a variety of wildlife species.

The insulation of a tree trunk allows wildlife to survive hot summers and cold winters. Many animals store their food in snags, while others eat the insects hiding under the bark. Mammals and birds take shelter in snags to raise their young. Bats, an important consumer of mosquitos, roost under loose bark, cavities, or crevices in trees. You can create a snag tree by girdling the entire base of a live tree. Brush piles provide songbirds, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians a place to nest, rest, escape predators, and protection from harsh weather conditions.

To create a brush pile, first place large logs at various angle on the ground to form the base. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program EQIP is a voluntary conservation program that helps agricultural producers in a manner that promotes agricultural production and environmental quality as compatible goals. Through EQIP, agricultural producers receive financial and technical assistance to implement structural and management conservation practices that optimize environmental benefits on working agricultural land.

Agricultural producers and owners of non-industrial private forestland and Tribes are eligible to apply for EQIP. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pastureland, non-industrial private forestland and other farm or ranch lands. Additional restrictions and program requirements may apply, but applicants must:.

EQIP applications are accepted on a continuous basis, however, NRCS establishes application batching "cut-off" or submission deadline dates for evaluation, ranking and approval of eligible applications. EQIP is open to all eligible agricultural producers and submitted applications may be considered or evaluated in multiple funding pool opportunities.

To learn how to get started with NRCS, visit www. Applicants are responsible for completing and filing all application and eligibility paperwork as required. If funded, participants are required to sign a contract and agree to implement the planned conservation practices to NRCS standards and specifications as scheduled.

Program applications are required to be supported by an NRCS approved conservation plan which provides documentation of the practices that could be used to address natural resource concerns. NRCS will develop and provide program applicants with an approved conservation plan. Producers may also apply for financial assistance to hire Technical Service Providers TSP to develop specialty plans called Conservation Activity Plans CAP to address certain land use activities or specific resource needs on your land.

Notice to Applicants: Any conservation practice started prior to written contract approval will result in the ineligibility of that practice for EQIP assistance unless a waiver has been approved. The Farm Bill continues to address the unique circumstances and concerns of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, as well as beginning and limited resource farmers and ranchers and Veteran Farmers. It provides for voluntary participation, offers incentives, and focuses on equity in accessing U.

Enhancements include increased payment rates and advance payments of up to 50 percent to purchase materials and services needed to implement conservation practices included in their EQIP contract. Kentucky is committed to reaching out to Historically Underserved individuals and groups. Historically Underserved participants may also receive higher payment rates in addition to being considered in high priority funding pools. The Farm Bill authorized increased EQIP payment rates for a limited number of high priority practices in each State, and for source water protection practices.

NRCS then uses audit data to develop energy conservation recommendations. Each AgEMP has a landscape component that assesses equipment and farming processes and a farm headquarters component that assesses power usage and efficiencies in livestock buildings, grain handling operations, and similar facilities to support the farm operation. Organic Initiative : Provides financial assistance to help implement conservation practices for organic producers and those transitioning to organic to address natural resource concerns.

It also helps growers meet requirements related to National Organic Program NOP requirements and certain program payment limitations. High Tunnel System Initiative : NRCS helps producers plan and implement high tunnels, which are, steel-framed, polyethylene-covered structures that extend growing seasons in an environmentally safe manner. High tunnel benefits include better plant and soil quality, fewer nutrients and pesticides in the environment, and better air quality due to fewer vehicles being needed to transport crops.

High Tunnels are especially effective in urban areas where cropland availability is a limiting factor. High Tunnels allow increased production on small-scale acres. Kentucky offers three fund accounts for the High Tunnel System Initiative.