Looking Back and Looking Forward: Indiana Forest Policy Issues

Burney Fischer, Clinical Professor, IU-B SPEAPresentation to ISAF 2008 Winter Meeting

McCormick’s Creek State Park, February 27, 2008

Forest Policy Issues in Indiana(LeMaster and Rans, FNR-150, 1995)

FNR Extension Publication:

• Brief overview of public policy analysis • Summary of nine contemporary Indiana forest policy issues

Controversial publication because the focus on solutions was always government intervention.

Public Policy Analysis(Adapted from Patton and Sawicki (1993) by LeMaster and Ran (1995)

• Define the problem• Establish evaluation criteria• Identify alternatives• Evaluate alternatives • Select the preferred policy• Implement the policy• Monitor and evaluate

1995 Indiana Forest Policy Issues(LeMaster and Rans, 1995)

• Forest Fragmentation• I-69 Extension (Indy – Evansville)• Lack of Resource Data• Large White-Tailed Deer Population in State Parks• Protection of Urban Trees and Forests• Regulation of Forest Practices• Riparian Zone Protection and Management• Shrinking of the Forest Land Base in Indiana• Wetlands

How many of these are still important??

Issues that have declined in importance

• Lack of Resource Data – expanded FIA (1999 shift to annualized system, and increased efforts by Division of Forestry)

• Large White-Tailed Deer Pop’n in State Parks – controlled hunting ‘accepted’ and continues

• Wetlands – 1996 & 2002 Farm Bill stabilized?

Continuing Issues – page one

• Large White-Tailed Deer Pop’n in State Parks – issue has shifted to private lands

• Protection of Urban Trees and Forests– urban forests are declining nationally, particularly in major US

cities, and probably throughout Indiana – data void – Sample Urban Statewide Inventory (SUSI 2008-09) will begin to address

• Regulation of Forest Practices – 2005 Right to Practice Forestry Act includes IN BMP Guide– proposed Forestry BMP law created controversy, to be ‘studied’

• Riparian Zone Protection & Management – 1996 and 2002 Farm Bills created more incentives– water quality issues continue to plague Indiana and forestry

continues to be perceived as part of the problem

Continuing Issues – page two

• I-69 Extension (Indy – Evansville) – ‘Major Moves’ continues forward, forestland reduction and

fragmentation will result

• Forest Fragmentation– Fragmentation and parcelization continue with an ever

increasing number of landowners and management objectives

• Shrinking of the Forest Land Base – recent FIA inventories don’t suggest a decline– other indicators suggest that forest land base has leveled off, is

shifting to an ‘urban-rural’ interface (i.e. less rural forest land), and decreasing in several areas of the state – more on this later

Emerging New Issues Since 1995• What are they?• What will they become?• How will they be addressed?• Which ones are important?• I wish I had flip charts to record your thoughts!• Let’s review some I have identified – remember

to think problem identification and evaluation, examining alternative solutions, and policy implementation

Invasive species in the forest – monitor the spread

Consolidation and loss of forest products industry base

IHLA’s aggressive branding initiative!

Three New Themes: 1) Conserve Working Forest Landscapes

2) Protect Forests from Harm

3) Enhance Public Benefits From Trees and Forests

Impact on Indiana forestry programs is unknown but there will be less $’s for traditional programs and more reliance on state funding.

Projected decrease and funding priority shift for USFS S&PF. - Indiana currently receives ~$1.5MM/yr plus Forest Legacy -

Property Tax Reform and Forestry Funding in Indiana

• Classified Forest & Wildlands Program threatened by property tax relief?

• Legislative change in Forestry budget formula – biennial budget struggles and worries about earmarks

• Forestry receives about $4.3 million/yr (~35% operating budget) from property taxes which will be changed to another funding source in 2009-10

Land Use Change and State Policy

• Increasing economic development - sprawl• Expanded agriculture: CAFO’s & Biofuels

Reynolds, IN

• Is forestland coverage at a ‘tipping point’?• Does Indiana now promote land use change?

Forestland Trajectories of S. Central Indiana Counties 1950-2006

From: IU-B Center for the Study of Institutions, Populations and Environmental Change (CIPEC), 2007.

Morgan CountyCounty Morgan

Net Change Forest 84-01 (CIPEC) +1.36

Net Change Forest 01-06 (CIPEC) -1.25

Net Change Forest 84-06 (CIPEC) +0.11

Percent of Area w/ Slope >= 10° 10.34%

Topography Characterization Steep

Riparian Forest Yes

Digital Parcel Data No

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) No

Influence of Land Trusts/NGOs

1984-5 2000-1 2006

34.42% Forested 34.61% Forested36.18% Forested

*Cloudless areas in common among the 3 dates

Morgan County, Percent of Total Area in Forest

32.31

35.41

31.32 32.0233.68 33.83 33.78

34.936.26

35.01

0

10

20

30

40

1950 1967 1984 1986 1998 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Per

cen

t FIA

CIPEC*

Sustainable Forest Managementas a State Policy?

• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification of State Forests

• American Tree Farm System group certification of Indiana's Classified Forest & Wildlands Program

• Indiana has a multi-tiered system of certified and non-certified forests – the public doesn’t recognize or see the differences

• Does the state of Indiana need to have public policy regarding sustainable forest management?

Global Climate Change

• Forest type change predicted• Indiana’s carbon footprint – see

Forbes ranking of America’s Greenest States, Indiana is 49th, only West Virginia ranks lower

• Connection to biofuels – cellulosic/wood products

• Is a state GCC policy needed?

What would be the role of forests?

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Records from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (1958–2000) This graph shows changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide from 1958 to 2000. Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center

See - USFS Northern Research Station Research Review, Summer 2007. “Global Climate Change: What Could Happen to Our Northern Forests?”

Is the time right for a different forest management model?

Collaborative ForestryCollaborative forest management is loosely defined as a working partnership between the key stakeholders in the management of a given forest—key stakeholders being local forest users and state forest departments, as well as parties such as local governments, civic groups and nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. (CIFOR, 2005 Occasional Paper No. 43)

Most examples elsewhere, but several here:

• TNC’s Brown County Hills Project

• Yellowwood Lake Watershed Planning Group

• Cooperatives, Neighborhood/Homeowner Associations, RC&D’s, etc.

How do we explore this opportunity?

Brown County Hills Project - Protecting Indiana’s Last Great Woods

So, what’s important for today and where are these and other policy issues headed in the future?

That’s the challenge for all Indiana forestry stakeholders to identify and work on together!