Forest Buffers Outcome:Logic & Action Plan
Chesapeake Bay Program partners have committed to taking a series of specific actions to support the management approaches guiding this outcome. These actions directly address the factors that could impact our progress. More information about performance targets and participating partners can be found in the complete Logic & Action Plan.
Download Logic & Action Plan (.pdf)Completed Actions
January – December 2017
- In some states, used Farm Service Agency funds to augment the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program for riparian forest buffers.
- Used limited Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant funding for the establishment of riparian forest buffers on urban lands.
- Accessed additional financial assistance and leveraging additional conservation programs and sources of funds for riparian forest buffer programs.
- Funded local tree planting and forest conservation efforts.
- Used the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program Comprehensive Watershed-Scale Restoration in Dairy and Livestock Landscapes of the Chesapeake Bay award to accelerate riparian forest buffer implementation.
- Increased staffing levels in some states to provide more technical assistance related to riparian forest buffers.
- Improved the tracking and spending of technical assistance funds.
- Engaged landowners in riparian forest buffer planting, aligned riparian forest buffer programs with related work and funding sources, and planned for new riparian forest buffers.
- Increased connections of riparian forest buffers with the Agriculture Conservation Partnership Program.
- Suggested language standards for riparian forest buffer easements.
- Targeted outreach to Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program participants during the last one to two years of their contracts.
- Worked with local groups to expand tree planting programs.
- Contacted landowners with expiring contracts.
- Shared local success stories that demonstrate the role of riparian forest buffers in improving environmental health.
- Supported policies that advance riparian forest buffer programs.
- Analyzed the effectiveness of policies that preserve riparian forest buffers and determined the need for enforcement.
- Supported state leads and other partners in the prioritization of funding for riparian forest buffers and the achievement of their riparian forest buffer goals.
- Used Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program targeting tools as well as water quality, brook trout and demographic targeting tools to determine high-priority reforestation areas.
- Strengthened inter-organizational operations for reporting and verifying riparian forest buffers as a best management practice.
- Evaluated state protocol for verifying riparian forest buffers as a best management practice.
- Worked with federal, state and local program managers to integrate riparian forest buffer and urban tree canopy targets into the implementation of stormwater programs related to TMDL, WIP and MS4 regulations.
- Evaluated the effectiveness of riparian forest buffer plantings, determining tree planting mortality and securing additional planting stock to correct planting failures.
- Evaluated the effectiveness of the riparian forest buffer establishment period and recommended needed changes.
- Inserted tips on riparian forest buffer maintenance into conservation plans, contracts and other information for landowners.
July – December 2016
- Made the pre-establishment care of riparian forest buffers easier for landowners by finding additional funding for weed suppression.
- Surveyed recent National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grantees to determine the extent of riparian forest buffer versus grassed buffer implementation.
- Sought riparian forest buffer liaisons within farming communities.
- Examined the effectiveness of annual riparian forest buffer maintenance payments and determine if payment rate is appropriate.
- Developed a model to determine the situational likelihood that landowners not re-enrolling in a riparian forest buffer program maintain their forest buffer.