Wildife Management - Landowner Incentive Program
Posted by: Paul Catanzaro on Oct 1, 2006
Wildlife Management - Landowner Incentive Program
Wildlife management often ranks high as a management objective for landowners. Since more than 80% of the land in Massachusetts is owned by families and individuals, the future of many of our wildlife species are in the hands of private landowners. In fact, most rare species and species in decline in Massachusetts are found on privately owned lands. In order to help these species survive, it is important to find ways to help private landowners.
To do this, MassWildlife offer a program called the Landowner Incentive Program or LIP. The goals of LIP are to:
1. Identify and reclaim appropriate sites for management of declining habitats (especially open land: old field and early-successional forest, wetlands, coastal habitat and pine barrens).
2. Manage and control exotic and invasive plants.
3. Enhance wildlife habitat for species-at-risk. A species-at-risk is defined for LIP as any fish or wildlife species that is federally or state listed as threatened or endangered, is a candidate for listing as threatened or endangered, or is listed on the NHESP Official State Rare Species List.
4. Provide technical and financial assistance and guidance to landowners on how to manage their property for wildlife.
LIP is a competitive grant program. Applications are reviewed by a technical team from MassWildife and ranked based on the project's potential benefit to target species or habitat. Information on the exact criteria can be found on the LIP website.
The application for the LIP program will be announced at the end of October, so now is the time to begin thinking about a LIP project. Check the LIP website for details on the application dates. You may find it very helpful to work with a licensed forester to evaluate your land, its potential for the LIP program, and to assist you in developing a LIP application.
For more information on the LIP program, contact:
Ken MacKenzie
MassWildlife LIP Coordinator
508/792-7270 x113
ken.mackenzie@state.ma.us.
Other Resources:
Landowner Incentive Program website (including program description, information and application)
