Did you know the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is working to reforest one million
acres of land lost due to deforestation?
The effort is known as the Field to Forest program.
KDWA recently spoke with Minnesota DNR Forestry Incentive Coordinator Jennifer Teegarden to learn more about the initiative and how landowners can get involved.
Jennifer, welcome to KDWA.
“Yeah, thanks for having me.”
All right, Jennifer, I would like to talk about the Minnesota DNR Field to Forest program. What sparked the creation of the Field to Forest initiative?
Teegarden, “Yeah, so there’s what’s called the Minnesota Million, and it was launched by the Nature Conservancy, and it’s an effort to reforest 1 million acres that were lost. You know, actually, Minnesota lost about 44% of our original forest to land clearing and logging from the 1870s to the 1930s, and so now we’re trying to at least replant 1 million acres of open land back to forest. And so, this is just a grant that we really are; we received some funding from both the federal government, we have some state funds, and funding from the Nature Conservancy to help with this effort.”
Jennifer, how does this program work, and who is eligible to participate?
Teegarden explained, “Yeah, so the people who are eligible, you need to have open land that was traditionally in a forested landscape, and, you know, a DNR forester would help them determine if their land is eligible, and so the way the program works is a landowner would reach out to a DNR forester and let them know they’re interested in participating in the Field to Forest program. Landowners need to have at least three acres of open land, and then they will receive cost share and an incentive payment for planting trees, and so in this case they need to plant a minimum of three different tree species to add diversity, and then there are some other activities that are eligible for cost share, and this is where we’ll reimburse up to 75% of the rate to do these, and so that would be if the site needs prepping. They could do some site prep; it includes the purchase and planting of trees.
Some trees need to be bud-capped to prevent deer browse, and finally on year two, if the vegetation is really heavy, then it would be to help release the seedlings from that, and after they complete their planting project, they receive a one-time $500 per acre incentive payment.”
Is there an application deadline for interested landowners?
Teegarden says, “We’re enrolling people to do plantings in the spring of 2027, and we’re capping it at 1500 acres enrolled, and there is no application process; it’s just the landowner would reach out to foresters where their titles are cooperatives, forest management, the forester would then determine if the landowner is eligible. They would come out to the property, you know, determine what needs to be done, and recommend trees to plant; they would write a project plan, and then after some, you know, they sign a contract, and then once they’re, you know, then they complete the planting, and after that, then the planting gets inspected.”
What is somebody misses the deadline for this year, can they reapply another year?
“Right now, [the] DNR, we’re enrolling landowners to plant trees in the spring of 2027, but landowners will also have the opportunity to plant in 2028 and 2029, and so if they don’t get into the Field to Forest program now, they can wait and apply in subsequent years.”
Well, that’s great info! Jennifer, is there anything else you would like the listeners to know about the Field to Forest program?
Teegarden says, “Yeah, so this is a great program to try to, you know, create forest habitat, and even though it’s, you know, private landowners who enroll, all forests, no matter if it’s private or public lands, provide benefits to all Minnesotans, so from clean water to clean air, forest habitat, and, you know, just improving kind of overall landscape. The other thing I want landowners to know cost-share, like I said, this is a grant, and landowners will receive a 1099 at the end of the year that they completed the project.”
And where should folks go to learn more information?
Teegarden says, “Go to MNDNR.gov, and then in the upper right corner of the webpage, there’s a search bar, and just type in Field to Forest, and it will get you to the program. We have a link where landowners can get information about who is the forester they need to contact.”
Excellent. Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for speaking with KDWA and for sharing about the Field to Forest initiative.
“You’re welcome. Glad to provide you the information.”
[Click the soundbite to listen to the report.]