Maine Forest Service Announces a Second Round of Applications for Invasive Plant Control Plans for Public and Private Woodland Owners in Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Forest Service, a bureau of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, will provide up to $85,000 over the next two years for local governments, municipalities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and private family woodland owners to obtain Invasive Plant Control Practice Plans (IPCPP) for their woods.

Supported by a grant from the USDA Forest

Service, financial incentives for these plans are available to public and private woodland owners with ten to one thousand wooded acres in Maine. Reimbursement of up to 50% of the cost of an IPCPP is based on the number of acres covered in the plan. An average woodlot with between 10 and 100 acres may receive up to $400 maximum incentive; larger lots will have larger maximum incentive amounts. The plans will provide woodland owners with maps and treatment recommendations for invasive plants on their land.

The second round of applications for these plans opens on June 28, 2021 and closes on July 12, 2021.

This new Invasive Plants Management Program is administered by Maine Forest Service, with close support from the Maine Natural Areas Program; both agencies are part of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The program’s primary goal is to address invasive plants that choke out native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. A corps of natural resource professionals trained through the program’s Invasive Plant Academy are eligible to develop IPCPPs. A list of trained plan preparers is available on the Maine Forest Service's Invasive Plant Management Program web page.

"We’re very excited for the opportunity to work with licensed foresters and other natural resource professionals to develop Invasive Plant Control plans for Maine’s woodland owners," said Nancy Olmstead, Invasive Plant Biologist with the Maine Natural Areas Program. When implemented, these plans will "help slow the advance of exotic invasive plants in Maine’s treasured woodlands."

"After years of seeing these invasive plants becoming worse and worse, it’s great to finally have some resources to tackle the problem on the ground," noted Andy Shultz, the Maine Forest Service’s Landowner Outreach Forester. 

Landowners with approved IPCPPs will be eligible to apply for the next phase of the program, to receive free invasive plant treatment conducted by a contractor hired by the Maine Forest Service.

• To apply for a 2021 Invasive Plant Control Practice Plan, applicants must complete the application available. Applications are due by 5PM on July 12, 2021.
• Access a list of natural resource professionals provisionally eligible to develop IPCPPs.

To learn more about the new visit the Invasive Plant Management Program web page, or contact Program Manager Jan Santerre at (207) 287-4987