Charles H. Bronson, Commissioner    -    James R. Karels, Director

Southern Pine Beetle Prevention
Cost-Share Program

2010 Program
Materials and Dates

Guidelines and Application Instructions: Required Forms: Sign-up Period:
8:00 am May 20, 2010
through
5:00 pm July 1, 2010 Manage Your Forest: Prevent Southern Pine beetle
The Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Cost Share Program is offered to eligible non-industrial private forest landowners by the Division of Forestry (DOF) through temporary grants from the USDA Forest Service.

Periodic southern pine beetle (SPB) outbreaks in Florida have resulted in millions of cubic feet of pine timber killed on thousands of acres. The goal of this program is to minimize SPB damage in Florida by helping forest landowners conduct management practices that can make their pine stands less susceptible to this destructive insect pest. Forest management practices, such as thinning, prescribed burning, other competition control, and use of less-susceptible pine species can improve the health of pine stands and decrease their likelihood of developing SPB infestations.

Program Information

The program offers partial cost reimbursement or incentive payments for:
  • first pulpwood thinning
  • pre-commercial thinning
  • prescribed burning
  • planting longleaf pine
  • mechanical underbrush treatments

All payments are made at specified per-acre or per-seedling rates. Please see the Technical Guidelines Booklet (pdf, 900k) for available practices, practice requirements, and payment rates.

The program is limited to 44 northern Florida counties located within the range of the southern pine beetle. Qualified landowners may apply for up to two approved practices per year. The minimum tract size requirement is 10 acres and funding requests may not exceed $10,000. Only one application per landowner is permitted per year.

Applying to the Program

To apply to the program, landowners should obtain the following documents from this web page or from a Florida Division of Forestry County Forester office: Please follow the application instructions in the Technical Guidelines booklet (pdf, 900k) carefully. Applications for the 2010 program must be received by the Florida DOF Forest Health Section office in Gainesville between the start and end times listed below: 
Start:  8:00 am, Thursday, May 20, 2010
End:   5:00 pm, Thursday, July 1, 2010
Applications postmarked by the end date will also be accepted.  The address is:
SPB Prevention Cost-Share Program
c/o Jeff Eickwort
Florida Division of Forestry
1911 SW 34th Street
Gainesville, FL 32608

Applications received in Gainesville before the start date, or received (or postmarked) after the end date will not be considered, or will receive lowest priority ranking for any remaining available funds. Contrary to previous years, the 2010 program will not operate on a first-come, first-served basis.  All applications received at any time during sign-up period will be equally evaluated and ranked for funding approval using established criteria (Technical Guidelines booklet (pdf, 900k)). The program is supported through temporary grants from the USDA Forest Service and limited funding is available.

Contacts

For more information on the SPB Prevention program, please contact:
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Division of Forestry Shield
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
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